Acura743

Morning,

I bought my car at 100k miles, its its currently 127k (3 years now). I drive it on the i-95 daily for my commute to school, i do oil changes every 3k with conventional 5-30 supertech with their oil filter. Im ocd about the car and when i have looked into changing the transmission fluid i've read its not good to reach if you dont know if the past owner changed it. However when looking at my car the color of the fluid is relatively just turning brown, so it wouldn't be too late for me to change it without worrying about destroying my tranny no?

? My other question is should i do a flush or a drain, also since transmission fluid isnt changed as frequently as oil(which is why i use supertech) what are the recommended brands for this.

Thank you for your responses,

Reorge

Don't every flush. Do a drain and fill 3 times. You didn't say what year you have but if you have a 2012 to 2014 change the in-line filter. It's somewhat under the battery and difficult to access unless you remove the battery tray. Search this forum. There are MANY threads regarding this subject.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Kind of funny, you say you're OCD when it comes to your car, and that somehow translates into changing the engine oil too often and yet you don't change the transmission frequently enough. I don't get it; if anything, it should be the other way around.

Acura743

I have a 2005.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Matters not, do a 3x3 ATF change and call it a day.

Acura743

The only reason i had not changed my transmission fluid is due to people telling me not to when i first started learning about cars. After doing soo many DIY's to this car i started realizing half the people that i trusted were simply mechanics that would have easily used me for a quick profit. Thus i came to the conclusion that they might have either been lazy or telling me not to change it so they could "help" me with problems in the future. Understanding that Honda transmissions are weak i figured i should do as much precautionary maintenance as possible. I genuinely enjoy this car and looking at new cars they're practically built to be obsolete.

Also how is 3k oil changes a waste? From reading online, oil viscosity is constantly being stretched while idle and this is something i experience daily on the i-95 going to and from school. Now multiply that by x5 a week and i would assume the oil gets beat up more than your average daily commuter.

Acura743

Any brands u recommend?
Thank you sir.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

In this day and age, even with lots of idling, a 3,000 mile oil change is an utter waste of money. That said, don't take my word for it; take a sample of your 3,000 mile used oil and send it out for analysis, you'll get a report back which will show the oil has at least half of it's lifespan remaining.

mrgold35

I have +153,000 on my 06 TSX and I stick with 5,000 miles oil change intervals; but, I use Mobil 1 5w-30 (standard Acura oil filter). I always did the 1X 5AT fluid change every 30,000 miles at the dealership for around $100 with my 06 TSX, 08 RDX, and 11 MDX. Zero transmission issues with +435,000 miles between all three vehicles.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Had you gone with 10,000 miles for your oil changes you would still have had zero issues; basically you threw away a whole bunch of good oil.

BROlando

OP....

Use Honda/Acura ATF in the trans. See your manual.

Do a drain and fill. It takes like 3qt.
Repeat every ~20-30K miles, moving forward.

Don't forget to buy crush washers from Honda/Acura also.

3K miles is a huge waste. There's nothing special about your commute.

mrgold35

Since getting the 08 RDX and 11 MDX, my 06 TSX moved to in town work and school commuter car. I gave the car to my son at 16 in high school and he still has it in his Jr. year in college at 21. I only change the oil about every 6-7 months on the TSX because of low mileage every year. It would take over a year to put +10,000 miles and I don't want to leave the engine oil in that long for a car that sits outdoors days/weeks. Spending $25 on oil at Walmart once a year for the TSX isn't a big deal compared to all the other money I spend.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

So it's more of an emotional thing versus a rational thing.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

I see your point on the oil thing. That's kind of a non-issue though. Too often doesn't hurt. Just wastes money and time. But like you said, you're talking $25 or so. Not exactly the same as having the dealer do a $200 brake fluid flush when it's not needed. If I were you, I'd switch to a synthetic then go every 7500 miles. Synthetic is better and not much more expensive.

Anyway, on the ATF issue, I personally think you're fine in changing it. If the transmission is operating correctly and the fluid is the color you say it is (just turning brown, but still some dark red color to it), then I'd think you'd be fine.

And like horseshoez said, change the fluid every 10K miles or so and it will run for a good long time. That's what I do and I have nearly 200K on a '12 TL with the AT running perfectly. Remember though, a "fluid change" is simply a drain of about 3.5 quarts followed by a refill. Acura/Honda transmission are not to be flushed unless it's by specialized equipment that assures that no air is introduces into the transmission. There have been all too many folks on Honda and Acura boards reporting transmission failures after one of those "power flushes". The transmission itself holds around 9 quarts if I remember correctly so you're only rotating about 30% when you drain it once then refill. That's why you want to do the 3x3 flush initially. That will rotate about 75% or so. Then just the 30% rotation every 10K miles is sufficient. The DW-1 fluid from Honda seems to be pretty good stuff. And it's synthetic so it's likely to break down slower. So having a bit of "old" fluid in there won't hurt, as long as it's periodically refreshed with new fluid.

Not to throw a wrench in the works, but I went from using DW-1 to the Valvoline Maxlife about 50K miles ago and have had good results. A lot of Honda guys use the Maxlife and report getting a ton of miles on their AT and it functioning just as well as the DW-1. Some even say it runs better, though that's somewhat subjective. However, I'm not necessarily recommending you go that route. The 2005 TSX has a completely different transmission than the '12 TL so it's not really apples to apples. Plus, while I've had good results, there's no guarantee that Maxlife is necessarily better than DW-1. At the same time, I don't think DW-1 is necessarily better than the Maxlife. Obviously it's the recommended fluid from Honda and Acura, but so was the Z1 back in the early 2000's and that stuff was garbage.

Ye_yeCL9

Ye_yeCL9

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

In his defense, the guys on Bobistheoilguy.com think pretty highly of the Walmart oil. Or rather, that it's just as good as any name brand. That's with the frame of mind that any oil with API approval is sufficient in a standard consumer vehicle (racing might be another animal). It's hard to argue with that since it involves government mandated requirements for motor oil. Yeah, I'd bet there are better oils but chances are they're only marginally better. I use Pennzoil Ultra Platinum which is about $40 for a 5qt. jug. I could be saving $16 going with Walmart Supertech but I figure the extra $16 is worth what is probably marginal protection over the Walmart stuff.

mrgold35

I hear ya...

I would do all the maintenance on my cars myself in my 20s in the 80s/90s. It was usually because I couldn't afford to take to the dealership or local shop with the wife and I being in college, having other family/daycare bills, or being a junior officer in the Army. Cars were pretty much crap at 100,000 miles back then and required A LOT of maintenance every year. You were either changing brakes, plugs, transmission clutch, filters, tires, tune-ups, fan belts, alternators, starters, batteries, or suspension parts every year or every other year. Flash forward +30 years and I don't want to spend hours under my car because my time is better spent on other hobbies and family. My son and I still do routine maint and checks in the garage on all three cars.

The last time I took my RDX in for an $26 oil change+car wash, they didn't have a person available for a shuttle ride back to work. They loaned me have 19 RDX tech for the day. I took the day off and just ran all over town in the 19 RDX.

Acura743

Man ive been using supertech since my dad showed me oil changes. IF ITS API CERTIFIED ITS GOING IN

Acura743

At the Walmart where i live its $12 for the 5w-30 conventional supertech, along with $2.36 for the supertech oil-filter.

So its not even $16.

I also have a car ramp and my uncle got me a hand tool to remove the awkward position of the k24a oil-filter.

So no worries.