Good day everyone, so I have had my TLS for about 11+ years. I've done currently 3 transmission oil changes on the vehicle, none of which had been 3x3. I am getting around to it now and my vehicle is at 85,000 miles, I do very little driving with the vehicle. Never use the vehicle in manual shifting mode or drive the car out of the ordinary.

I am a very firm believer in AMSOIL over the last 2 years ive been using their engine oil in all my cars, I know amsoil is actually known for their transmission fluid and I was considering using for the 3x3 on my acura. Wondering if anyone else has used it or if there is any specific reason not to. I would assume that their transmission fluid is better than the DW-1. Would appreciate your thoughts, thanks.

 

I thought there were historical threads discussing trans fluid in depth?

 

I tried looking in the 3g tl section, any chance you can link these historical discussions? This thread has been going for some time ._.

 

Google is your friend.

https://www.google.com/search?q=site...%2F+amsoil+atf

There have been years and years of discussions around ATF options. I had a 6-speed so I didn't pay too much attention...but if I recall, the majority landed back on DW-1, while some swore Amsoil, while others swore some other combo was the greatest thing ever.

 

Jackass, maybe this would be a more reasonable question, I see in other posts that they mention how many drains change out however much fluid. The transmission has 7 qt inside, but you can only fill 3? kind of confused by this. I am going to do 4 to get the most out of this, as I am trying to get the old oil out.

I saw the post by roadrage and I dont think he's had any bad experience, nor should I. If I do I wish just swap back to original acura ATF. Just need to get my oil out, not sure if acura is bsing or not but they are saying my transmission fluid is dirty. Kind of not understanding how that's possible when in a period of 70,000 miles ive done 3 changes, the only thing I can suspect is the lack of driving.

 

Dealerships lie in an attempt to sell more work


In other news, water is wet! More at 8..


If you feel that you've done the service intervals for the fluid, then you can tell the dealer to pound sand. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

My understanding is you can only drain 3qts at a time based on the physical design of the housing and drain plug. So there is no way to just drain all 7 via the drain plug. You just have to do a drain and fill 3 times to get the majority of the old fluid swapped out. Read up on the 3x3 fluid change threads for more details on that.

If your fluid is showing dirty and you have done 3 changes in 70k miles....that usually would point to issues in the transmission. You need to get some fluid out to have it analyzed if you really want to know if they are BS'ing you or not. I mean just pull the dipstick see if it is still nice bright red and clear, or stinky, dark, and dirty.

 

There's no way to get all the fluid out at one time other than a flush, which is a troublesome procedure for any make and model. Not because it's inconvenient, but because a pressurized flush of an automatic transmission has caused more problems than it solves, based on what I've seen and heard. YMMV
As far as draining, much of the fluid is still trapped in other parts of the transmission, inside the torque converter for example. So you can look at it like the transmission is a one gallon pitcher of cherry koolaid. Each time you drain it, it's like pouring out an 8oz glass, and then you pour back in an 8oz glass of clear tap water. Eventually over time, the koolaid will dilute until it's nearly clear as well. It's the same concept. Now you can do a 3x3 in a single effort, but I just did single (1x3) drain and fills everytime I changed the oil. Over the course of ownership it ended up being like 6 or 7 '1x3's. Also the general consensus historically has been to just use DW-1. Outside of that, you're going to start getting a lot of variation based on peoples different experiences. No one has ever been burned picking oem (Z1 / DW1).

 

Honestly I see that it is a little darker in color, but it is still reddish. Not sure if it's worth it to save some and send it in for testing or not even sure if there is a test that can prove it's dirty or not. I have no clue, all I know as mentioned above is water is wet. That you cant really tell if oil is good or bad just by looking it, that's why I dont trust the dealership but it does make me ponder. Not sure if transmission fluid is the same, it's not out right black. I never trust the dealer anyway that's why I do all my own work on my car which is a pain. I own 4 cars so it's not a joke. I usually just do oil changes all at once.

The thing is again, I have never done a 3x3 and I was assuming that all the oil in the car was out each time it was drained. Technically speaking with whatever precents you guys prove there's a chance that 20% of the oil in the trans maybe from the original ATF when I first got the car.

I mean I got no problems with the car, it drives fine and i've never put crazy pressure on the car especially at initial stop and go. The only thing is if it's dirty I mean I got absolutely no issue doing 6 or 7 flushes even if it the amsoil product. Just want to make sure it's fresh and clean, obviously that's why ive already done so many changes. I did one at like 30k, around 50k the dealership did it because they had to replace a seal and it was under warranty, and I did one at 70k. The car is at 85 now and it's been a long while since 70k.

I absolutely never do a transmission flush on any car. I'll just do a 4x3 and see what happens. I got a bunch of other things that need to be done too, I am sure my radiator needs to flushed as it's never been done and my brake fluid needs to be replaced, probably the power steering as well. I already did the timing belt and new spark plugs in 2018 the car has hardly been driven since, maybe 5000 miles and the engine oil is always crystal clear I just do a change every year.