Hi I have a 95 del sol s mt. Ive noticed lately it is not shifting very smooth and have to put some effort into moving the stick. I dont really know if it is related to the transmission fluid, but I know it hasnt been changed in the 5 years ive had it although Ive only driven it maybe 10k. So just wondering how do you change it and do you just put it the 10w-30 engine oil?

 

You could use 10w-30 conventional motor oil or Honda MTF (Manual Transmission Fluid). Or the other highly recommended fluid would be Torco MTF.

There is both a fill plug and a drain plug on the side of the case, you should get new aluminum washers for both. You drain out the 2.9 liters of fluid, plug her up and pour in 2.9 liters of fresh until it just flows out the fill hole. Let it dribble out of the fill hole to a very slight dribble and plug her up and you are good to go.

 

Back when I owned my EK hatch, I swapped the transmission with a JDM unit.

I was at my uncle's shop on a Sunday night after hours (all the tools I need are there, plus a car lift ) and I totally forgot to buy Honda MTF the day before when the dealership was open.

I ended up filling it with a synthetic 10W30 instead so I could drive the car home. Well let me tell you, the shifter feels a lot stiffer with that stuff than Honda MTF. Not so stiff that it isn't drivable... but stiff enough that it was throwing off my shifter-to-clutch-to-gas timing. Annoyed, I switched back to Honda MTF.

Also, my friend installed a B&M short shifter into his EK hatch and it became stiff over time. I asked him what he used to lube the ball joint and he said "what do you mean lube?" So my question to you is, have you or a previous owner ever changed the shifter for a short shifter? If so, did you grease the ball joint?

 

Synthetic motor oil is highly UNrecommended for Honda tranmissions. Conventional (dino) motor oil only and 10w-30 at that if going with motor oil.

 

I was wondering why you said that until I re-read my post. I meant to write "semi-synthetic". And it was actually at the recommendation of one of the mechanics there.

Not sure if that makes a difference.

 

I'd suspect the semi-synthetic would have similar issues as full synthetic in the manual tranny.

 

Fair enough.

Either way, nothing is better than the manufacturer recommended oil. Honda MTF.

 

I know a tranny rebuilder or two that would disagree. They say Torco MTF is better than Honda MTF in it's current formulation. Honda MTF back in the day for the 92-95 was one of the best fluids but the new stuff is made for the new trannies and is "okay" for backwards compatibility. Meaning it will do but is no longer the best. Torco on the other hand exceeds all the specs for these transmissions.

 

^^ I was unaware that they changed the formula