Hey guys. I have a 99 Honda Civic Sedan with manual tranny. How often should you replace the tranny fluid? I do about 10000km per year. What do you guys recommend?

 

look in your manual, or the faq section i think there is a reccommended maintainence schedule. I thinks it's every 30000miles

 

I am just look in the manual and it only says to replace the transmission fluid at 6 years or 90000 miles but it doesn't say when you need to replace the tranny fluid if you have the car over the 6 years period? Should you replace th tranny fluid every two years after the 6 years?

 

Use Honda OEM tranny fluid. The spec for it is now every 120k miles or every 6 years, whichever comes first.

 

I was just looking at the Honda website and it says to replace the tranny fluid every 24 mths/48,000 km.
I was looking at the maintenance schedule under "Specific Additional Required Maintenance" http://www.honda.ca/HondaCA2006/Your...&TrimID=20&L=E

Do you guys think it is necessary to replace the tranny fluid every 24 months because I don't put 48, 000km every two years? Is it a waste of money or would it be money well spend since it would make the tranny last longer?

 

2 Years or 48,000km. Which ever comes first.

There is a reason why they put these recommendations imo.

 

yes specs. are there for a reason but i wuld change it every 30,000 miles or 3 years which ever one comes first and i wuld only use OEM HONDA MTF because thats where most shops change them during a major service of every 30K miles...and dont 4get ur two new crush washers u will need as well...

 

x2

Many people neglect transmission services every 30-50 thousand miles. Doing so can lead to varnish build up.

 

change it when you change your radiator fluid... I change it once a year.

 

The 1999 Honda owner's manuals instructs Canadian drivers to use the "Severe Conditions" maintenance schedule. Are you in Canada? Or do you drive under "severe conditions"? If not, you are throwing away money.

Remember the tranny oil is not exposed to combustion gases and air the way engine oil is. Hence the interval for changing tranny oil is much higher, especially with the latest Honda MTF. There certainly is such a thing as overmaintenance of a car, meaning money is being wasted.

 

LOL Severe Conditions = Honda racing...

 

You can also use motor oil instead of honda mtf.
It says so in the manual. But i would change it every two years its not THAT expensive if you think about it every 2 years.

Ps you can als use synchromesh or eneos or other non manual fluds but im assuming you want to do it by the book, plus these are a little pricey

 

Yes I am living in Canada but I don't think living in Hamilton, Ontario is under severe conditions. Last time I changed the tranny oil was December 2006 and since then I have put about 30,000km. Should I replace the tranny fluid? Should I listen to Honda and replace it or is it just waste of money to replace it?

 

The criteria from the owner's manual for "severe conditions" that leap out at me as possibly typical for Canada are:
-- driving in freezing temperatures for less than 10 miles per trip
-- driving on de-iced roads

If I were you, I would follow the Canadian (= severe conditions) maintenance schedule, and so I would change your Civic's tranny fluid right now.

Motor oil chemistry has changed since the older (circa 1990) owner's manuals were written, and so it turns out motor oil is no longer acceptable for manual trannies. See http://honda.lioness.googlepages.com/manualtrannyfluid.

Ditto about having the two new crush washers ready when you do change the MTF.