Mishako129

Good night all. Me and my sister own an accord each, a 91' and a 01'. Both are autos. I wanna know what Honda transmission fluid I should run for each. I heard the DW-1 is for newer Honda's, 2005 an up, and replaces the Z1 which was for older ones... However I heard the DW-1 replaces the old fluid so its no big deal.

I heard about people using this Red Line racing fluid in their Honda's but I don't know if that'a good idea at all. Plus my auto (the 91' with a 96' AT) has been shifting rather hard. And one more thing, when should i do the changes? I've gone about 17,500 miles on oem Z1 fluid.
I think its shifting hard cause I mixed some Valvoline in it cause it was a quart low and had to fill the torque converter so it took more than the 3 quarts of OEM I had.

My sisters accord shifts funny too. The salesman at East Coast Auto Source (its an awesome place for cars and junked parts) said its probably cause the previous owner didn't use OEM in it. He was a mechanic at a Honda dealer he said for 5 years.

So I need to do the changes soon and need to know which ones to get for both cars.


Thanks a lot and happy easter.

DeadlockRiff

Anythnig but honda's ATF will cause the transmissions shifts to degrade.

charliccs

I changed the transmission oil to my accord 96 3 month ago. I put honda atf dw-1

and it`s ok...

I think is the first time for the transmission only have 58k miles...

I was scare for the oil change but thank`s god no problem so far...

Mishako129

Heard that but my question is about whether I should use the new fluid or the old. The DW1 is the new the Z1 is the old. DW1 was made for 2005+ cars. I don't know which one will be better for the 91' (with a 96' transmission) and the 01' accords we have.

DW-1 or Z1?

0TorontoHonda

DW-1 can be used in the old transmissions. I would suggest that if you still have Z1 fluid left, you can use this (since the Z1 fluid is now discontinued).

Mishako129

So you mean the DW 1 works just as good or even better than the Z1 in older transmissions?

DCFIVER

Yes. it supersedes the old formula

DeadlockRiff

100%

jdowen2

I changed my ATF with Redline Racing ATF, the 3 flush and refill method, no troubles so far, knock on wood.

Stevo F

I just changed transmission fluid today in my '01 Accord today to DW-1. I've read the Z1 and DW-1 can be intermixed even though the DW-1 is synthetic. Since I was only able drain out a little over half the fluid with one fluid change, I have both types in there right now. Even doing the 3 change recommended flush will theoretically leave about 10% of the original fluid, but I don't believe that would be a problem.

EJ8mike

Since the new DW-1 is fully synthetic, can it make the seals leak?....like how synthetic motor oil can do that on an engine thats been running conventional.

Anybody have this issue at all? Something is happening on the topside of my tranny, at one of the seals (like some gunk buildup) and was wondering if it was related to the synthetic atf.

MAD_MIKE

Synthetics do not cause or create leaks. Conventional or old fluids will not have the detergents in them to break down any varnish/gunk/sludge buildup. Replace it with a quality oil that does have detergents, and the buildup will be removed. If a leak occurs, that seal was already damaged/leaking it is just now visible as the buildup of crud has been removed.

halfkoreanboy

I bought 99 Accord with a jacked up slipping transmission,that dw-1 helped it go another 20,000 miles with out getting any worse. and would have kept going but it got totaled at 300,000 miles almost exactly. My 99 accord was weird when it was above 70 out and sunny my tranny would slip nasty but with the a/c on it quit slipping not even a hint must have something to do with heat and the fans on so i had the a/c on all the time. And on the hotter days id stop at a light and the tranny would bang hard like someone hit my back bumper...when its cold it did not do it....But that dw-1 helped it a lot it never got worse and i drove it pretty rough and a lot of stop and go every single day...DW-1 is the best thing for Honda auto transmissions....I wouldnt use anything else in any Honda automatic it just feels like the right thing to do and its not that expensive the dealer sold me 3 quarts for like 25ish with tax


And i dont think the U.S. SPEC DW-1 is synthetic at all....I read somewhere that the DW-1 In Canada is synthetic


DW-1 from Canada



DW-1 USA

DW-1 USA Back of the bottle doesnt say its synthetic anywhere

EJ8mike

Good explanation, MAD MIKE....thank you.

So the U.S. version just has more additives than the z-1?

halfkoreanboy

I read somewhere that dw-1 takes away some of the smooth shifting so that it does not slip and the clutches last longer or something.....because they said a smooth shifting transmission has to slip to shift smooth which causes the clutches to wear out but i think its normal thats why when you take the drain plug off it has the tiny metal shavings on the magnet....But i could be wrong i just read that back sometime in 2011 on a forum around the time they started selling it .....Becasue it says smoother shifting high and low temperatures on the back of the bottle lol

MAD_MIKE

Transmission fluid will have friction modifiers in it.
This allows for smooth slipping of the clutch packs preventing wear but allowing for a silky smooth shift. When ATF becomes worn out, not only does it lose its lubricating properties but its friction modifier properties as well. So a transmission with old fluid will shift harshly. The harsh shifting will contribute to clutch pack wear, this is why it is a good idea to change fluid at the correct intervals.

The ferrous material you see on the end of the plug is most likely just from normal wear of the gears meshing and the steels in the clutch packs. Since the rest of the transmission is mostly made of aluminum that is not magnetic.

halfkoreanboy

This makes more sense than what i read before from other people....And When i changed my fluid i had the old fluid sit in a clean pan for a while and when i poured it out slowly i saw metal shiney flakes at the bottom of pan i guess previous owner never changed the fluid but it doesnt matter now because my Trans. is cracked at the drain hole and is jb welded shut...still leaks because i did not clean the area very good and fluid kept coming out bad so i had to do what i had to do to get home lol but does not leak as much now lol....I have to go manual now when this automatic decides to crap out

strategy400

I would say that it's the cleaning of the deposits that contaminates the fluid causing contaminated seals and subsequent leaking.