rx280

My ’04 is approaching the 54,000-mile mark and I’ve decided it’s high time that I replace the coolant, the manual transmission fluid and the brake fluid – all for the first time. (I’ve been changing the oil – conventional, not synthetic – every 3,500 miles or so.) I know the diehard do-it-yourselfers here will say I’m nuts not to tackle the three fluid changes myself, and I agree with that in concept, but my lack of a garage and much of the equipment I’d need pretty much rules that out. Consequently, I’m weighing these options:
 Have a local independent shop do it. (Of course, I’d make every attempt to be sure that they had the right, Acura-compatible fluids.) I haven’t attempted to find out what they’d charge.
 Try to get the best mechanic from that shop to do the labor for me as a side job. The guy I have in mind did some some work for me on the side a couple of times in the past, but the most recent of those times was nearly 10 years ago and I have no idea whether he’d still be willing and/or available. (I’d buy the fluids beforehand.) Because it’s been so long since he did a job for me, I haven’t much of a clue as to what he’d charge. I’ll just take a wild guess and say $100; I might be way off.
 Let my local stealership do it. I got a price quote from the service department today. Here it is:
Coolant (flush and replace) -- $90
MT fluid -- $85
Brake fluid (flush and replace) -- $110
Total -- $285
I’m looking for opinions of that quote, especially from people who have a good idea of what the fluids themselves cost and the amount of labor involved. I’m not sure whether the quote is based on a book-rate computing of the time these three fluid changes “should” take, but that probably doesn’t matter. That’s the price I was given; I don’t think it’s negotiable. The basic question is whether the quote is so high that the stealership option ought to be ruled out.
I’m also asking the experts to confirm that these are the “right” fluids:
MT – Honda MTF or GM Syncromesh FM
Brake – Honda Heavy Duty DOT 3
Coolant – Honda
Also, if you could let me know how much I’d need to buy to ensure having enough of each, that would help. Sure, I could look it up, but some of you guys may have the numbers pretty much committed to memory.
Thanks in advance for your opinions and information.
(By the way, the assistant service manager at the dealership, with whom I was speaking by phone, chastised me, in a slightly veiled way, for waiting this long to do these fluid replacements. If I’m remembering correctly, he said the brake fluid should have been changed at 30,000 miles and the coolant at 40,000. None of that jibed with my recollection of what the service schedule in the manual and on Acura Owner Link says, so I asked him: “Are those your service department’s recommendations or are they in the owner’s manual?” His response was that they’re in the manual. I tried to semi-tactfully indicate that I thought he was wrong. You guys agree?)

loulinjai

I believe the owners manual states brake fluid is to be replaced every 3 yrs, independent on mileage. My local honda dealer (using Heavy Duty DOT 3) charged me 53+ tax (fluid and labor included). I think your Acura dealer is......very profitable haha

PACman

I did my brake fluid flush and replacement at 70K miles. I used 1 bottle of Honda DOT 3 brake fluid, but bought 2 bottles just in case. $7 for 2 bottles. 30K brake fluid and 40K coolant changes is crazy. Follow Acura's service manual and you'll be fine. BTW, I'm at 78K miles, and haven't done coolant nor MT tranny fluid changes, but will come 80K.

jlukja

To drain and refill your radiator you need 1.35 gallons of coolant. It costs around $8-$10/gal. at my local Honda dealership so you'll need 2 gallons. The service schedule says to replace the coolant at 120k mi. and then every 60K mi. thereafter. I did my own replacement at 30K mi. Its a very easy procedure. A mechanic should take no more than 30 minutes to do it. At Acura rates of approx. $100/hr. it would be 1/2 hour = $50 labor plus 2 gallons of coolant @ $10/gal. so expect to see it in the $70 neighborhood. At $90 they are probably quoting 45 minutes labor.