I recently decided to change the trans fluid in my car. 95 Civic EX, d16z6. 100k miles. No previous history on maintenance. Before the fluid change, it shifted ok. A bit rough from 1st to second which I thought was pretty normal given most honda auto trannys do. Delays in shifting when car was cold was also another symptom.

So, I know its recommended to do a 3x drain and fill. However my budget allowed me to only do it once. lol. Went to the Honda dealer and asked for transmission fluid, and I was a little surprised when they handed me this new fluid DW-1 ($7/quart). I was expecting the Atf-Z1, however It has been discontinued and tech told me that they were backward compatible.

I was a little weary to be honest, after all this new fluid has less viscosity and does not even smell like trans fluid. Took the drain plug off, let her drain and cleaned a bit of residue on the magnet.
Refilled with the new and improved fluid. Took her for a spin.

First thing I noticed was the shifts were NOTICEABLY smoother when car was cold. They were also a lot more precise and there was no delay.
Drove around some more until it warmed up and shifts got even better. Smooth, on time, and absolutely no signs of slipping or any bad or wrong symptom. Torque converter locked up on time.

Needless to say, I am very pleased with the result, and wanted to share the info for people looking to change the fluid and were wondering about this new fluid. Recommend the fluid 100%

Atf-DW-1 FTW!!!

 

I'll have to pick some up next time we're near a honda dealer. The fiances new del sol shifts a little rough.

 

Nice, nice...
Perhaps my civic will be receiving a special gift for its 13th birthday
^^

 

How long had it been since the last ATF drain and refill?

 

for that price could have gotten Amsoil high performance transmission fluid which is universal fluid and has a higher resistance to heat break down on the molecular level.

 

Honda auto trans only likes HONDA FLUID. Im guessing it had been a while since the last change. No previous history.

 

thats totally false but what ever you want to believe also redline works very well from what I hear. That belief mostly applies to manual transmission.

 

No, its not false buddy. But hey your only a noob. Its ok.

 

getting ready to add to my 02 accord with 175k. Dont have tranny problems but looking forward to any improvements.

 

I will be picking some up tomorrow for my 99 Civic Lx, it's due for a fluid change, I will be running mine 2000 miles in the next 3 weeks, so we will see how it does.

 

Roadtrip!

 

hahha noob on this forum, but having been fixing and modding cars prb since your in diapers. I have been dealing with auto performance cars for a long time now and if you did any research you will find the cars that are pushed to their limits with valve body mods and cryo treated internal parts with upgraded clutches that generate 3 or 4 times the heat of a stock transmission use Amsoil performance transmission fluid the best part is Amsoil even has the data to back it up. Then again your sold on honda fluid I guarantee Honda does not even make that fluid and it is outsourced by Apollo American which is the true manufacture just relabeled.

 

calm down now ^^

 

While what you are saying is true, we are talking the auto trannies, and no one does heavy mods on a honda auto (or atleast the civic's auto)... but my understanding, they tranny cant mechanically handle it.... Doesnt matter if you have "high temp" fluid, if you are burning out clutch packs or stripping out the gears (just guessing thats how the autos fail... dont really care because my fist big upgrade will be an auto to manual swap)

 

you are 100 percent correct honda auto<honda manual I have seen some autos modded they dont last, the honda auto is inherently weak well know around the community. The main fail point on honda auto trannys is def one the clutches and the other would be the input shaft seen both pretty much striped to nothing. I was just trying to suggest a superior auto trans fluid choice over honda fluid. I will tell you I know a lot of Tl owners right now dumping the factory tranny fluid asap because of all the additives honda puts in it from the factory cuases immense amount of slippage. to each his own though the hight temp fluid makes a huge difference though because the big reason an auto trans will fail is heat and with a superior fluid will help in that situation.

 

Some reading on DW1 from Honda.

http://www.piloteers.org/forums/atta...w1_a10110h.pdf

 

Thanks for the link

Planning on getting some of this. The fiance switched from driving a 2007 FG to driving a 1993 Del sol. She's not used to having used car qwerks. Needs some minor fixing here and there. Car runs great, drives great. The door stopper is broken on the passenger side, tranny shifts a tad rough, and the driver's side door handle doesn't open the door from the inside.

All minor fixes. The damn door part though was $40. I suppose I'll be tackling that while she's on vacation in los angeles this week.

