Heat

Here’s some information on doing a manual transmission fluid change in a 6th generation Accord (‘99 LX), other generations should be similar. The owner's manual in my car says to change the transmission fluid every six years or 90,000 miles under normal conditions - it should be changed at least this often.

To start, get the tools you need which are:

1. Manual transmission fluid, you will need a little more than two quarts so buy three quarts. Use Honda MTF.
2. Replacement crush washers, from the Honda dealer (about $1.25 for both).
3. A 3/8” socket wrench, a 17mm socket, and a universal joint / extensions help too. If you have never changed it have some penetrating oil handy too.
4. A funnel with a hose to get the fluid back into the fill hole - you can buy a tranmission funnel from your local hardware store pretty cheaply. A funnel designed for automatic transmissions will work well for this job.
5. A jack (the Honda jack works fine)
6. Some small jack stands.

First, from this thread: https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-accord-1990-2002-2/manual-transmission-fluid-where-do-i-put-2258360/, a diagram of the manual transmission housing:

The crush washers you want are #16 and #17, about $1.25 for both after tax at your local Honda dealer. Print out this diagram, will make things easy at the dealer.

Jack up the front right side of the car, remove the passenger tire, put jack stands under the car. Loosen both the drain bolt and the fill bolt. The drain bolt hooks directly up to a 3/8” socket wrench, the fill bolt uses a 17mm socket and this, for me, was a pain in the neck. Took about 45 minutes and several squirts of penetrating oil before I finally got it loose. Once you have them loose, remove the lower one and drain the fluid out. Should be about two quarts worth.

Lower the car to "normal level" with the tire still off and see if any more fluid drains out. Replace lower bolt. I had to remove my jack stands for this step since they were too high. Remove the upper bolt, put the funnel in, and slowly add the fluid until you see fresh fluid dripping out (have newspapers on the ground to catch the drippings). You should add a little more than two quarts worth of oil. If your front right side is jacked up too high, you won’t be able to add the full amount of fluid so it’s kind of important to lower it to "normal" height - look at the car from the front to see if the passenger side is level with the driver's side. The need to have the car level is also why you can't use ramps, unless you also lift up the rear of the car with jack stands.

Changing the manual transmission fluid is more difficult than an oil change only because it is harder to get to the bolts, but the principal is the same. Remove a bolt to drain fluid, replace the bolt, add new fluid.

On the pictures, the link following the thumbnail is a direct link to the full-sized picture.



http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/4900/mtfluid.jpg



http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/3...fluiddrain.jpg



http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/5...luiddrain2.jpg



http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/9577/mtfluidfill.jpg



http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/2323/funnely.jpg



http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/5180/plugs.jpg



http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/9893/toolss.jpg

TouringAccord

added to the FAQ

jweller

let me add that you should always remove the fill bolt before you remove the drain bolt. If for any reason the fill bolt is stuck and you can't get it removed, you are in a bad situation if you've already drained the fluid.

Excellent write up though

Heat

Thanks for the kind remarks. I'm hoping that people don't put off this job because they don't know what to do - this is relatively easy work once you know where the two bolts are and how to get to them. If you can change your engine oil you can do this job.

And speaking of loosening the bolts... I was under the car today (the day after the transmission fluid change) changing the engine oil and noticed that the fill plug *is* accessible from underneath, just not with a socket. So... if you think the plugs may be stuck and you have ramps and a 19mm wrench laying around, pull it up on ramps and loosen (but don't remove) both bolts. There is maybe 20º or 25º of play in the wrench on the fill plug, enough to loosen the bolt. I wish I knew this yesterday, would have saved me a lot of time.

The link below the thumbnails is a direct link to the full sized photos.



http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/4...nderthecar.jpg



http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/6...onfillplug.jpg

Radial GT

The fill plug on my 93 accord is a 17mm. If you happen to have the swivel head rachet headed wrenchs, it is pretty easy to get to. Cheers. This is one thing I was able to do today. The front hub assembly removal is not going so well...

nus_dogg

Good Job. Its fairly simple. 17mm box end wrench and 3/8th Rachet will get the job done fast.

yngw13

did it past weekend and it went good except for the 17mm bolt being so tough...I had a 6" extension and it wasnt long enough...but it got the job done. 10" should have been perfect...also used penetrating oil (liq wrench) but Im not sure if it helped...it was like a big snap when I got that bolt to turn.(must have been the first time the mtf was changed) that was like 90% of the energy I used was just because of that bolt...I had to take 2x 5min breaks when my arm was giving up...and I work out ALOT
put some red thick grease on the bolts then put them back in.
(bought the mtf from a honda dealer/service/parts plus the crush washers)

Also looked like the mtf @165k was never changed...the fluid was dark black and smelly like the sewer...bought it @130k...and it had 1st gear hang ups...then when the 3rd gear started giving me problems I said I had to do this job...finally done and now its shifting so smooth...I used HONDA MTF GENUINE...TU for the tutorial...

mossberg

Re: fill plug removal: Sounds like if you want use a ratchet, you have to remove the wheel and go at it from the side with a long socket extension. Would it be easier to use a 17mm wrench and cheater bar and go at it from underneath?

I tried with a short ratchet and socket from underneath (it was tough to seat the socket onto the plug) and couldn't deliver enough torque to budge it. I don't think the prior owner ever changed MTF.

Edit: Long-handled wrench broke the bolt free.

Arthas

Ill definitely be doing this tomorrow.


Does the fluid change help fix grinds? I purchased the a 97 5 sp and it grinds second, but if I double clutch it, it goes in smooth.

I doubt the fluid hasever been changed, ill give it a shot tomorrow and hope for the best.

DanInOttawa

I've found that using the Honda MTF can get rid of rough shifting and grinding. I've seen it on a few Accords, where synchros didn't quite mesh right, or some shift lever fandangling was required to get it to shift smooth with whatever fluid was in there before....one or two fluid changes with the MTF and they shifted MUCH better...

professorman

I could have sworn that my Owners Manual in my 94 Accord said to change the Manual Transmission fluid every 90k miles, however, the online owners manual and the service repair manual now says 30k miles for manual transmission. . Did they somehow change this?

Whats your change interval for manual transmission?

I got the online Honda owners manual here.