Hi.

Previous owner said he drained and refilled at 100,000 kms. It was at 174k three weeks ago when I had a mobile mechanic my friend uses come over to drain and refill. Online search and calling Honda dealer nearby said you need 2.5L or 2.64 quarts to refill. When he did that, and he showed me when he poured it into his big jug that he carreis with him, he said the level on the dipstick looked surprisingly low, even before getting it to operating temperature. He drove it for 5 minutes and left it running a little bit longer on the street and checked again. It was just below the bottom line.

Next day I drove for 15 minutes and went to dealer where I bought the ATF from and asked them to check. He said ya it's low. Try putting half a bottle when you get home. I asked how after 15 minutes of driving it looked so low. They couldn't give me an answer.

Got home after 5 more minutes ot driving and put 600 ml in and this is what it looked like:



5 days later when I drove 8 minutes, parked for 5 minutes, then drove 8 minutes back it looked like this:



2 days after that, drove 20 minutes and the level was right at halfway.

2 days later, drove 30 minutes and it looked like this. I told the mobile mechanic and he said it looks fine: When I drove 45 minutes on the way back after 1 hour of sitting, it still looked like this.



A week later, drove 5 minutes, left car idling for 3 minutes, drove back 5 minutes, turned off car, checked level, turned back on and let car idle about 8 minutes, turned off car and it looks like this:




The day I drove it 30 minutes was the only time during this time. Have not done more than a 15 minute drive without stopping since.

I've always turned the car off and checked on street level and do it two or three times. And there's been nothing leaking on the driveway whatsoever.

However, I will mention this. I got an oil change at a quick lube place out of desparation as I was heading out of town and needed it and my regular guy was closed and I had to do this on a Saturday. The mobile mechanic said it looked like they glued on the bolt to the oil pan because some noob tech probably stripped it with the bolt. It was red substance that he thought was glue. I did go back to that lube place and they said it's not glue. They then loosened and tightened again and showed me nothing was stripped. They did however say the ATF pan was sweating. This was the day after I had the ATF done by the mobile mechanic. However, I have since looked under twice and don't see that sweating. And again, nothing has ever dripped onto the driveway.

Anyway, does it seem strange that the ATF level looks so low and only gets up to the top bar after like half hour of driving?

 

Yeah, that's weird...mine just took the 2.65 or whatever it is (slightly more than half of the third jug) and then really doesn't move much after that.

How many miles does the engine have on it? Has the transmission fluid been changed regularly in the past?