Hey all.

I recently acquired a 2004 TL and immediately serviced it like any sensible car owner :P. Among other things, I did a 3x3 complete drain & refill on the ATF with Honda DW-1. On the last drain & refill, I brought it to my mechanic because it also needed the 100k service.

Afterwards, my mechanic informed me not to flush the ATF too often anymore, doing it only once every 2 years or so. He told me that the car slipped a little when shifting around from R, N, and D. He also said that even though I had drained and refilled the ATF a month ago, the amount of metal shavings stuck on it was about the same as if I drained and refilled it a year ago.

He guessed that the previous owner of the car probably didn't change the ATF at all, and it was still running the same fluid as the day it left the dealership. The original fluid thickened, and the torque converter got used to the resistance, but now that the fluid are back to the normal viscosity, the torque converter might be working a little harder than necessary, causing the increased metal shavings.

Thought I'd let all of you know. If there's anything I might have gotten wrong, then please let me know!

 

Dealers know absolutely nothing about transmissions. Not a whole lot about cars for that matter lol.

The last thing you ever want to do is listen to what a dealer has to say about the 5at. They've proven time and time again to be incompetent.

A transmission can't "get used to" oxidized fluid. Putting thinner fresh fluid can't make anything work harder.

The torque converter clutch is the only clutch in the transmission designed to slip. If it were excessively slipping, there would be a lot of clutch material, not metal in the oil.

The magnet can only hold so much metal. Once it gets saturated, it won't hold anymore. What happened is you did a 2x3 or maybe a 3x3, it sounds like so you have around 50% new fluid. The remaining old fluid coated the magnet by the time you made it to the dealer. Even if you did a 3x3, it's completely normal for the magnet to pick up a good but of metal afterwards. It's old metal, not new metal.

Once I swapped fluids to a very good fluid which nearly eliminates wear, I was still getting metal on the magnet 2 or 3 3x3s later. After that I finally started getting less metal. Now I can change it after 20,000 miles or more and have practically nothing on the magnet.

 

Thanks for the clarification! I've read a lot on the failures of Honda AT during this generation so I'm aiming to be very careful with how I tread.

To clear things up, my car doesn't slip when shifting around 1-5, whether it's WOT or light acceleration. It only "slips" when going from N to D or N to R. What happens is it takes about 1.5-2 seconds for the transmission to feel like it's locked the engine to the driveshaft. I don't know if it can even be called slipping, but I can't find another word to describe it. I've driven other AT cars and it has never taken that long for the transmission to lock-in.

I'm just worried if I do more 3x3's, the problem I mentioned will worsen, and soon I might be slipping around gears 1-5.

 

It's a common issue. When you shift from park to drive, the trans actually hits 3rd gear briefly and then 1st gear. This reduces the shock or jerk to the driver. It's always going to have a little delay but replacing the pressure switches will reduce this delay and help the trans live longer along with smoother downshifts.

It's a double bump and if you hit the gas before it hits first gear it will feel like it's slipping but it's not actually slipping.

 

danggg this guy garage must be better than a million dollar dealership. dammyn.

 

You got it.

 

OHHHHHH THIS IS WHY, when i go from anything to D, it's like kinda-D, then D! haha thought tranny was bad phew

 

you better read up on alot of threads. IHC has been helping the Azine community for years!

 

Thanks. That was one of several threads that night that he trolled on. He tends to search for my threads just to post crap like that. The good thing is most people know not to listen to him, some of his advice would do some serious damage if it were taken seriously. Ironically he's a dealer technician. Pretty scary.