veo

does transmition fluid have to be flushed or can it just be drained out and new fluid added.
Is it necessary to remove all old fluid?
Can the old fluid be sucked out with a pump instead of draining under the car?

Wampum

All you have to do is drain and fill regularly. I believe for the 3.2TL the recommend 30k mile intervals

Cornflake

Yeah, I just had mine done and I had them change the filter and obviously gasket at the same time. I forgot how smooth this car was SUPPOSED to shift! Works great!! (Normally you don't change the filter, but it's a good friend who owns the tranny shop so I had them do it cause it was cheap), MSRP for filter - $125! My cost - $25!!! Gasket was like $40.

GSteg

I guess you can suck out the old fluid, but why? lol. Just drain it or have someone flush it.

hinesktchp

i got mine serviced today at the dealer and they would not flush my tranny, they said acura reccommends that you dont flush it. i have a 98 3.2

GSteg

That's weird. Honda/Acura dealers here and in some other place have flushing services.

I know they dont recommend Engine oil flush, but tranny flush?

hinesktchp

thats what i thought but thats defintly what the guy told me.

c29842984

A lot of places don't care what Honda says but you're not supposed to flush Honda automatic transmissions. Drain and fill only.

Mandy

Change it every 30K miles, meaning, drain and fill. Will extend life of the tranny. Noticeable lesser "clung" and roughness on shift.

veo

what type of transmition fluid is best? is there genuine honda transmition fluid?

c29842984

I would recommend you use Honda ATF-Z1 though I've heard you can use regular Dexron III and add a friction modifier and it will work just fine.

Cornflake

Yup, that's what I did last week. Works fine.

Mandy

Honda ATF-Z1, not expensive, recommended, no thinking twice. Stock pile them! Every 12,000 miles, drain and fill, keeps it fresh and so it can go...go...and go.....

veo

How many quarts of transmition fluid? Manuel doesn't say.

c29842984

I'd get 5 to be safe but you'll need at least 4. At least I did.

98TL

where is the screw located?

pi1996

about where the gear shifter is.. its written "ATF" with an arrow to bolt..

if you can read, you can't go wrong. heheh..

veo

At the dealer they said I only needed 2 maybee 3 quarts. should i go back and get more? how many quarts has everyone else put in?

c29842984

Well it's supposed to take 2.9 quarts for a drain and fill. When I dropped my pan I had to put in 4 full quarts. When I did a drain and fill it took 3.5.

veo

some say don't change the filter others say you should. i'm confused.

GSteg

You don't normally change the filter because most of the time, it still works fine. There is nothing wrong with changing the filter. Then again, I have a friend who changes his filter and fluid at ever 3k miles. He has a legend and legends are known to have very rough shift from 1st to 2nd gear. His car is smoother than a lot of new cars. You wouldn't even be able to feel it shift unless you floor it. But hey, if his method works, I don't see why you shouldn't either (change the filter, not change every 3k)

veo

i called the dealer, they said no need to change the filter. also, autozone said the same thing.