RC99TL

I just did a trans fluid change with 3 qts of the new DW-1 Fluid.
I swear the trans is hanging a bit between shifts although I may be paranoid.
Can I trust this thinner fluid?
I have almost 80k on the trans.
?!

pickler

i changed from z1 to dw1 last month. $140 3x3 flush at dealer with no improvement . that is, the shifting is still rough and car very jerky. for some reason when im in sportshift and shift to 4th gear the computer decides to shift my car back to 3rd and i keep shifting it to 4th and the damn thing goes back to 3rd. drives me nuts im guessing its the grade logic control system because i had the tranny checked by the dealer and found it to be ok also the 99s have the 4 speed auto right? so there shouldn't be a problem.

alexh1266

Pray!

alexh1266

How positve are you guys that they used the new dw and not the old zf?
Dealers order drums of this stuff and want to get rid of all their old inventory of the zf before they start using the new stuff because they're not producing the old stuff anymore.

I recently change my trans fluid with the old zf and my trans started shifting funny and hanging revs too. If your fluid is old and hasn't been changed in a while like 30k+ miles then your best bet would have been to just leave it and hope it lasts for a long time. Our trans don't seem to like new fluid, makes them retarded lol

Skirmich

Used DW-1 saw big improvements on Shifting then again (BIG) Could be also bad since more Smooth Shifting means more heat = E. T. C...
Cold Shifting was upgraded by 200% No more jerky Shifting in the Morning.

But Nothing Wrong tough... Wierd that you guys are having problems.

pickler

because i bought the fluid myself. i always take my own oil, filter, whatever parts and just take it to dealer or my mechanic. i was planning on doing the flush myself but i was scared to mess it up so i took the fluid back to dealer and had them do it. i can say that DW1 is definitely different, its darker and it is synthetic compared to petroleum based z1. i also think its thinner. funny i remember back in highschool my corolla with 400,000km on the tranny started shifting hard when i put in synthetic. i switched back to regular dexron iii and it solved the problem. maybe synthetics in general cause this characteristics, there is nothing wrong with the transmission.

alexh1266

If these problems leave you to believe there is nothing wrong with your transmission then you are in denial.

But ok, its your car afterall.

01tl4tl

First thing to do is ck the fluid level after 15 minute freeway easy cruise
The trans will drain up to 3.4 qts = if you are running almost a half quart low!!!
that would explain a lot of things

BETWEEN the lower 2 dots on dipstick after 15 minutes from cold start
not at either- between,,
indicated level changes with fluid temp

Ck in Park- engine OFF

Good Luck

farmdevil

While it's true that between the two marks is acceptable, step number six on page 14-349 of the service manual says:
6. If the level is below the lower mark, pour the recommended fluid into the filler hole (A) to bring it up to the upper mark.

Of course this means that it is important to follow step number 1 which says to bring the engine up to normal operating temperature, but if that is done then the top mark is best.

Also with regards to the general discussion, I have had a little searching around third gear for probably 20k miles (I have about 90k on the trans). On my last ATF change I went to Redline and it was better for probably about 10k miles. Now it has gotten worse again but it's been about 15k and that's usually how often I do the drain and fill. I have no funny noises, I wouldn't describe it as "jerky," and my fluid is never burnt. I just have the searching around that gear. I figure the longer it searches, the more heat is being generated around 3rd so if switching fluids helps improve shift times it should prolong my transmission life.

Also the OP said he just did 3 quarts. You do have to do the 3x3. (though I was angry last time so I did 3x4 with no ill effects)

pickler

my car was always rough shifting from day one when new. nothing to be in denial about. over 3.5rpm shifts = rough always. tranny dropping into 3rd gear is because of logic control on uphill driving, not a malfunction.

thelastaspec

I recently asked for DW1 but got ATFZ1
I know the people at the dealership so i bit my tongue and didnt say anything after as i was home when i read the parts page in detail.
The tech also reved the engine while taking it into the service bay.

Im not going back.

farmdevil

I'll tell you that it definitely is quicker with my Redline right after a change. I don't doubt that my transmission is fine (for the moment anyway), but when it spends too much time around 3rd gear, that's generating heat which could lead to a big problem.

01tl4tl

I was not aware of the actual shop manual spec= upper dot at 15 minutes freeway cruise is full = not low by a drop..between the dots = OK but not perfect
Cool- thanks fd!

now we need to know how many ounces of atf it takes to go from one end of the indicated range to the other,,or middle to upper dot
anyone have that info?? in shop manual?

so you guys that changed fluid need to do the test warmup and ck level = today!!!
low on fluid in a trans that has cooling issues,,,NOT cool ! (pardon the pun)

01tl4tl

aspec,,
you bring in a really unique TL that looks badazz, has a full exhaust system and the tech revved it going into the bay
where all the techs got to enjoy its sound and say--thats frikken sweet,,whats it in for,,need a test drive?? hehehehehe
when I worked in a shop--that happened ~on occassion~

the dealer did a atf change for you with zr1? they were using up the last of it from a large drum system or parts handed the oil tech the old style qts.

If its not what you want go back and they will change it,,easy job on the TL
these things happen,,oil change tech (low man on the pole) is used to x series car gets x fluid and puts it in

Dont bite your tongue over it- speak nicely with service manager and it will be taken care of
They may also have found the old stuff works better and are using it for gen2??
what about asking them? You are a good customer, its not a sweat

01tl4tl

rough shifting is worth replacement of the external atf oil filter, and clean or replace the 3/4 gear pressure swithes

fsttyms1

Jerky shifts are also a sign of bad motor mounts.

