borgit

Hi guys, I got an 06 5AT now at 31k miles, the manual says to change the tranny oil the first time @60k if driven hard. I was thinking about changing my oil now at roughly 30k. I was wondering at what mileage do you guys change your oil and if its below 60k, is it dirty? Is there any real incentive to changing it before 60k, given that most tranny failures in the past with acura have been due to poor design rather than oil change interval.

Thanks for any info.

jdmitr22

my tranny died at 40k....

borgit

What year TL you got? Did you change the oil on it?

SodaLuvr

That's correct. There has been little correlation between transmission life and more frequent than required fluid changes in the failure prone automatics. The 04+ TLs have had far fewer failures than the 99-03s.

I would service the transmission when the 3 subcode appears on the Maintenance Minder, which is usually between 40-70k for most people. Even though Honda only requires a single drain and refill, I'd drain and refill three times to remove as much of the old fluid as possible.

The fluid will turn dark brown in-between changes and this is normal. Fluid color does not always indicate the fluid's condition. This is due to newer fluids being able to suspend more contaminants than before, and also because many transmissions now use carbon fiber materials that will discolor the fluid very quickly.

08WDP

i would change mine out at first 10k of the car, new car's metal shaving for another couple year might damage the tranmission. just like i would change the oil out of my car on first 5000 miles.

SodaLuvr

The magnetic drain plug will catch any metal shavings.

I have a contact at a major OEM who is the director of drivetrain lubrication. They regularly test vehicles out to 150k miles on the original oil fill under severe service. In other words, the fluid can handle a lot more than some people believe.

borgit

In the owners manual it actually states "To thoroughly flush the transmission, the technician should drain and refill it with Honda ATF-Z1, then drive the vehicle for a short distance. Do this three times. Then drain and refill the transmission a final time." So doing the triple or quadruple flush is blessed by Honda.

The owners manual also talks about driving in conditions that generate a lot of heat, when they say to change it out at 60k first time. I wonder why they say to do change it every 30k after that. I guess the original oil has some additives in it that can allow it to last longer.

SodaLuvr

Honda only requires the flush if the system has been contaminated or if the transmission was opened up for minor repair. Otherwise, only one drain and refill is required when the transmission is being service for routine maintenance, according to the service manual.

Since only one drain and refill is required, about 60% of the old fluid is still left behind. That's probably why (I'm guessing) that subsequent intervals need to be shorter.

borgit

In one of the Acura monthly notes they recommend doing the triple refill when changing tranny oil, except they say to imitate driving by just cycling through all the gears when the car is raised up on a lift.

Following your logic, I guess if you do the triple refill @60k, you can change it next time at 120k.

SodaLuvr

No they did not. The article was used to clarify the flushing procedure, but no where does it mention that a triple flush is needed as part of normal maintenance:

http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SN/B080100.PDF

I would encourage people to follow the maintenance interval recommended by Acura, but to simply do a more thorough fluid change whenever it is due. 60k sounds like a reasonable interval to me though, but that's just my opinion.

LaCostaRacer

On my Honda Pilot, I changed the ATF at 30K (no triple flush) . There were a lot of shavings on the plug so I'll change my TL at 20K instead and see how that looks.

If you change the fluid with a 20K interval you will have essentially changed out all the original fluid within 60K. You get to benefit from the newer fluids sooner as well as use the fluid for longer than 5-10 minutes. You will have roughly 1/3 new ATF, 1/3 20K ATF and 1/3 40K ATF after the 60K service. That to me seems like a better scenario than waiting until 60K to have 99% new oil and waiting until 120K to get back to 99% again.

I do my own work and usually time an ATF change with an oil change so it's not much more work me. This plan appears to be a hedge regarding the fluid change interval as well as the merits of a triple flush. The service manual only talks about a triple flush after a non Z1 ATF was added and the shifting performance degraded as a result.

mista.huynh

iTrader: (4)

Does it hurt to do a drain and fill on a manual every 20km or so?
Only reason I ask is because fluid and job would be free for me.

skitland

Can you post a DIY on transmission oil. On the Acura TL.

Johndoyle

I've been using 30K intervals as a guideline now for years (mainly on Integras) and haven't had a transmission failure or problem. The fluid appears to be in good condition when I drain it. This goes back to the old 30K service guidelines (filters, plugs, coolant, etc.) and predates the onboard service reminders, which I don't trust. You're always walking a fine line between taking good care of the car so that you ensure long life and being wasteful. There is definitely a correlation between fluid service and long transmission life, though of course a mechanical defect (like that affecting 2G TLs) changes everything. I have heard from knowledgeable people (certified techs, other authorities) that frequent fluid service can help postpone mechanical failures even in transmissions that are know to have weaknesses (like those in Chrysler minivans). Good luck!

doggydog

Funny thing is my idependent Honda/Acura mechanic of 8 years did my first (3) quart trans flush/fill at 20,000 miles and did recommend me doing a (3) quart trans flush/fill every 3rd oil change, which I have been doing. I now have 37,000 mile on my 2006 TL 5AT and it shifts as smooth, if not it actually feels smoother than when new.BTW I also use honda 5-20 for my engine oil change,

keisuke_joon

My mechanic told me to do ATF change every 15k miles and he is doing one time drain and refill.

SRT-11

I changed my ATF to AMSOil at 33k miles and it was dark and narsty. Did the triple change. I'll probably do a single change every year with brake and PS fluid.