Good God! I have been reading the manual that came with my 2000 Accord and it says to use Honda brand fluids for not only auto tranny, but brakes and cooling system as well! I believe the tranny fluid from Honda is a necessity, but come on can't the Honda hold up as well with some non-dealership fluids as some Toyotas do. I never was aware of these recommendations beforehand or I might not have a Honda in my garage now! Thanks.

Ray

 

not even the dealer uses honda coolant they use shell coolant ... but the tranny oil is a item i wouldnt buy anywhere else but the dealer brake fluid is just the same anywhere you get it just buy the right type

 

power steering fluid is another fluid that should be honda only

brake fluid and coolant can be non-honda

atf or mtf, is probably a good idea to use honda fluid

 

There was a discussion on the honda coolant a few months back in the tech forum and the general consesus was that using an improperly formulated coolant could cause head gasket problems. I'm not willing to chance that. I just use the Honda brand coolant because I KNOW it has the correct formulation. I've got no idea if the stuff off the shelf does or not. I've never heard that Honda dealers use shell coolant. a more likely scenario is that Shell manufactures coolant for honda based on hondas specifications.

Honda MTF is definately different than any other MTF i've ever seen before. It kinda smells like mineral oil. no idea on the atf.

you can use any DOT 4 Brake fluid.

 

For Brake fluid get whatever meets specs. For antifreeze, you need to use the right type to avoid damage to seals, head gasket, etc. Has to do with phosphate levels, etc. I'm sure there are ones at Pep Boys that will work, since Honda doesn't make theirs, but I am usually at the dealer anyways to get oil filters, etc, and the coolant isn't much more than at Pep Boyz anyways. I'd rather pay $2 more and have the peace of mind that I got the right one, and don't have to worry about premature seal failure.

 

For brake/clutch fluid I use geniune honda, as well as tranny fluid, for antifreeze I use Prestone (think it's better).


[Modified by johnsaccord, 11:12 AM 2/5/2003]