rick sambora

iTrader: (1)

I was in the stealership to get ATF fluid for my wife's 06 TL. Her car is due for the A123. This is the first time I will be doing the drain and fill on an Acura. I read the garage DIY and also the PDF bulletin on the 3X3. I stopped by at the service advisor's desk to ask what they do as the fluid with the crush washers ran me 78 bucks( 9 quarts of ATF-Z1 and 2 24mm washers). Apparently they do only one 4 quart drain and fill. When I asked her about the 3x3 she said that is only if I was having transmission issues like jerky shift. Their service of 150 dollars would only include 1 drain and fill of 4 quarts. I searched on this forum and found a majority who still do the 3x3 irrespective of mileage and hOw the tranny shifts. So my question is, should I use up all the 9 quarts that I got??? I would hate to waste good ATF if I can get by without it. Also if I was going to do the 3x3 can I space out the drains with a week in between them?
Those stupid washers are expensive 9 quarts atf Z1+2 24mm washers+oil filter & washer+oil drain bolt washer=98 dollars.
A123 service that includes tramsmission drain+tire rotation+oil change=180 at honda dealer and 199 at acura dealer.
So unless we are only doing a single drain and fill of 4 quarts we are not really saving a lot doing the ATF drain ourself.

erdoc48

I just had mine done recently for $79 with me providing the fluid at Goodyear. I used the Castrol Z1 ATF equivalent, and it shifts great. I paid ~ $6 per quart at Advance Auto, and my fluid at 50K miles was just a little brown per the service advisor at Goodyear (yes, I trust them with my car as they have been great with my cars for years). To answer the original question, yes, do the 3x3 change, and then drive worry free for quite a while.

kidrocking79

If you have an area or garage.. do it yourself. Get amsoil ATF... you WILL NOT be dissapointed. and DEFINATELY do 3x3. This will get most of the fluid in your tranny system running Amsoil instead of Z1. My car immediately shifted better when I did my first of 3 tranny oil changes. I drove it around for about 1/2 an hour.. came back and was sooo excited to do the other two. Imagine, if I noticed the difference only on the first drain, how much better it was after the 2nd and 3rd. Oh.. and you don't have to reinvest in new washers every time you pop a drain / fill plug. I'm sure they can go a good 5-10 times w/ no problem.

S PAW 1

Would you, by chance, be in range of another dealership that might know what the hell they are doing?

ezland00

Do 3x3. I just picked up some Z1 from Honda dealership. they charged me $7.11 per. i was expecting them to be around $5-6. i guess $7.11 isn't bad compare to Acura dealership.

01tl4tl

to change fluid on a 3x3 you need to drive around the block 5 minutes using each gear up and down a few times- then immedialty drain and refill
will give up about 3.2qts of its 7.2 total capacity
to really do it 12 qts are needed

any more than 5 minutes and old and new fluid are blending instead of pushing old fluid forward to drain pan..and more than 5 minutes gets too hot to climb under to work

first drain should have 15 minute freeway drive to fully warm fluid, carrying crud to the drain plug

alann

so drive around for 15 minutes after first drain/fill, then 5 minutes after each drain/fill thereafter, or did I read that wrong?

S PAW 1

My dealer did the 3X3.

He simply put it on a rack and raised it, went through the gears a few times
between drain/fills

I provided him with Amsoil ATF.

blkaspec

I think he means to drive for 15min first, before you begin, then do the first drain followed by the 5min drives

alann

Ah, that makes more sense. haha thanks