You are 100% correct!!!

If your tranny has never had it changed, and you are at 100k +, Do NOT change it. Tranny fluid has alot of cleaners in it, and at this point, those cleaners are all used up. Adding new fluid in there could cause the worn clutch packs to literally break down, and gum up/clog your tranny, so if it hasnt been changed up to now, DONT do it.

ATF either needs to be changed routinely, or not at all. Most say dont push it past 40k.

All Honda A/T's do NOT take the same ATF amount for a partial fluid change!!!!!!!!!!!!!!My 96 Accord only took 2.5 qts, your car is the same engine, and takes the same amount. Your owners manual will say the same thing, and for the many ATF changes I did, 2.5 qts was exactly what it took. Use Honda ATF, nothing else. Try online dealers for cheaper prices, but with shipping, your local dealer may still be the best bet.

Guys there is alot of misinformation in this post, if you dont know an answer, dont make it up!!!!!!!! If its your opinion, or what you think is the answer, say so. Dont present those opinions, or thoughts as facts.

 

Ok so what your saying then is that i should never change my ATF if it hasn't been changed every 40K miles? The car was bought used and i have no idea if the tranny fluid has ever been changed. Do you think i should still go ahead and change it? Also no one really answered me regarding the "gunk trans-fusion" tranny treatment. It comes in a one quart bottle and says to add the entire thing.....So I am assuming that after i drain the tranny of fluid i would only add in 1.5 or 2 quarts of honda brand ATF and this one quart bottle of additive?

 

You are partly correct and partly wrong in your judgement call. I responded to a person as if the fluid has been changed before. If he has 125k miles on his car, the chance that it has had its ATF changed before is likely wouldn't you say? Alot of people here also just bought the car, this means also that they wouldn't know if the ATF has been changed so he would have to make up a decision and the best IMO is to change it. There's more of a chance that it HAS been changed than HASN'T been changed.

I do admit I have never heard of your reason to not change the ATF before. I do respect your knowledge in this.

On another note you say that one shouln't post an answer if we don't KNOW the answer. What is knowing and what isn't? 10 people could tell me to change my oil every 10k miles and I might see that as fact and pass that off as fact to a person in question about how often to change their oil. You understand my point?

Are you saying for us NOT to post any answers to a factual question if we haven't read it in an auto repair manual? Alot of what we all know here at HAN is from people like you and other people. Some people are very legitimate and some people are full of it. You can never truly KNOW something is the truth unless you read it.

 

Partly wrong how???

I think your judgement is wrong here. How can you just assume that most people take care good care of their cars like we do? If I bought a car with 100k on it, should I also just assume that its timing belt & water pump were changed?

Most people do not change their ATF routinely. Same with coolant, differential fluids, Brake Fluid, and other things that are not routinely replaced like engine oil. If you have any doubt, just ask most people you know who arent into cars. See if they can recall every changing any of the things I mentioned.

Id examine the fluid in there, and try and guesstimate if you have no idea. See if it looks really burnt or used up. If you think it looks it does, Id leave it be. If it looks reasonable, change it. I'd also check the cars maintenance records if you have any, and use the rest of the car as a guide to see how well maintained it was.

How can you just assume thinsg like that?

Check around on the internet. With my Acura's defective tranny, I did alot of online reading about it. MY new BMW has a sealed tranny, so do Mercedes and other makes. I did even more reading on it when I got it. On them its common knowledge that changing the ATF for the 1st time on a high mileage car is asking for trouble.

Reread what I said. I said if you post an answer based on your own reasoning or assumptions, just say so. Posting it as if you did read it somewhere is a disservice. What I posted is what I have found from reading online about the topic in regards to my cars. If it was just my opinion, I would preface it, and say so. Thats all I was saying. Reread your first line, sure doesnt sound like your opinion to me, same thing with accordvtec77's post.

P.S. I was a little strong with teh 100% correct comment. Some people debate about it of course, but the vast majority say that changing regular old ATF on a car with 100k+ on it for the 1st time is asking for trouble.

 

To what part of my post are you referring to? Because I'm not assuming anything. The parts department for the dealer I work for, hands us ALL 3 quarts of ATF when we do a 30k service. And all of us USE all 3 quarts, because that's what our service procedures call for. The only transmissions I've come across that take more than 3, are the Civic Hybrid, and the Insight, because they have CVT transmissions.

 

So you are basing it on what your parts dept guy hands you? Since he handed you 3, you just poured em all in, and thats what they are supposed to hold?

My 96 Accord only required 2.5 qts, so says Honda in the manual. I think my 92 was 2.5 as well, but I cant remember. Of course I'd buy 3 qts also, but I wouldn't pour the whole last qt in there. My TL-S required 3, so that car got all 3.

My last car took 4.5 qts of oil. I'd buy 5 qts, but only 4.5 would go in there.
Too much fluid leads to frothing, and a lack of lubrication. Thats not a good thing. Id rather go by Honda of America, and my owners manual when it comes to the fluid specs for my car.

 

Ok guys, thanks for the replies. Yet no one has answered my question yet regarding the gunk tranny conditioner. Could someone give some advice regarding this? Oh....also the tranny fluid is a pinkish orange color still not too black at all. Would you assume that it has in fact been changed? The car is around 160000 KILOMETERS, thats pretty damn close to 100K miles.

 

Sounds pretty good then. If it doesnt smell all burnt, Id change it, and then keep up with the partial fluid changes. What about other things like the water pump, and timing belt? With our interference type engines, if the belt were to snap, it could cause big time valve train damage. Thats a bill you dont want to even know about.

About the Gunk, Id stay away. Honda uses their own ATF fluid, and it works just fine. ID avoid the tranny fluid additive just like Id avoid any kind of motor oil additive.

 

Ok thanks hyde... the only reason i ask is because i think i remember reading a honda TSB saying that rough shifting in the accord could be corrected by adding a bottle of tranny additive. Anyone else heard of this???

 

Hey guys. I was reading this thread and I still dont know what to do! My girlfriend bought her 97 Accord with 85K miles on it and we have absolutely no idea how well the previous owner kept up with scheduled maintenance (we bought it from a dealer). Now the car has 95K miles on it and I want to replace the fluid. Should I? If not, is there anything I can I do to make the tranny shift a little smoother? I need as many opinions as possible!