I have a question and a tip. First the tip. I fill my trans fluid through the filler tube with the contraption that you can hopefully see here. I just cut the bottom off a heavy plastic ice tea bottle and put a hose fitting in the cap. I Superglued the cap on just for insurance. The fitting is made up of male and female hose barb adapters. I hacksawed of the hose fitting end of the one that is inside the bottle ca[ and ground it's nut down so that it was very near the bottom of the bottle cap so it would drain all but a few drops. The cap itself helps with that because the last little bit of fluid collects in cap which keeps the level up so it drains almost completely. Rubber washers backed by stainless steel washers are on each side of the cap and under the hose barbs. The tubing and hose barb adapters have a 1/8th I.D. and the host fits inside of the trans filler tube. The jug is hung by wires from the hood catch. It takes about 30-40 minutes to fill the trans.

But my question is more serious. As you know,the trans for a 2004 Pilot is supposed to take 3.2 quarts of trans fluid with a single change. But mine takes nearly 5 quarts! That's how much drains and that's how much it takes to get the proper reading on the dipstick (using the proper reading method.) Has anyone else found this to be the case? When I put in 3.2 quarts, it doesn't even register on the dipstick. I don't know if the recall modification might have something to do with this (possibly increased trans fluid capacity?) or not but it concerns me and I would appreciate any advice about this. The trans has never had a problem and it shifts perfectly. It has 92,000 miles on it. So my choice is: Fill it with 3.2 quarts of fluid as the specs say or put in the amount that drained and which is also the amount that brings it up to proper level on the dipstick. I chose the latter but I would like to hear from anyone who may have anything to say about this.

I'm glad that I do all my own work because if I had taken this somewhere and had someone else do it, they would have just put in 3.2 quarts without noticing that it drains nearly five quarts. If they didn't check the dipstick, I might be nearly two quarts low if it should read properly on the dipstick.