New pressure switches arrive tomorrow.... hopefully this will take care of my delayed shifting into 1st from park. Up to 3 seconds in this cold weather (25 - 30F) bah! NOT what I wanted to feel in this replacement transmission. Also may start doing a 1x1 at a time to lightweight racing ATF.. running D4 at the moment.

 

Both of those will help. The lightweight racing fluid is a good idea considering your temperature. Looking forward to the results.

 

Ok, cool, I will def go this route of I end up doing it that way, or try to get the shutter to get consistent real quick and then bring it back and replace this transmission and start fresh with the Redling fluid! Thanks again


Chayos not a bad idea just might do that!

 

i had the delay from shifting into 1st from park also, but after switching to the Racing ATF, i don't get the delay anymore

 

I did a 3x3 with OEM ATF back in April (about 6-7k miles ago). I'm going to be doing the pressure switches next week.

So I was wondering, can I slowly do a 1x3 every 5k miles with new Redline fluid or do I have to do a 3x3?

 

Yes, you can do one every 5k if you wish.

The timing between each drain/refill is not critical. Just do what is convenient for you. It is up to you to decide how quickly you wish to reach your goal.

 

Ok, thanks. I was kind of worried about mixing type f and the oem stuff.

 

Redline D4 ATF, Redline Racing ATF, and Redline Ligthweight Racing ATF is fully compatible with the oem Z1 ATF.

 

I have a 2009 Honda CRV 4 wheel Drive. What do you recommend for that?

 

The "racing" fluid for the entire Honda lineup except the CVT.

 

FYI For you guys, Honda Z-1 ATF is now discontinued. It's replacement is already on shelves for the transmission, and as well there is new gear oil for SH-AWD cars.

 

If I do a 3x3 with Racing, that should make it 80% Racing and 20% ATF-Z1.
Should I be worried about the Viscosity? Do I need to use some Lightweight?

 

The less Z1 you have the better.

If you're worried about the higher viscosity, do one of your fills with Redline lightweight racing. Same exact stuff, lower viscosity.

 

Tell me more about this new gear oil for the SH-AWD. I had the SH-AWD trans fluid service done on my MDX about 6 months ago. I'm guessing they did not use the new fluid. I'm wondering if I should swap it out just because.

 

Dont Redline make CVT Fluid Also?

 

Yep. They make the non slip CVT for Nissan and most other CVTs and then the Honda stuff. I'm using it in the GF's Murano now. People on the Murano forums think I'm crazy for using it but I see it as the same thing as how everyone here was afraid to use anything but Z1 a few years ago. I've had it in for 30,000 miles and it's better than new.

I've never used the Honda version but I wouldn't be afraid to if I had a Honda CVT.

 

All, I haven't read any posts about "colder" temperatures, so I figured I'd write a quick blurb. This morning it was 28 degrees F and rose to 30 degrees when I got to work. I took all local streets with plenty of traffic lights to see how the car shifted (I've done a 3x3 refill with Racing ATF). I felt no perceivable difference during the 15 min. drive. So, that was nice to see.

Anyone from Minnesota with comments?

 

I would like to know this as well. Temps where I live occasionally go down to -10F or colder for a couple of days in the winter (with sub 32F temps common; it's around 20F outside right now).

 

For those concerned with cold weather pump-ability -

What I have done in the past (with motor oil) was to place a sample of each oil in the freezer overnight. Next day, swirl the samples around in the container to check thickness. A person can learn a lot this way. Firsthand info too.

I have learned some scary stuff this way. Can you say "molasses".

I have done this with motor oil, but have never did it with the ATF.

Sounds like a good idea. Tonight, I will compare the Racing against the Lightweight Racing.

EDIT - I am out of Racing ATF. All I have is Lightweight Racing. No testing for me tonight.

Thinking about either engine oil or ATF being too thick to adequately flow upon a cold start-up sends chills down my back (pun intended ).

 

I've got 1/2 quart of racing fluid left over.

It's a 10cSt which puts it at the low end of a 30wt. I've heard it qualifies as a 5w-30 on the low end but that's just hearsay at this point. Should be fine. I've done the freezer test on the Amsoil ACD straight 30 and it swished around just fine. I found out that it has to be in the freezer at least 24 hours.

 

I forgot to indicate that the molasses comment was when I tested 30, 40, and 50 weights of engine oil when I was younger. The 50w was molasses if I recall correctly.

Regarding it being in the freezer at least 24 hours. I would think just long enough for the temp to stabilize. Sort of the opposite of being heat-soaked. Plus to make it a realistic test, I would leave it in the freezer as long as the car would be sitting outside without being started. Well. the oil being placed in the freezer would need to be heated up to 160* or so first to fully mimic real life. For me, the longest would be from Friday evening until Monday morning. But then, we need to take into consideration that the weather does not usually stay below freezing during daytime. Well, maybe for some folks....... Ouch, my head is hurting from thinking too much.

 

hmm, So I was at a shop today and they said they never stocked Type F or no one has ordered it in a long time. Doesn't surprise me but then one of the guys told me that people use Type F to get a little harsher/firmer shift. Kind of reassured my decision to switch to Type F.

I will be picking up 6 quarts tomorrow and my 3rd and 4th gear switches should be here tomorrow too. I'm going to order 3 quarts of lightweight racing for my 2nd and 3rd drain and refill.

