I have a 92 honda civic with a 5sp manual transmission. I was advised by Napa to use ATF fluid in this based on the aluminum casing. I went with BG synthetic ATF. I have not experienced any issues in shifting and all seems right, 2 quarts were put in and it runs great, however I would like a second opinion. BG is a bran I trust, as well is Valvoline MaxLife which I run in my engine. I have heard regular engine oil works in manual transmissions as well. What is the best recommendation for my tranny? I recently had one blow up due to lack of tranny oil which is very upsetting to me considering sears supposedly checked everything. I do not want it to happen again. Thanks!

 

I've never heard of anyone using ATF in a Civic manual transmission. Why not just use the recommended Honda MTF?

 

NO don not use AFT fluid who ever told you that does not know what he is talking about. AFT fluid will destroy a MT trans. Use Honda MTF or if you cant get it (every Honda Dealer sells it) then use full synthetic 10w30 motor oil until you can get Honda MTF.

 

Yea dump that crap out and drop honda mtf. These trannies will go bye bye fast without the right oil

 

I believe Automatics are the more sensitive, however Honda's are sensitive in general.

 

Yea d series trans in general are very sensative

 

Plain old cheap 10W30 works fine in that transmission (this is what Honda originally put in them before they came out with their own MTF). If you want something better Torco MTF is nice and will take a lot of abuse before it breaks down. Honda MTF is quite thin now and tends to ruin input shaft bearings after a while, it also breaks down quickly if you drive hard.

Don't run ATF, some Mazda built Ford transmissions use it (M50Ds) but not Honda.

 

Agreed.

OEM
10/30
Synchromesh
Torco

are they only things i would use

 

ATF = Automatic Transmission Fluid

MTF = Manual Transmission Fluid (actually a Honda branded product)

...so you can see why everyone is responding this way to your post.

Yes you should probably get that fluid out of there - you probably haven't done your trans any damage though.

Honda Service Manual Recommends: "Under normal conditions, use SAE 30 or 20w-40 with a rating of SF or SG. On vehicle used mostly in cold climates, use 10W-30 or 10W-40. Refill capacity is 1.9 Qts or 2.0 Qts after an overhaul."

If you really want to dig in, check out the following thread at "Bob Is The Oil Guy" (a forum dealing only with oils and their chemical composition), in this thread a guy sent off a sample of unused MTF for analysis, it returned close to Dex III!

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...39#Post1971039