Ok first of all i would like to say Thank you to Road Rage for his thread on the ATF drain and fill.

also please read it before going thru this thread.

link: https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/rr-journals-atf-drain-refill-3g-garage-c-012-a-556044/

Reason im making this thread is because i found that his thread lacked good pictures. there are scans that help but pictures would be more helpful especially for a noob like myself. so this is for all the other newbies.

Please read RR's thread before this one. i have read his a few times over before attempting the ATF change.



ok so here we go.


First locate the ATF fill bolt. i had to move my fuse box in order to get to it.



Your going to need an extension to get to it.


Remove the cover in order to get to the Drain bolt


Locate the drain bolt



Once it is done draining then measure the amount that drained out. i used an old milk gallon jug and measured 3 quarts and marked it with a marker. you can see its not all the way to the line but thats because i think i splilled some on the ground when draining.


Your going to need a long funnel to reach the fill bolt. Also make sure you put the drain bolt back on before filling (yes i forgot to the last time because i went and ate some lunch while it was draining )


Now fill with 3 quarts of ATF. i used Honda Z1


When your done check the dip stick



All in all its pretty easy but if your attempting this for the first time hopefully the pictures above help you out. i know i wish i had detailed pics when i did it the first time.

 

thank you!! i was stuck finding the fill plug. i'm actually doing this right now! thanks once again!

 

quick question...i'm having a bit of trouble moving the fuse assembly around to access the atf fill bolt. I can see it but my ratchet extension cant reach all the way down there unless I get enough clearance from the fuse assembly.

 

your probably going to need a longer extension. you can see in the pic that im actually using two extensions. i was only able to move the fuse box a couple inches out of the way. also the part that attaches fuse box to the strut bar isnt on mine since i have an aftermarket strut bar and i removed it.

 

thank you for the diy, its very details.

 

thanks again op. looks like i dont have an extension long enough to reach the fill plug. looks like i'm just going to fill it through the transmission fluid dipstick. it looks like i'm gonna need a new funnel too since mine won't fit...lol

 

Your welcome!! glad i could help out.

 

You can also remove the battery and get to the fill plug underneath the intake.
Good pics OP. Helps to fill in the gaps in RR's original thread.

 

Yep pictures are really worth a thousand words. Good write up man. Not that I do my own services anymore but if I need to now I know how...

 

Wow just what i was looking for thanx alot this is a great DIY.
Now to actually go go do it.

 

Good read.

 

Your thread, and Road Rage thread made my life a whole lot easier. Thank you!!!

 

So,Itake it you did this 3 times and went out for a ride in between each one, correct? That's where it gets to be a pain because it's up and down which is not easy on a lowered car.

 

Your Welcome guys



TLAdvanced, i actually did the 3x3 over the course of a month. i did the first one about a month ago then the 2nd two weeks ago and yesterday i did the last ATF change to complete the 3x3.

i have a low profile jack since i am lowered a good amount (im lower then what the pic in my avi shows) so its not really that hard to get the car up for me.

 

nice write up and pics. for any of u guys that haven't done this before it's almost as easy as changing the oil. i didn't move the fuse box, i just used a long ratchet extension and a long funnel to pour in the new tranny oil.

 

I can't even begin to imagine how much money I'm saving with all of the DIYs on the site! woo!

 

Do you recycle the oil on the 3x3?

 

^yes always recycle your old oil or transmission oil. u can take it to a jiffy lube or other similar place and they take it for free because i think they get some sort of write off or state kickback for the recycling.

 

so i guess i'm a little confused about this 3x3 concept. do you guys put in 3 new quarts every time you refill? That's 9 quarts if my count is correct.

 

it really helps having a 1/2 inch extension bar btw.

 

Can you do this without an extension bar? Just wondering. And how much of an extension is needed for those who've done it?

 

i have a 10" extension with a 1/2" socket.

 

Is this ONLY for automatics? I have a 6spd. Also would this be similar procedure if doing this on a automativ MDX 2003 same engine except 3.5? TIA

 

Yes this is only for auto transmission.

here are links from the garage for the manual tranny:
https://acurazine.com/forums/ramblings-12/valentines-day-haiku-93452/
https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/omg-audi-a4-1-8t-114948/
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120619
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146299

 

Something to add:

Torque the fill bolt to 36 lbs and the drain bolt to 33 lbs. It will make the job much easier next time you need to do it. The last person who did mine tightened them so hard I had to use a two foot pipe on a breaker bar to get both bolts out. Luckily they came out with no damage.

