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Jeez, I suck. I can't get my fingers in far enough to unscrew the bottom bolt of the trans filter holder. Any suggestions how I can get in there and not drop the bolt?
I just did this DIY today along with Power steering fluid drain/refill DIY A-104, 3rd and 4th gear switch for AT DIY A-110, antifreeze drain/refill (not flush; only 1 gal), and Transmission drain/refill 3 quarts.
Of all of the DIYs, I rate this one the most unnecessary of them. This was my wife's car, a 2005 TL. 6 yrs old, 79K mi. The filter was dirty but definitely not blocked. If you've been doing a transmission drain/refiil of 3 qts every/every other oil change, you don't need to change this filter.
Don't get me wrong, I'm happy I changed it after 6 yrs. But I definitely won't be changing the filter again. I think that 3 qt drain/refills every other oil change are going to take care of most impurities in the transmission system.
For what it's worth, when I drained/refilled the transmission fluid, it looked pretty clean. I chalk that up to doing the drain/refill during every oil change. I'm now moving to do 3qt drain/refill every other oil change as every oil change is way too frequent an interval.
A few questions and comments. First thank you for this thread. I did my 2004 today. Because I am not the best with tools it took me about an hour. My terminology might be off so please not too harsh with comments.
The black hose that comes out of the filter housing that you disconnect is connected to a small metal hose. I can not get the 2 to separate and it makes it very tight trying to get the filter in or out. I finally squeezed it out but now it is very hard to get the spring and filter back in correctly. How do you disconnect the black hose from the metal one to have better access. Could I have just left the spring in or do you need to take it out to clean it? It is all put back together and seems to be running fine but now I am concerned that possibly the spring was not put back in correctly. Will it run fine if the spring is not in perfectly or should I take it apart and redo?
I find it very difficult to believe that the 08 TL does not have a filter that is accessible, such as this one for the 04-06.
Any dealer that tells me other wise better have a long list of reasons for telling me that
Thanks for taking the time to do this DIY write-up - I am doing mine in the morning. This will save me time and energy, thanks for doing this for so many to benefit from. Have a blessed Christmas!
For those who've did this, did they notice any improvement or differences?
I did it this morning, along with a 3x3 of top end fluid. I noticed a HUGE improvement. However, I was having a few other issues, so my improvement was more dramatic.
I had a few questions and need some help please.
I changed out my filter the other day, but my filter cover didn't come off easily. I had to pry it off. When I was putting the filter cover back on with the 3 screws I lubed it up again and put a new O ring then tried to put it back in with the spring and the new filter.
The cover did not go on easy, tried to tigheted the 3 screws very little bit one by one thinking that would help to put even pressure and the cover would go on after.... WRONG I ended up BREAKING the filter cover. Did I do something wrong here in the process it seems pretty straight forward, but the only thing is that my cover didn't pop off as described above. My car currently is leaking fluids when I start it because the "Filter cover" is cracked and only 2 screws go in instead of 3 so its not flush. I ordered a new part and it will be in tomorrow afternoon. Any help or suggestions putting the piece back on? Cant drive it to a show im scared the fluids will leak out or smoke when engine gets hot.
Hope you guys have some opinions. Sorry for the troubles.
I had a few questions and need some help please.
I changed out my filter the other day, but my filter cover didn't come off easily. I had to pry it off. When I was putting the filter cover back on with the 3 screws I lubed it up again and put a new O ring then tried to put it back in with the spring and the new filter.
Mine was a pain to get off, too. Not as bad going back on, though.
Originally Posted by EvilJoker
Just did mine and the on bolt on the banjo line was 17mm NOT 19mm... not sure if anyone else had a different size as well.
2006 TL
It was a 17 on my '06.
Also, a tip for those who would follow...
Go buy a 10mm ratcheting wrench. That bottom bolt on the filter housing cover is a PAIN IN THE ASS. Too small an area for a regular socket and BARELY BARELY bit enough for me to get 2 fingers down there. My little 10mm wrench fit but I could only make 1/8 of a turn each time there was so little space. Then I had to reset the ratchet. PAIN. Took forever.
Just tackled this today, thanks again to the OP for the VERY helpful DIY. This is why I love this forum.
The filter was DIRTY! It looked just like a motor oil filter that went 10,000 miles. Perhaps it won't make a world of a difference for me at this point. It's hard to believe Acura doesn't think that this part ever has to be changed.....well no wait.......I take that back. This is of course the same company that quietly switched our Z1 fluid without admitting fault at failing transmissions. Meanwhile not giving us defined transmission fluid change intervals and to instead trust our MID. Yeah, they won't always tell us the truth.
One bit of good news for those of you who have cold air intakes: This procedure is MUCH easier for us because there is no airbox to remove. The CAI is up and out of the way. I have an AEM V2 and you can get to the tranny filter without removing anything, although space to work is slightly limited leaving it in place. This was still a 1.5hr job for me for various reasons.
