joekrz

Hello,

New guy here. Just picked up a used '95 Honda Civic with 1.6 L and AT transmission. It has 210,000 miles and I want to do a little maintenance on it. Is Honda ATF fluid the only kind I can use? The dealer wants $8 a quart + $75 for a drain and refill.

The local "quick lube" will do a drain and refill for $40 and stated they have a compatible fluid and have done many honda civics.

Also is a flush recommended? The Honda dealer didn't recommend a flush and the "quick lube" stated they do them all of the time on Honda Civics.

I'm not sure what to believe.

Also, if I decide to do it myself, how much fluid do I need to purchase?

Any help here would be appreciated. Thanks.

Libertariat

I would go with the quick lube place I guess. And every tranny fluid change i've seen on an AT was a flush.

instructor74

If you just drain the fluid out of a at trans the torque converter and lines still hold a few quarts of fluid. By doing the flush the fluid is forced out of the entire system and replaced with new. I bet even the dealer is doing it this way.Just go with who ever has the best price. Remember 2 things. 1st your car has 210K on it, 2nd if there is a problem with the shifting of the trans a fluid change probably will not fix it it might even make it worse good luck

joekrz

The dealer stated they didn't do a flush since it wasn't recommended by Honda.

Cookie

Run the 'Honda' fluid ONLY!! What a bunch of cheap low-ballers.

You all probably skimp and buy off brand peanut butter, too!

I can't believe the people that whine about spending a little more for quality and then they go down to Starbucks and drop 10.00 a day on fuuffy coffee milkshakes!

But,, hey,, whatever,,, it's your tranny!

EJ8mike

dude def. do it yourself, so easy, it's easier than doing an oil change cuz you dont have to replace a filter. go to honda, buy 3 quarts of ATF, open the drain plug, let drain, put drain plug back on, fill where the dipstick is.....and you're done. only use honda ATF cuz it has special additives for your tranny. i used some other cheap crap one time and my tranny was shifting weird, went back to honda brand, now it shifts like butter.

Cookie

,,, like he said. Forgetaboutit.

Libertariat

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EJ8mike &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">dude def. do it yourself, so easy, it's easier than doing an oil change cuz you dont have to replace a filter. go to honda, buy 3 quarts of ATF, open the drain plug, let drain, put drain plug back on, fill where the dipstick is.....and you're done. only use honda ATF cuz it has special additives for your tranny. i used some other cheap crap one time and my tranny was shifting weird, went back to honda brand, now it shifts like butter. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Sounds like cake.

MMMM... Cake....

joekrz

OK,

I picked up 3 quarts of fluid today. Looks like the drain plug is located on the passengers side just behind the front bumper???? Takes a 3/8" ratchet to unscrew it????

I assume 3 quarts will drain out?

instructor74

Not being a dick here but I will tell you this one more time doing it that way will change only about half the fluid in the trans. If you want to change all the fluid you will have to have a trans flush done.

EJ8mike

^^ or just drive it around for a day and then drain and fill again.

EJ8mike

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by joekrz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">OK,

I picked up 3 quarts of fluid today. Looks like the drain plug is located on the passengers side just behind the front bumper???? Takes a 3/8" ratchet to unscrew it????

I assume 3 quarts will drain out?</TD></TR></TABLE>
2.8 qts. to be exact

philosofy1

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by joekrz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hello,

New guy here. Just picked up a used '95 Honda Civic with 1.6 L and AT transmission. It has 210,000 miles and I want to do a little maintenance on it. Is Honda ATF fluid the only kind I can use? The dealer wants $8 a quart + $75 for a drain and refill.

The local "quick lube" will do a drain and refill for $40 and stated they have a compatible fluid and have done many honda civics.

Also is a flush recommended? The Honda dealer didn't recommend a flush and the "quick lube" stated they do them all of the time on Honda Civics.

I'm not sure what to believe.

Also, if I decide to do it myself, how much fluid do I need to purchase?

Any help here would be appreciated. Thanks. </TD></TR></TABLE>

i would recommend going with the Honda ATF (honda trannies are very delicate).
then i would suggest you doing the work yourself. it's easier than changing your motor oil.

joekrz

What about adding Lubegard transmission additive?

Is that OK?

The shift points seem a little late (i.e. RPMs seem a little high before it shifts). Some reading across the 'net tells me this should help. Anyone here used it?

joekrz

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by instructor74 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Not being a dick here but I will tell you this one more time doing it that way will change only about half the fluid in the trans. If you want to change all the fluid you will have to have a trans flush done.</TD></TR></TABLE>

From what I understand, a couple of drains and re-fills will do the same thing and not cost me $100. I've heard too many horror stories regarding transmission flushes.