High Mileage 3G TL, Transmission Fluid To Do Or Not To Do?
 

Hey what's up guys I got a great deal on a 2005 Automatic TL with about 185K Miles, (1st owner was from Boston). I am the 3rd owner on this vehicle. My transmission feels good, no hard shifting, etc. so when I checked the ATF fluid it was not pink. Unfortunately I do not the last time the ATF fluid was drained. I was thinking of doing the 3x3 Acura method on the transmission, for example

1. Drain and fill, drive around for one month
2. Drain and fill, drive around for one month
3. Drain and fill for the last time.

Do you guys recommend this to be done at this mileage? Or do you recommend it within another method? (For example wait less or longer between fills and drains) Any recommendations as far as this goes, any inputs or suggestions will be gladly accepted.

P.S. - The ATF fluid I will be using is OEM Honda.

Very Slow and steady.

I would do one drain / refill - drive 5-10k miles then do another, etc rinse repeat.

yes the 3x3 is the recommended method.

thank you for the suggestions guys

yep I would do every drain when you changing engine oil.

Do the drain and fill. I have 285,000 miles and still going on the original trans with just simple maintenance .

I would do a drain and fill with the Honda DW-1 fluid, and again the next few oil changes until the fluid drains like new.

:nod:

I would do a single drain fill but also do the sensors instead of wasting time and money doing two additional refills.

If you read the owner's manual, the only reason for doing a 3x3 is when you put the wrong ATF in your car and you wish to flush the entire system. If the previous owners used the Z1/DW1 you are fine doing a single flush. I highly doubt that the original ATF is in the car.

How's your tranny shifting? What's the color and more important smell of the fluid? All these things to consider when replacing fluid. I'm a believer that if your fluid is already burnt and full of shaving then you'll do more harm replacing it but if not burnt and minimal shavings then go for it. 3x3 flush for me is actually a single 3qrt flush every 5k miles with my oil change. Forgot i use redline D4 for atm fluid. Good luck.

Thats outstanding! You probably hold the record for the longest lasting 5AT. What is your maintenance schedule? Please share fluid type and intervals changed. How often have you replaced the pressure switches? I assume you drive a ton of highway miles?

As others suggested, I'd recommend doing a 3x3, with the intervals being every time you change your oil. I'd also suggest changing your oil 3 times while you're working on your ATF. As others also have said, I'd also recommend doing your pressure switches AND transmission filter on your last 3x3 since you'll be working in that area anyway. The parts aren't expensive, but after 285k, I'm sure at least the filter could use a replacement.

Just my :2cents: but even if your ATF has never been changed since it rolled out of the dealership, I'd say change it anyway. After all, the ATF will be broken down anyway after so many years and so many mileage, and the factory ATF isn't exactly a non-serviceable item anyway (if you even believe in lifetime ATF).

I'd also recommend changing the brake fluid and power steering fluid because you don't know how well the previous owners serviced the car, or what kind of fluids they put into the system. Since changing all the fluids isn't that expensive, even if you go the OEM route, and the proper fluids is the best maintenance you can do for you car, I'd say it's worth the extra work to protect your new investment.

For the ATF, I used Honda DW-1 fluid and have had no problems so far. Although other people here may recommend Redline or Amsoil, I'll stick by the OEM. However, definitely do not use Honda Z1; the Z1 ATF was a big reason why the 04-05 TLs had such high transmission failure rates.

Thank you on the input guys

resurrecting an old thread here:

I asked this on the DIY for ATF but haven't gotten a reply yet...

I have 07 TLS at 90K
Tranny runs great and has been well maintained.

I drained the fluid but got 4 quarts out, not 3 like 99% of the posts I've read. Car was level when drained too.
So I replaced 4 quarts...
No issues yet and the dipstick indicates I'm at the correct level.

WTF?!

should I have only put in 3 quarts?

Has anyone else heard of this?

If the level was correct when you started, it should not be a huge deal. The transmission actually holds about nine quarts in total I believe. What I would do now is check the fluid level at multiple conditions. Check it completely cold and then immediately after a drive within ninety seconds of the engine being off. Both of these are old Honda methods. I actually drained out about 3 1/2 once and my level was perfect from the start.

makes complete sense and you're right - the level that was in it before the drain is where it sits now a week later.

I checked it multiple times today with subtle variances - I'll have to check when cold though.

Thanks for your insight!

You are welcome. The best way is to think about it logically and just measure what you drain.

Done my tl quite a few times and after drain it take 3.75 quarts to get it full per the dipstick.

good to know, I seriously thought I was tripping - cuz it was 4 quarts in both the MDX and TL but every tutorial says 3 quarts... very misleading.

trannies shifting souper smooth in both now.

I am at 120K, did the switches at 90K and performed a 1X3 every 10K. Next is the transmission filter. Bought my 04 new and noticed the slip around 70K about 4 years ago. So far so good, so I recommend replacing the fluids. But the switches are very important to do. I think about every 20K, is when I will do my future 1X3's. I also get a little bit more than 3 quarts, didn't think much about it. Made sure the fill line was where it should be.