 

It was surprising that the oil continued to thicken out past the 12 hour mark. You could leave it in the freezer for the exact time your car would normally be down overnight but I was looking for a worst case scenario with the oil as cold as possible.

The synthetics are amazing in the cold. There's a point somewhere out there where the Z1 will end up thicker than the Redline racing. It will probably be in the negatives but at some point the racing will be thinner in an extremely cold climate.

 

I'm in Chicago, so I can relay my experience with cold weather. It's not quite Minnesota, but not too far off.

In previous winters I have always had only Honda-Z1 ATF in my trans and I always noticed some pretty rough and slow shifting on cold morning until the transmission would warm up.

A couple months ago I did a single drain and fill with Redline -- 1qt Lightweight Racing and 2qt Racing -- so my trans fluid is now roughly:
- 60% Honda-Z1 ATF
- 27% Redline Racing ATF
- 13% Redline Lightweight Racing ATF

This past week has been the first very cold week of the winter. The temp hasn't been above freezing in roughly a week. This morning it was 12 degrees as I was heading out to work. I must say that the rough shifts I used to notice in previous winters was hardly there this past week... at least I didn't really notice it anyway. Tomorrow morning it is supposed to be 2 degrees, so that will be the real test.

 

Great info! I wanted to do at least a single drain soon and all the tested benefits of these fluids sound well worth any extra cost. Thanks again guys for all your knowledge and dedication!

 

Ok ordered the lightweight and the reg racing- already have my pressure switches. Looking forward to the firmer shifting. Thanks to IHC and Inaccurate for being the guinea pigs on this one. I am new to this forum and am very glad I found it.

 

I'm moving to Arkansas next year and trying to figure out if that climate "requires" Lightweight racing or will the Racing ATF be viscous enough in the winter...

 

Any comments on running 10-40 on the engine?

 

It's fine in your climate. Many Hondas overseas show a 40wt as being acceptable. Over here they have to show a 20wt for all climates as part of the CAFE requirement or get fined.

Just food for thought, if your 20wt cools from 212 to 200 it's now a 30wt. Cool it off to 185 it's a 40wt. This happens regularly during the driving cycle. There's a max viscosity requirement during extreme cold to where it won't flow sufficiently and a minimum low viscosity requirement when hot where you run into excessive wear. Anywhere in between is ok.

 

I just had a thought, Say we have 30% Z1 and 70% Type F.

If Z1 doesn't last as long as the Redline and oxidizes easily. How would it affect the fluid?

 

I run Redline 5W30 in the winter months and 10W40 the other months

 

Has anyone used Royal Purple Engine Oil.
I run 5w-30 in my 07 TL.
Just trying to see if anyone else uses it?

 

There's been a few on here that have used it. For the price you can get better oils.

My personal reasons for not using it are a low HTHS and the teardowns I've seen on high output street/racing engines.

The TL is not a race car but some of what you see in racing trickles down into street cars. If you have 2 oils and one produces nearly 0 wear and the engine looks like new inside after hard use while the other is nearly past the rebuildable stage, which would you use?

This is not always true but many times when you see an oil perform better under racing conditions even for a short interval, it's nearly the same as a street engine going many more miles..... So over time and many miles, the one that performs better in a race engine will probably perform better in a street engine too.

 

So I did a 1x3 with Racing Type F. Feels like the shifts are quicker. It isn't as sloppy.

Weird thing though, I checked the fluid (dipstick) before the 1x3 and after 30 miles after 1x3 and it turned (browner?). I'm not sure if it's in my head or not but it's kind of brown now. I've only had the Z1 for about 8k miles. It smells the same as before.

Should I wait 500 miles or should I do another 1x3 tomorrow? I have 3 more quarts.

 

You might as well do it tomorrow, no reason not to.

 

Alright, maybe I'll order another 6 quarts over the weekend as well. Hopefully a 4x3 will make it look red again.

 

I wouldn't worry about the color. My Redline seems to get slightly darker right away but then it doesn't change anymore for the entire interval. The Amsoil on the other hand stayed cherry red the whole time. The Redline shows much less metal on the magnet. The red is just dye. As long as it smells ok there's probably nothing to worry about. I say this because we know the base oil is just about the best out there so it's a safe assumption it's no oxidizing.

 

Thanks, good to know.

By the way, how many miles have you been running with Type F now?

 

I'll have to go back and check but I think it's around 13,000 miles, might be more.

 

Off subject trans fluid question, and sorry for butting in.

My gal's 2010 Ford Fusion, 20k mile, about 1 year old. Had oil change from a Valvoline shop, they said trans fluid was very dark and highly recommends a fluid change. Also said this was the second one "this week" with this same issue. Used Valvoline Max Life synthetic based on a call to the Valvoline call center, this vehicle was not in their database yet. She got it home and i looked at the fluid. Fluid was much darker than any trans fluid I have ever seen, and it smelled like BO (body odor).

Ford now has it and says its no longer under warranty until the Valvoline fluid is approved. Also, that car has a 150k mile life on the trans fluid. They say the fluid does get dark quick and has a green tinge to help detect leaks. But they wont even look at it without a charge to me until the fluid is approved

So issue, does BO smelling fluid sound normal? And any other thoughts? Sorry sorry butting in on this thread, but i know a lot of smart people have been on this thread and i really need some quick help. Thanks!