Road Rage

OK, I have about 2000 miles on the Amsoil ATF, and it has performed [perfectly - I have not experienced one iota of the scary "shift quality may be affected" as mentioned in the Owner's Manual.

Consider a couple of things if you are considering the Amsoil ATF:

1) It has about 1/3 the oxidation rate of regular Dexron III - oxidation leaves varnish deposits on valves and clutches - the enemy of modern auto trannies.
2) It has a fraction of the wear rate for Dexron III - about a fourfold reduction
3) It provides the best horsepower and fuel efficiency when cold. The Dexron III spec allows for a Brookfield viscosity in cold temps of about 20,000 - Amsoil is about 7800. This means that unhtil the fluid heats up, there will be far less power loss to the transmission trying to pump the ATF.
4) The PAO base stocks of Amsoil both create less heat, absorb more heat, and exchange it into the air (liquid to air cooling) more effectively than regular ATF. Since heat is a significant wear factor for auto trannies, especially transaxles like ours which perform double duty, then this can be the difference between long life and super long life, especially in very hot climates, if you tow, or live in San Francisco.

Amsoil specs their ATF as Z-1 compatible, and the Amsoil warranty should apply if there is a lube related failure.

If I did not use this fluid, I would change the fluid every year, as this tranny's endurance is still suspect. I would not go by Honda's change recommendation, unless the fluid were Amsoil's ATF.

I feel quite confident at this point to give this my unqualified recommendation as an aftermarket fill for the TL.

(BTW, I once tried Mobil1 "Universal" ATF in an Accord, and it flared (RPM shot up) when coming to a stop and dropping into 1st gear. This was because the friction coefficients were not ideal. It took 3 drain/refill cycles with Honda ATF to get it back to normal. So it was not until I saw Amsoil's Z-1 spec that i ventured down that street again, and so far, so good. That is why i waited to endorse this fluid.)

Repecat

RR, at what mileage did you change to the Amsoil ATF? Additionally, do you have a target mileage to change out or replentish the ATF? Is there any practicable way to measure the temp. differential between the Amsoil and Honda fluid? Sorry for all the questions, but this is an interesting topic.

Road Rage

1) 1000
2) 1000
3) No, my scanners do not display tranny temp - i would have to go into the PCM to get that. But I have seen drops of between 10-50 degrees in other applications.

jk2000

Sorry this may seem like a stupid question, but do the 2004 tl's have transmission filters that need to be replaced with the drain and refill procedure?