Looking to change my transmission fluid and rear diff, was getting various quotes, the cheapest one seems to be $310 from Acura dealer. I decided not to do it myself. How much did your dealer/mechanic charged for it? I am approaching 30k and will change it regardless of MID.

 

• Got the rear diff fluid changed at the Acura dealer for $130 (did that at 15K miles/24 months).
• The Transmission fluid does not need to be changed till 120K - why so early?
• Air cabin filter and Air Engine filter are easy DIY projects (less than 10 minutes total) and Amazon has both filters for about $35-$40.

 

I change my oil, engine/cabin filters, and rear diff myself. Transmission fluid I could do myself, but dont feel like it after studying the procedure.

The MID indicator for service 3 (transmission and transfer fluid) comes around 45k miles. 120k miles is way to long for any transmission.

My car is going to be 4 year old, and I am a firm believer into earlier fluid changes especially on critical components like transmission. 30k is a good time to change it to get initial factory shavings (if any) out. Maybe if I put more miles per year I would change it every 45k miles as MID recommends, but for low yearly miles every 4 years is a good time to do it, fluid degrades with time also.

 

Agree - earlier is always better within reason - too early is just a waste of time/money. My time/mileage #'s were right out of the Acura service schedule.

 

120k miles for transmission fluid change is not correct. Where did you see such schedule?

 

Anything he saw would have been created by a dealer or other third party. Acura/Honda do not publish fixed service schedules. Every Acura/Honda since 2006 has been equipped with the Maintenance Minder system to prompt for regular maintenance services according to the usage of each individual vehicle. At that point, they stopped publishing one-size-fits-all service schedules so each owner can follow their vehicle's Maintenance Minder.

More recent implementations account for the passage of time for time-based maintenance items like brake fluid and 12-month oil changes for low-mileage vehicles.

 

MID 3 code for most people will come around 45k miles give or take, thats just data from Accord and Odessy forms that use same 10sp transmission.

 

I seen it on a couple Acura Dealer service sites, with intervals for maintenance. Shucks, I got bamboozelled into believing what I read in the interwebs. My apologies for any inaccuracies.

Well, at least for me, I don’t keep vehicles past 80k miles or 7-8 years. I’ve found the repairs are huge once you get to those numbers in my previous vehicles. Age more than miles - as they don’t make them like they use too.

 

I am aware of the "schedule" but I decided to have my trans fluid changed at 55k. Actually found a coupon for Weir Canyon Acura in SoCal for $149. I called and the tech said, yes this is the correct price for your '19 RDX.. But when I arrived he just happened to remember the fact that it has the 10 speed and tried to charge me $300. When I said I was just gonna buy the fluid and do it myself, he honored the coupon... YMMV obviously but maybe worth a try...

 

so your MID code 3 never came up and car made it to 55k miles, or you ignored the code when it came up earlier?

 

The old schedule, when they still printed such (2005 MDX), was 45k miles or 3 years for the first transmission fluid change, then every 30k miles or 2 years after that. Fluids and transmissions don't seem to have improved significantly since then.
I will probably do my wife's 2022 RDX at 30k miles, then decide how often to repeat (partly based on what it costs or how difficult I find it to do myself). Part price is about $75. I will not be replacing it based on years, just miles.

Anyone who has had enough miles or time on a 3G RDX to have the transmission code come up on the MM, inquiring minds would like to know when that happened.

 

I just got my code for the transfer case/transmission that showed up at about 5 years of ownership, only owner, at 48k miles, problem is I’m having trouble finding the fluid to buy online or locally, it’s out of stock everywhere

 

Can you not find the Honda version? 08200-9015 (no "A" on the end of the number). I'm pretty certain that this is the same fluid.

 

never came up, just did it cuz one morning the transmission felt a little different.

 

I’ve been looking for that as well, difficult to find

 

decided to DIY, ordered it from Curry Acura, hopefully it will come

 

I'll be looking forward to hearing how it goes for you.
I don't think I'm up to tackling this job myself so we will have to take it into the dealer as much as I hate to do this.

 

will try to avoid removing lower undercover plastic as was reported by one member, if not, will remove it. I got so frustrated with dealership being useless in trying to diagnose transmission leak that I dont feel like giving them any business unless I have no choice.

 

Let us know how the job goes. It looks like the torque wrench used for the fill and level check bolts needs to have more teeth than my cheap one (24 teeth, 15 degrees per), in order to get in there without removing the plastic undercover. I see torque wrenches with 72 and 90 teeth (5 degree and 4 degree) for a moderate price.

 

good point about teeth, I also have 24 teeth, but I also have one smaller length torque wrench (9-10” I think), maybe it will work ….. If not; I dont think its supper important to torque fill and level plugs, just snug it without going crazy. Level plug is only 15 lb-ft and other one is 32 lb-ft.
its probably more important to torque drain plug.

 

UPDATE: I was able successfully change transmission fluid and transfer fluid this weekend. The removal of engine under cover is absolutely not necessary! Thanks to the post by leomio2.0, I was able to fill it from the top using the same size clear tubing. I first tried pumping it by hand, and then said forget it, you need wide tube or it will leak out.

Also, I was able to use my torque wrench with 24 teeth, only got one teeth to work with, but thats good enough. I used 2.25" long 17mm socket, and it fit perfectly to open transmission fill bolt. Did not need swivel wrench.
Transfer fluid fill is messy and you need to wipe your exhaust. My transfer fluid was factory overfilled, I drained about 1qt, but it only takes 0.6qt
I pumped 5.5qt of transmission fluid, so then had to wait for 0.5qt to drain from level plug. You can probably buy 5qt for AWD, I bought 6 just in case.
Total parts (including all washers) cost $100 including shipping from Curry Acura.
Forget about your local dealer, their prices are double on these parts.

 

Did your level check bolt have a separate washer, or a captured one? The factory diagram indicates that it can be either.

 

Mine had a removable washer that I replaced. 90471-59C-000 10mm gasket. You can buy it just in case when you ordering parts.

 

How did the old fluids look compared to the new fluids? Could you see any noticeable darkening or anything?
In any case, it sounds like a job well done and thanks for the update.

 

I think they were in decent shape, atf still was red, so I could probably have waited until 45k miles, but I am glad I did it early. First time is a learning experience, next time will be faster.

 

Thanks, we're coming up on 27K miles on our car and based on your finding's I think I'll wait until at least 40K to have it done.

 

It also depends on how you drive it, city vs highway miles and etc. for average city and highwat driving, 45k is probably good enough, but I would not wait longer than that. Some people talking about 100k, thats way too long.