I am fed up with my terribly notchy shifting after the car has sat for a little while (especially in the morning), so I have decided to make the switch to Redline MTL either tomorrow night or Saturday afternoon.

I am just wondering if there's anything I need to look out for. Also, I am wondering how people who have done this removed their existing fluid? Did you use some sort of pump? It shouldn't be a problem since i am going to do it at my friends Honda/Acura Dealership.

Thanks in advance,

 

I'd poke around at ACURA-CL.COM. Same six spd in the CL-S..
BTW are you in Mission Viejo?

 

All the Hondas are easy to do - make sure you loosen the fill plug first - nothing more embarassing than having your car towed in to the dealer because you could not loosen the fill blug.

Best to do when the car is warm, let it drip until it is no longer a continuous stream, but is drops.

I would also consider the GM Syncromesh Friction Modified fluid - we have had very good luck with that fluid in addition to MTL and MT-90 from Red Line. The GM stuff is available from any GM dealer, but make sure it is FM type, not the generic type. The fM was actually developed for the NV1500 truck tranny.

Here is the Delco P.N. The Chevy dealer number may be different, but they can cross-index it.
Part 10-4014
88900399 Syncromesh FM (for NV1500 trannies)
Semi-synthetic

 

I drained my 6MT and refilled it with Red Line.

It's easy enough to do, but you have to pull the battery and the lower half of the air cleaner box to get at the fill plug. Best way to loosen the plug is using a long ratchet extension so you can get the ratchet in the clear to turn it. Also you need to lift both ends of the car up about 6" inches in order to work underneath. You won't be able to do it with the car on the ground. And the vehicle need to be pretty level to get the trans properly drained, and properly refilled.

The one area to be careful of is when you go to remove the fill check plug. There is a set screw very close to it and the heads are the same size, but the set screw is holding in a spring and ball which you don't want to have come out (no, I didn't do this ). It's very easy to mistake one for the other, so double check which bolt you're removing.

 

yield2s - Thanks I will do this.

Road Rage - I knew if it had to do with lubrication, that you would respond. Thanks for your insight! I already purchased the Red Line MTL, but if the problem is not reduced, I will try the GM fluid. Can you confirm for me where the fill plug is compared with the drain plug. Using a pump to draw the fluid out or is this not necessary on this car? When you have changed the fluid, using a lift, did you have to remove the air cleaner and battery as well?

kosh2258 - Thanks for the details. I really don't want to loosen that set screw!!! As I mentioned above, do you think, using a lift, that I will still have to remove the air cleaner and battery? Am I missing something? As I mentioned above, can you confirm where the fill and drain plugs are? In the past vehicles I have owned and changed tranny fluids I have just needed to remove one plug to pump the fluid out and to fill it back up.

Thanks again for all of the details. It sounds like I had assumed a few things that I shouldn't have. We all know what assuming does!!!

Thanks,

 

Is the transmission capacity roughly three quarts?

Thanks,

 

I have a 5AT so i cannot speak with authority about the fill plug, but the warning above should be followed. Honda usually uses color marks on fill plugs to show the trannhy has been filled, so a bolt in the general area with a blue or red slash on should be a good bet.

The tranny holds 2.2 liters, so you will need 3 quarts. A little overfill will not hurt anything, but the car should be level. I level by using a long level along the lower side rail near the jacking points.

I use an exotic syringe from Germany, but any good gear oil pump from Pep Boys or the Zone should suffice.