As said the center bolt on mine is also 17mm, not 19mm. Luckily I have a ton of tools to try different methods but as said the workspace is limited. You won't be able to get a medium ratchet on the 17mm bolt. A 17mm and 10mm combination wrench will work but it's not easy. Luckily you WILL be able to squeeze a SMALL ratchet on the 10mm bolts, even the bottom one. As said you can move just a little at a time It doesn't help that the bolts were all torqued pretty tight and I was starting to round the bolts off so make sure you have a secure hold on the bolt before forcing. Keep a rag under the area to keep hardware/tools from falling down and getting lost. As well as to soak up tranny fluid. I lost about 6-10oz of fluid, more than I thought I would.
I think the biggest pain for me were the black metal hoses that run in front of the center bolt. I really felt I was going to break something trying to work around it. Getting the filter itself in and out was not easy because of it.
Be careful on reassembly. The reason for the mishaps is because everything has to sit and align perfectly center. Make sure you stick your hand in and place the spring. If things don't close up, don't force it or torque down the bolts.
This filter is a cinch to change had the tranny been removed from the car. It seems obvious the way it was designed was not with maintence in mind. Probably this is the real reason why dealers are reluctant to do them too. They probably hardly ever done them and have to look in the manual, lol.
Last edited by rockyfeller; 04-13-2014 at 10:00 PM.
To the people that have done this and done a few tranny fluid changes....have you noticed that your tranny fluid last longer, or is in better shape when you drain it?
I have 107k, this and the pressure switches haven't been done. I did a 3x3 over a year ago. And i noticed that when i do my 1x3 every oil change or so, the fluid just seems beat up.
I have to believe that changing this filter would help keep your fluid healthier.
I just joined the forum and wanted to thank everyone, and especially the OP, for the excellent DIY. I did this filter change today and this thread made it easy!
Thanks to OP for the excellent write-up. Like many others, center bolt on my 2006 was 17mm not 19.
I couldn't agree more with " rockyfeller", this isn't easy job for 'technically challenged' like myself.
My advice to those who's planning to do this, READ EVERYONE'S REPLIES BEFORE TACKLING YOURSELF. And what's not shown with photos in OP's post, it's because he needed both hands, this is the hardest portion of this DIY. The space is very tight, especially the lowest 10mm bolt on filter cover. Once you break loose the frozen bolt, you'd have to use both hands, turning it 1/4 turn at a time, very slow progress. Ratchet or combo wrench isn't going to turn once the bolt is loose.
Someone above mentioned the filter cover didn't spring out, had to pry open. I think it's because the spring had been there for so long, fully compressed, didn't do what it's supposed to do. REPLCE IT DON'T REUSE THE OLD SPRING. With old filter and spring, I felt there wasn't any spring action. But with new filter and new spring installed correctly(carefully place new spring, make sure it stays there), I felt plenty of spring action when I tried to re-assemble the filter cover. I also replaced both crush washers, I'm not going to this for a long time, too much work just to save a couple of bucks.
Once this ATF filter was replaced, I went on to 3rd &4th switch replacement. Almost no more tranny fluid was lost during the switch replacing. All in all, had to add a little more than a cup of ATF to bring it to correct level. Thanks again for OP, great write-up.
Just did mine useing this write up!!! Extremely helpful. I changed my filter which was disgusting and it fell apart, did a 3x1 transmission drain, and also did a oil change!!! Hope my baby runs well!!!
Here are my thoughts after tackling this last night. My 04TL AT with 129k miles had a filter that looked like this....
I don't care what Acura says, this filter needed to be changed. Will it make some huge difference in performance? Probably not. My tranny already shifts great (Amsoil + pressure switches routinely changed) but there is no way a filter should ever be that black and not changed out at least periodically. It was falling apart also.
Here are some tips from my experience with changing this filter that may help someone else out.
The center nut is definitely 17mm, I also replaced the crush washers.
Having a 10mm ratcheting wrench will definitely help BUT mine still wouldn't fit on the bottom bolt. I broke it loose with a regular 10mm wrench and then switch to a small 1/4" drive ratchet with a 10mm socket.
The black tranny line (the one that is held on with the 17mm bolt) is attached via a "clip" to some other small line. The plastic "clip" has a flared stud that holds the two together, I used a wire cutter and cut it so I could push the black tranny line out of the way. If you don't, getting the old filter out and in is nearly impossible with destroying the filter.
The problem I had when putting it all back together was the spring kept falling out of the "socket" it sits in (use a mirror so you can see exactly where it is supposed to go). I found if I jacked up the drivers side of the car real high, it put a slight angle on the housing which allowed the spring to sit in the "socket" without it falling out. I then could put the filter in and the cover back on.
Start all three bolts and plan on the cover not being able to be pushed back on real easy. Just make sure you line of the marks and slowly tighten all three nuts, a little bit each time. It should draw up relatively easy so if your having to crank real hard on them, something isn't right.
I lost about a cup of tranny fluid which I did put back in.
06-30-2011, 10:51 PM