 

Where's your EDFC?

Nice write-up w/ pics.

 

Btw, I didn't have an extension to access the ATF fill bolt so I just ended up filling through the dipstick access area with a funnel wrapped with rubber hose that would fit into the dipstick area.

 

lol No EDFC... to much $$$$$. im so broke right now... lol

how long did it take you to get all 3 quarts in thru that small hole? i would also imagine that it would be hard to check the dip stick for the right measurement if the entire tube is coated in ATF. but then again you can measure the amount that came out before filling like i did. i alwasy like to double check tho.

 

it took me about 10 minutes to get all 3 quarts into the dipstick area. I also had to periodically check with a flashlight to see if any ATF was leaking.

In the end, it looks like I actually overfilled on ATF since the dipstick fluid marker is above the highest dot..uhoh..should be fine though.

 

What would be the effect(s) of overfilling the ATF?

BTW, thanks for the write-up and answers to my questions.

 

When checking the ATF, make sure your car is on level ground and its up to op temp (at least a couple rad fan cycles). Then check the level with the car on or right after you turned it off. Overfilling the ATF may cause slipping, possibly amplify any issues with the trans.. but slightly overfilling shouldn't be an issue.

You can siphon out excess ATF through the dipstick with an IV line and a 60cc syringe...

 

at 30k i just change my ATF and save $80 bucks thanks for the diy procedure.

 

That's all you have to do for the tranny? Drain and fill? I thought you have to have the car running, go through gears etc. Hmmm. This actually looks easy enough to tackle myself. Thanks for this thread! The pics are awesome!

 

You should do it three times for a complete change.

If you plan on doing it in one day then you have to bring the car back down and run thru all the gears then do the change again.

i did the 3x3 in a month. i would just do one change on the weekend when i had time.

 

Thanks for the post and pictures.

I started changing my TL's ATF yesterday. It took a breaker bar to remove the drain plug (pictured below). After about 22,000 miles, this is what it looks like. I think the end is magnetized to gather the metal shavings. The ATF was dark amber in color.

By the way, I didn't jack the car up on four jack. Instead, I let it drained overnight on the ground. I am debating whether or not to re-fill through the re-fill hole or through the dipstick. I want to minimize the amount of work I have to do.

 

lol.. yeah a new tranny on it's first change, there'll definitely be some metal in there. The dipstick is the easiest way, probably also the most sterile. It'll take you more time to get the ~2.7 qts in there but it'll save you lots of time by not having to remove the intake & maneuver your funnel back there.. plus it's so easy to add / remove ATF through the dipstick as well in case you put too much or too little.

 

For those who want to re-fill ATF via the dipstick route, you can buy vinyl tubing that has outside diameter (OD) of 3/8 inch at Lowe's. This fits inside the dipstick tube perfectly. I bought 4 feet of 3/8" OD x 1/4" ID to refill the ATF today.

Also, my TL drained a little over 4 qts of ATF overnight, contrary to the typical amount of 3 qts that I have been reading.

When I was filling the ATF via the dipstick, I kept wondering how and where the air inside the transmission escapes in exchange for the new ATF that was being poured in? With the drain bolt replaced, it was essentially a close system? Anyone knows?

Not knowing where the displaced air goes, I poured in the new ATF in incremental amount. It took about 15 minutes to replace 4 qts of ATF-Z1, which looks too much like cough syrup!

 

After getting my car back, the oil change was due and I decided to change the ATF. There was a strauss near by the shop I took to get the oil. I went, got some royal purple, and Mobil 1 ATF, 3 of them. I also picked up a bumper bully :P

The shop guys had a difficult time locating the ATF fill bolt. They never worked with a TL before so I stuck close examining their work and making sure they didnt fk up anything. The shifts feel a lot smoother. Is it recommended to change it out again for another drain/fill next oil change?

 

Acura states that the 3x3 method is the best way to change most of the transmission fluid.

However, I drained and re-filled my ATF and one week later I drained and re-filled again. The fluid looked pretty much new and there were no metal shavings on the drain bolt. I actually felt like it was a waste of good fluid.

In the future I think I am just going to drain and re-fill every 30k or so.


I also used a rubber tubing as an intermediary adapter between the dipstick hole and my funnel.

As for the drain, I actually was only able to drain a little less than 3 quarts both times I drained my fluid. I did not leave it to drain overnight however.

 

Just wondering if anyone tried the following tool to extract transmission oil from the dipstick hole. If so, can you get 3 quart of oil out?

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...d+extractor.do