if it is an auto, then it does have a cooler. It's built into the bottom of the radiator. This goes for both the civic and your sons jeep. If I remember correctly the civic thermo is 185

 

its burnt oil.

 

Yes I consider an external cooler an air cooled in series with the normal radiator cooler that all auto transmission have, there maybe some that do not have them I'm not aware of any, short of an air cooled motor.

 

I picked up the Civic today, they dint put down that the fluid was was brown by they're account , only that "I said" it was Brown. Well the guy checking my car out was less than cordial about my concerns with the fluid and possible future transmission problems, dude acted like a punk so I ended all interaction with him.

I had to get the head service writer to note that they themselves saw it brown. While signing the tickets after he made the changes, there were two guys standing around in uniform, so after asking if they were techs, they said yes, I asked if brown ATF is OK both said no at the same time, well the service writer said (they're just oil change guys they don't really know) at that point I said thanks but they confirmed what three other dealers said.

Well the writer took me to the back, where he said the shop foreman was named Rusty, he was the only guy back there working, so he may not have been the foreman as presented, but I went along, the whole time watching the writers eyes In case he winked at the guy, the writer asked him if brown fluid is OK, the guy Rusty said no its no good, now I'm getting ticked. The writer brought the car over since no one would spew the BS Ive been dished so far, now Rusty sampled the fluid and said oh its not so bad I though it was black . well Rusty caught on apparently, what he first said is the opposite of what they tell out of Warranty customers, they want them to spend the money on new fluid, with an issue at 20k they mite open a can of worms so brown is OK.

Anyway, I left the dealer knowing the fluid should be changed, and that the dealer is BS'ng me. over all not a good experience.:thinking:

Oh yeah a call to Honda relations just earlier today, yielded this (Have your dealer address all concerns we will document your call) :doh:

 

I've seen red fluid, maybe dark red, don't remember, that smelled burnt in the past.

Did yours smell burnt?
If not, could you tell much of a difference from the smell of new fluid?

If not much if any diff. in smell I wouldn't be too worried personally, but that's just me and I don't know much about transmissions.

I too would have asked about it though, and I'd change it as you're going to.

You could try something other than the Honda brand this time and see if there's a difference. I could be wrong about your year but the warranty on some doesn't require Honda brand ATF as long as it's the correct type.
I haven't heard anything about Honda ATF but I've read the MTF was apparently being produced thicker than it should have been for a while and is now thinner (no 1st hand experience, mind you). I dunno if it was just"too thick" for the newer cars or thicker than the MTF had been in the past.