RC99TL

I did the trans oill change so I know it was DW-1
With a warm engine the level is 3/4 to the top mark.
Replaced the motor mounts (all of them) about 3 months ago
Slight shudder when shifting from park to drive or reverse or in between.
Not imagining that.
2nd and 3rd pressure switches replaced 6 months ago.
Hopefully it is just a transition as the new fluid impregnates the clutch plates...
Not a lot of material on the drain bolt magnet when changing for that matter.

thelastaspec

lol will do. thx for advice.

heres a question where i live there are lots of hills and slow traffic. the ecu likes to go up to 4th but then it will have to downshift to 3rd in 30 secconds because of a hill or traffic. i usually use sport shift to hold it in 3rd if i know theres a hill coming up in a bit rather tgan the dowmshift halfway up. i see that some people have mmentioned holding gears equals heat so what do you all think drive arround in 3rd or constant 3rd 4th changes to compensate for traffic and terrain . i live on an island made of rock so roads here are rarleuy flat


please excuse typing as on my iphone

pickler

My 1/4 mile times stayed exactly same after change with dw1. So shift times did not change. Dw1 foaming characteristic is different from z1 too I think not sure that's a good thing, I personally prefer z1. Eitherway there is nothing you can do to fix the tranny design fault. It will eventually die.

01tl4tl

aspec try D4 and see if that helps

alexh1266

Any part numbers on these items?
They're worth changing if they're cheap, to help my trans to its slowly progressing death

alexh1266

Found part numbers and a 3rd gen DIY which is probably somewhat similar to our 2nd gen TL.

External ATF Filter - 25450-P7W-003
3rd/4th Pressure Switches - 28600-P7W-003, 28600-P7Z-003

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/110-diy-guide-replacing-3rd-4th-gear-pressure-switch-3g-tl-2004-2006-a-729149/

Im going to replace these soon and see if they will help with my transmission slipping.

sp33dyg

I just did a 2x3 and shifting seems a little smoother. Didn't have enough time to do a 3rd oil change. The only thing is that I feel like the shift from 2nd to 3rd gear is still doing a bit of searching in between. Will the 3rd change help out any?

BN3DC2

i changed the fluid last saturday with DW1...like RC99TL said..i've got the same feeling of being paranoid about my tranny...lol! when i bought the car and asked the last owner what kind of fluid did he use? he has no idea coz he doesn't know much everything about car..that's why i decided to use the DW1. now my tranny's making a bit jerking when shifting to 2nd and 3rd gear..it is not the same when i had the old fluid..so i went to Honda dealer and ask about the Z1, the guy told me that the Z1 are no longer available. they've replaced it already with DW1 for good..i'm i bit worried about this..

farmdevil

You've got to do the 3rd change to come anywhere close to replacing all the fluid in there. If you are experiencing an irregular shift, you may as well follow the manufacturer's guidelines and do the 3x3. I had searching before my last change and I did it 4 times actually and that fixed it for a while, though I also switched to Redline so for all I know it was that that fixed the searching.

my.daily'tl'

How many miles are on the car?

BN3DC2

it has 145,500 miles already sir..the previous owner has no issue about the car what so ever and right before i bought it...

BN3DC2

is it ok if i use of one of these???

farmdevil

I'd imagine the normal one is alright. I think some people on here use it. I don't know if I'd mess with the racing one unless anybody here has experience with it.

RC99TL

I think I just have to work out the old fluid with new.
While I believe it would take actually 12 three qt. changes to remove all (most) traces of the old fluid I will change out 3 every 3 thou 2 more times.
Each change dilutes the existing fluid...
I have 188k on the TL and 90 thou on it's 2nd transmission.

ParaSurfer1979

Redline racing atf is the best that the 3rd gens have seen. It can only perform even better for 2nd gens.

RC99TL

I think with awareness and understanding of the transmission's issues a little bit of prevention reaps big rewards!

farmdevil

Hmm... I use the Redline D4 ATF and it works great. Maybe I'll look into the racing stuff for my next change. I still don't know if I'd recommend the AMSOIL racing ATF unless at least somebody here has used it. The foaming properties are a bit risky so I'd prefer to let others on here be guinea pigs before I choose ATF.

01tl4tl

dont run the racing straight- blend street and race so it retains some smooth shifting additives contained in the street version

seach feature or scroll thru the thread list---look up redline and amsoil and read the acurazine user reports

BN3DC2

how about the Redline Synthetic D4 ATF??or which one of these are you using sir?

this has 2 kinds..the 30504 D4 and the D4 itself.
how about this one?
or this?

farmdevil

I guess mine is the first one, the "D4 ATF." Don't let me discourage you from trying the racing one (or some combination) though. Just do a little searching around on here. I always like when I can find justification for using something with "racing" in the name.

I can tell you that (anecdotally, of course) my 3rd gear searching improved after switching from Z1, but for all I know it was just the fact that it was fresh fluid. I know there are some computer and engineering reasons why those shifts may be slow, but it seems to me that the less time the car spends screwing around in the vicinity of 3rd gear, the less heat should be generated in the problem area, theoretically increasing the lifespan of the transmission.

Shingleback

I just did a 3X3 change and used the regular Amsoil shown on the right. The trans shifts just as smoothly as it did when the car was new, and is performing well. I did the change 2 days before driving from Vancouver to LA/Riverside and am on my way back. 3000 km later and the trans is fine. The car is a 03 TL A-Spec and has 73,000 km (around 45,000 mi).

dc2kid

iTrader: (2)

wait so it will it mess up if i a do quick 3x1 change with the new dw-1?

fsttyms1

no.

RC99TL

See NOW I feel better!

Thanks.