I just bought a 97 Accord SE Automatic (1 month ago). The car has 134k on it, and is in very good shape. I changed the oil and other usuals, but I haven't changed the ATF yet because I have heard that it can ruin your tranny if the previous owner didn't change it b/c it flushes out particles, and lets the worn parts wear faster.

well the fluid is very dirty, and the tranny sometimes shakes one wheel (snychro mesh?) when it shifts from 4-3 at easy throttle.

My question is what do you guys think about not changing the fluid? It seems stupid for me not to change it, but the reasoning behind it makes me wonder.

Thanks,

Honda Noob

 

If the tranny fluid was never changed, don't change it. If it's been like 40 or 50k miles, change it fast.

 

Well Yeah....

j/p.

 

Drain and refill, but do not flush it, and use Honda ATF only. As for the 4-3 downshift, The older generation Honda transmissions are notorious for abrubt downshifts (and generally rough shifting) even when in perfect mechanical health. A fluid drain and refill will smooth out the shifts a bit.

As for the new fluid causing failure, it can shock the system into failure if the fluid has never been changed since the car left the factory. If the rest of the car seems to have been well maintained, I would assume that the transmission has also been serviced... but of course you never know. I hope they had the timing belt replaced!

Not sure if it would help matters, but I suggest draining just a small amount first and refilling. Drive several miles, and then drain and refill again.

If it has never been changed, it won't go too much further anyway. Good luck.

 

i'd say drain the fluid (same as the guy above) and refill only with honda ATF......on my 97 acura 2.2 cl......the fluid was really dirty (almost black) and the tranny shifted like crap.....changed the fluid and the tranny was hella smooth after that....

 

Is that all that can be done to make shifting easier? I'm at 140000 and I think I replaced it when I first got it nearly at 115 or 120. I also did use Honda ATF but didn't really notice much of a difference. Shifting is still rough ;o.

 

Yep, unless there's a CEL.

 

It's the nature of the beast...