I have an 04 TL with almost 145k on it. Just bought it not too long ago, and the oil got changed before i bought it, but I'm not too sure about the tranny fluid. Ive been searching around and I'm pretty sure i know how to do it, but just want to make sure. Drain 3qts, then fill 3qts? Drive the car for about 5k miles or so then do it for the second time, and so on? What should i drain the fluid into so i know I've drained exactly 3qts?

 

The 3 quarts applies to the refill quantity, not the drain quantity. So just drain the ATF for 20 minutes (you can even drain longer if you want) and refill with 3 quarts.

Some people do the ATF flush by time (drive for 1 month and do the next ATF flush), but I did it with every oil change since I had to work in that area of the car anyway.

 

Oh! So i drain all of it, then i fill it back up? 3qts is how much it takes to fill up completely, correct?

 

Yup, that's exactly how I did it. Each time I did it that way, the ATF dipstick had the fluid edging on the high side, but it was still within the high and low measurements.

Make sure to properly check your ATF. Hondas/Acuras are very picky when it comes to these sort of things.

Taken from page 209 in your owner's manual (under the section Maintenance)

1. Park the vehicle on level ground.
   Shut off the engine.
   
2. Within 60 to 90 seconds, remove the dipstick (yellow loop) from the transmission, and wipe it with a clean cloth.
   
3. Insert the dipstick all the way into the transmission securely.
   
4. Remove the dipstick, and check the fluid level. It should be between the upper and lower marks.
   
5. If the level is below the lower mark, add fluid into the filler hole to bring it to the upper mark.

 

Okay, just so I know for sure. I drain all the ATF fluid at once, refill with new, and drive for about 5K miles. Then I do again for the second time, then again for the third? Which ATF do you recommend? I don't know about putting redline in my car with such high miles & it being an 04

 

OP, look at the topics in the Service Department. There are a few DIYs on how to do a 3 x 3, including a paper from Honda/Acura...

 

Drain as much as you can get out of it, pour in enough to put the fluid level towards the top but not over the line.

This just happens to usually be about 3 QT out and 3 QT back in. Don't just blindly pour in 3 qts, it's not hard to check the level.

 

Yes, that's the gist of it.

I stuck with Honda DW-1 and have had no issues with it in my 04 TL.

 

1k miles between each would be enough..

 

I've searched around a bit, and some people have said that doing a 3x3 drain at this high mileage isn't good? My ATF is low, so should I just add some DW-1 or do a complete refill?

 

I would probably do a drain and fill.
no 3x3

 

3x3 at that mileage won't hurt anything. I've done changes on cars with over 200,000 miles, no problems.

 

this^

 

So, basically just a 1x3? Just completely drain it then put new OEM in it?

 

yeah, drive a few hundred more miles so the trans get used to the change, then do a 2x3, drive few hundred more and do 3x3.

 

yes. if its 04-06 you should think about doing the pressure switches. a new filter wouldnt hurt either.

 

A 1X4 will only get a small amount of the existing fluid out. These cars aren't like domestics where you can do a full drain and fill. The purpose of the 1X3 is the slowly introduce the fluid incrementally so you don't "shock" the transmission.

I bought my car with 130,000 miles on it and it has 143,000 miles on it now. I did my 3X3 and pressure switches all at once in a 2,000 miles window. All is well.

 

It's not the mileage of the trans that mattres, it's the mileage of the fluid. If the fluid has never been changed in 145,000 miles you might want to introduce new fluid slower by doing a 1x3, drive for a while then another 1x3, etc.

Youre putting new detergents into the system. If you have very old fluid and a bunch of "crap' in the system, a load of new fluid with new detergents can clean it and break it off in chunks and plug stuff up. Introducing the fluid slowly cleans it more gently since it's diluted with old fluid. If you do a 1x3 and drive for a few hundred miles you'll be cleaning the trans but at a slower rate and you'll drain it all out when you do the next 1x3.

The odds of a 3x3 hurting even a high mileage trans with fluid that has never been changed is slim but it's a precaution that a few of us take. Most of the time you can do a 3x3 on a high mileage fluid with no problems.

If the trans has high miles and the fluid has been changed regularly, you can do what you want, no danger in doing a 3x3.

 

just FYI- your threads have been merged.

 

This.