Call their parts department and find out how much they are and compare the prices to our vendors' prices.

 

also don't forget a case of ATF-DW1 while you're at it to do the 3x3.


and the washers. The part list is in the DIY.

 

Already have 4qts of the DW1. Lemme get through the first 1x3 with this tranny, then I will worry about the other 2x3.

 

So against the opinions here I have decided to leave the transmission alone and not touch the fluid or switches. I went to a shop that specializes in high mileage Hondas and acuras. The main page on their website has their over 200,000 mile club on it. They overwhelmingly told me to just drive the car. I know people on here have differing opinions but most people don't have 280k on a transmission that they do not know the history of. They said even a simple 1x3 drain and fill can cause more problems than good. If it holds out another even 10k that's close to 2 years of driving for me. At that point if it needs a tranny so be it.

 

It's a roll of the dice, as others have said.

If your brother is being truthful when he said that 95% of his driving was highway miles, then it's safe to assume that the clutches haven't worn out to the point of making the fluid dangerously dense (At least not the fluid currently inside of the transmission and torque converter). In this case, you should change the fluid.

As the clutches inside of the transmission wear out (from slipping- all A/Ts do this), they deposit clutch fragments into the fluid. These added particles make it more dense, which wear out the seals and internal clearances. When the fluid is changed for new, less dense, fluid it runs right past the worn out seals. Because the operation of an automatic transmission is dependent on hydraulic pressure, the transmission fails to operate for the above reasons.

That having been said, changing the fluid won't damage the transmission per say (since the damage has potentially already been done) but a chance exists that after you change the fluid, the car won't go into gear or move at all.

You can tell a lot about the health of the transmission by the condition of its fluid. Does it smell burnt? What color is it? Honestly if you're going to be driving it in stop and go traffic, you'll be shifting through the gears (as opposed to cruising in 5th on the highway) and the torque converter clutch will be locking and unlocking the torque converter.

At the very least you should change the pressure switches. I had a 2G (1999-2003) TL and even though mine had the updated casing and proper fluid changes, it still failed prematurely (a design flaw most Hondas of the late '90s and early '00s suffer from- you don't have to worry about this type of transmission failure). From what I read about the 3G, the pressure switches seem to be the achilles heel. At least as far as the 5 A/T is concerned.

 

I hear you but when you bring your car to a place where they service a large amount of high mileage acuras and hondas, and have a 200,000+ mile club on their wall and the guy says just leave it, I am leaving it. As you said, could be a risk either way. My brother has no reason to lie to me. I did not pay for the car, it was free. I have under 2k into this car and that's with timing belt service and a bunch of other minor stuff. If the trans holds out in another year great. Will deal with it then. If sooner, we'll then I guess it is what it is. I decided not to even touch the original suspension and just drive it. It's more or less a beater car for me. With 280k who knows how long it will be around for.

 

Hopefully quite a while.

The J series V6 was always quite solid.