 

I will be buying some this afternoon for my DD and getting my old fluid changed out before I drive down to So. Cali. next week. Although with 220K miles on it now, never one issue with the trans(knock on wood) shifts smooth and on time, except when cold, but that's always been the case. So this fluid change is a welcome addition to the longevity of my 1999 Civic Lx as my DD.

 

I, too, flushed the transmission in my 2008 V6 Accord and replaced it with DW-1 fluid. While it didn't correct all of the problems, it did significantly improve shift quality and speed.

One very important thing to remember: For best results, you must replace ALLtransmission fluid, difficult to do with Honda ATs. In addition, traditional fluid "flushing" equipment is not recommended for Honda transmission and can actually damage the unit.

Honda publishes a recommended flushing procedure that uses a lot of fluid (approximately 12 quarts) but does purge all the old fluid. Following the procedure exactly helps to remove varnish and particulate buildup and is critical to receiving the greatest benefits. This is especially important with Honda V6s due to the increased engine torque and the related stress on the transmission.

The following is exerpted from Honda Service News article A08010A, January 2008.

(1) Set the parking brake, and raise the vehicle on a lift.

(2) Drain the transmission and refill it with Honda Genuine ATF DW-1. Refer to the applicable S/M or to ISIS for details.

(3) Start the engine, shift into Drive, and release the parking brake.

(4) Push down on the accelerator pedal to raise the vehicle speed to 2500 rpm

(a) If the trans shifts past 2nd gear, go to step 5.

(b) If the transmission won't shift past 2nd gear, keep the engine speed at 2500 rpm shift from Drive to Neutral and back to Drive. Then go to step 5.

(5) Make sure that the trans shifts through all the forward gears and goes into torque converter lockup.

(6) Let off the accelerator pedal, and press the brake pedal to drop the vehicle speed to zero. Shift into Reverse and then into Neutral.

(7) Shift into Drive, and repeat steps 4 through 6 four (4) more times.

(8) Set the parking brake, and repeat steps 2 through 6 two (2) more times.

(9) Drain the transmission again after the third cycle and reinstall the drain plug with a new sealing washer.

(11) Refill the transmission with Honda Genuine ATF DW-1.

 

On my 98 EX auto with 188k I did the 3x3, then a single change 2 months later with the DW-1. I noticed a huge improvement in shift quality. Under normal driving shifts are almost unnoticed. Very smooth engagement in all gears, and when the torque converter locks up. Under moderate to heavy driving shifts are still smooth, yet very crisp. On the 4th change the fluid came out almost as clean as what I put back in. Very good stuff.

 

What you are saying "sounds" good/correct. The thing with Honda auto trannies are that they are indeed weak from the day they were produced. Heat does kill autos. Honda trannies internals are specific to the additives that are in their (honda) fluid. So using another fluid destroys them either instantly or over a short time. Some people may get lucky but it's not worth the risk.

The best bet is to change the fluid every 15k from day 1 to keep it clean/fresh. I had an 03 TL-S with the transmission made out of a house of cards. I changed the fluid every 10k. It still failed at 85k. With the replacement tranny I changed it every 15k. At 132k I sold the car because it started to act differently and I was petrified that I'd have to pay for another tranny.

Amsoil makes great products. I use to run the 0w30 in my 05 RSX-S with their filter. I'm sure their auto trans fluid does wonders as well, but from what I have seen/heard on the forums ANY other fluid besides OEM destroys them. Hell even OEM fluid doesn't help. It doesn't really matter.

I have been lucky with the Civic (only purchased because I got it needing nothing for $1k) But I will NEVER ever purchase another Honda/Acura with an auto trans. Beater cars are another story but the autos just plain suck.

 

My 2002 CRV had a bad shutter when I first gotime it.. The guy said the fluid was changed a few months prior. I called Honda they told me to only use the true Honda fluid ATF DW 1 I questioned him saying are you telling me this to sell more lol He suggested a 3 drain change to get the other fluid and dirt out. It took me 3 weeks of the shuttering to give in. It cost me 235$ but,let me tell ya the shutter is gone and the old gIirl works great..so yes use the true Honda fluid in tranny and rear end.

 

Cool story, but you didn't have to bump an old thread. You're an old member so you should know this by now unless this is a troll account.