The car is a 1995 Acura Integra SE, automatic (my daily driver).

I recently purchased this car and it has 140k miles, she still runs great! I don't know when the previous owner replaced the transmission fluid, but its on the "to-do" list.

I was talking it over with some people and they advised me not to change the transmission fluid because its "been in there" for a while and by introducing a newer thicker (obviously) transmission oil will cause problems. has anyone ever heard of such thing? I change the transmission fluid on my 00 Si (manual) and never had any problems at all, does it make a difference if the car is automatic?

Just wanting some suggestions.
Thanks

 

any ideas

 

I work at a local lube shop and we advise people to go by a strict schedule, oil every 3,000.. transmission every 30k, and coolant every 20 or 30k. Oil, you can only go over so much and then u start to burn oil and ur engine ceases up (u'd be able to tell way before this happens). coolant you don't HAVE TO flush, but u'll notice overheating. Transmission you won't notice until its too late.

If someone comes in and has well over 30k miles and wants their transmission flushed we advise against it. I'll try to explain it in simple terms..

On a transmission that old, theres shavings that get in the fluid and by flushing it out u'll wash all the loose pieces out, screwing up your gears. U'll notice a major loss of power, slippage and things like that

Personal experience, one of my co-workers had a '92 caddillac, he did a transmission flush and noticed his car would lag on take-offs and he would have to shift it manually sometimes.

He thought the power loss was from tons of things - carbon build-up, spark plugs, dirty cat, plug wires, etc. He finally drew the conclusion that it was the transmission flush

 

ahh wow, I didnt know this. Specifically for automatics or it doesnt matter?

Hmm maybe I shouldn't after all, thanks

Lets see what others have to say

 

hmmm...i would suggest changing it or the buildup will get bad enough that the transmission will continously slip.

 

Possibly what i'd try and do would be to drain out maybe half and then fill it up with half new. Then repeat process in a month or so. Compare it to cutting back smoking cigarettes if your trying to quit compared to quitting cold turkey. Sorry about the crappy analogy lol.

Good luck

 

actually I think thats a very good idea. I think I might do that and see if I notice a change.

 

just draining it once will only get about half the fluid out.

 

anyone else?

 

my friends old acura had about 120k miles. he was told not to change the fluid and he did it anyways after it would always slip and about a month later the tranny gave up. before all this happend the tranny had never slipped nor gave him any problems.

 

wow that's some crazy **** ... hmm maybe the myth isn't a myth after all

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FredoSP &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The car is a 1995 Acura Integra SE, automatic (my daily driver).

I recently purchased this car and it has 140k miles, she still runs great! I don't know when the previous owner replaced the transmission fluid, but its on the "to-do" list.

I was talking it over with some people and they advised me not to change the transmission fluid because its "been in there" for a while and by introducing a newer thicker (obviously) transmission oil will cause problems. has anyone ever heard of such thing? I change the transmission fluid on my 00 Si (manual) and never had any problems at all, does it make a difference if the car is automatic?

Just wanting some suggestions.
Thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>


I have the exact same car, bought it used last year. I to didn't know what the previous owner did to the car. I'm not handy with cars, but I do follow what the dealer recommends. As what a few people have said so far, Honda trannys are different from other manufactuers trannys. According to Honda Canada, they have stopped transmission flush the same reason what VtecAdvantage said. However, it is important that you do a tranny fluid change. You will not get all the dirty oil out at once. What I had to do was, the dealer changed it, told me to drive the car for another 2 mths. so all the other dirt will circulate by that time. I took it back for a 2nd tranny fluid change. And now everything appears to be OK. When they initially changed the fluid, it was BLACK. So the conclusion was that the tranny oil was never changed. And ofcourse I panicked and just did what the dealer told me to do.
If you are very familiar with changing tranny oils, then I would highly recommend you do it right away. If not, then take it to your nearest Acura or Honda dealership and have them do it. If you take it to a tranny shop, they would do a flush and that can damage your tranny. I would sugguest you call an Acura dealership and ask them if they perform a tranny fluid change or flush. Then you would know. I'm friends with an Acura mechanic and he told me the same thing. I prefer to take it to Acura because if something went wrong, they are liable. If I took it to a small shop and something went wrong, the odds of me having any recourse is highly unlikely. I'm not putting smaller shops down at all because I do take my car to a small shop for other repairs. But when it comes to transmissions, I don't mess around. Good luck and let us know what you decide to do.

 

the biggest difference is the filter. most cars, to change the fluid, a filter must be taken out and replaced and the fluid is completely flushed. when you get the fluid changed in a honda, about half of the fluid is actually drained...this is why the recommended fluid change intervals are a little more frequent than most other manufactures.

 

I don't think my LS transmission has a filter in the tranny, unless Im mistaken?

And yes I can def change the tranny fluid, 3/8th racket, drain and then fill it through the oil dip stick. On my 00 Si, I add it through the VSS, I guess I could do it with the LS, but its easier not to take out the 10mm bolt

Thanks guys. I guess I should do it and report back, if something goes wrong I know I can find an LS auto tranny for cheap, but I hope not.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FredoSP &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I don't think my LS transmission has a filter in the tranny, unless Im mistaken?

And yes I can def change the tranny fluid, 3/8th racket, drain and then fill it through the oil dip stick. On my 00 Si, I add it through the VSS, I guess I could do it with the LS, but its easier not to take out the 10mm bolt

Thanks guys. I guess I should do it and report back, if something goes wrong I know I can find an LS auto tranny for cheap, but I hope not.</TD></TR></TABLE>


To play it safe, why don't you take it to an Acura dealership and have them do the first fluid change. Rather than running the risk of damaging your tranny and being forced to buy another one. I'm a very cautious lady, so maybe it's just me.