aha409

Hi all,

I bought a 1997 Honda del sol automatic si. I would like to change the transmission fluid since its color is bad. I was told that I a flush is better than just a change. I called Honda and they told me if the fluid is changed every 40,000K a flush is not needed. I have no idea if the transmission fluid was changed before, and I need an advice whither to do a change or a flush.

I was reading on line and some people said that a flushing an old oil can hurt the transmission. Is this true? Is there a filter to be replaced as well?

Which oil brand I should use to change the fluid.

Thanks a lot

A

CFiannotti

I have a '95 Civic DX coupe, auto trans.
I change my ATF, every other year.I use what the owner's manual says.
286,000 miles. No problems.

guessohw

Your going to stir some people up with this question LOL. As you stated, a lot of people say to stay away from getting a flush because of different issues it causes after the fact. Some people say that flushes force out material that has built up inside the trans and it has become used to them. Flushing them out starts causing issues so thats not good. Personally I did what the guys on here said to do and did a change at the house rather than a flush. You need to get enough to change it out three times so that you get as much of the old out as possible. The torque convertor holds a lot of fluid and just changing it one time will not get all of the old fluid out. You can search around and find the sequence people use but I believe it's something like drain and fill then start the car and cycle through the gears then kill it and drain again. The second you drain as you didin step one and refill then drive it for a short period then swap it again and that should be it. I know this isn't the exact order but it's close.

Another big thing people will debate is the fluid you should use. OEM all the way is what the vast majority will tell you. Others say to use different stuff and that they have had no issues with it. Remeber every car and person is different and so they do things differently. You can get the fluid from Honda in a case which might save you a little money. The Honda fluid aparently is a little different then after market fluids and the trans are designed for it so thats what I went with. Hope this helps

ntextreme3

I would never flush an old trans like that especially one that you don't know the entire history of.. i know most shops around here wont even service a transmission that hasn't been serviced by them before if it has over 100,000 miles.. for example, i know some girl who went to firestone with her car after i told her 1000 times don't get the transmission fluid flushed its not a good idea on that car or any car for that matter (in my opinion).. she went there and they told her that they couldn't do it because it was too old.. so she lied and said it was just rebuilt .. then what happened? they believed her.. flushed it.. and the trans wouldn't shift out of first. she filed a claim against them and they had a 3rd party teardown that showed the transmission had been worn down over years and had nothing to do with firestones service under which they believed it was rebuilt.

heres the kicker.. amazingly they gave her a brand new trans for free and a rental car while it was changed. i doubt youll be so lucky. i said they're a bunch of idiots.. if a report came to my shop that said it wasn't the fault of my shop; i would've told her to **** off. :: anyway, simple fluid change is more than adequate

Former User

Don't flush an old transmission. Instead, do three sequential ATF drain-and-refill cycles with at least a short drive in between.

strategy400

Recently did a complete flush on my 290k auto trans '95 del sol. Used geniune honda fluid. No problems at all. I did the flush at home by removing the driver radiator line and pumping out 2 quarts at a time filling 2 quarts til it stopped coming out black and came out red (about 10 quarts required to flush it). Shifting through the gears while pumping gets it forced through everywhere.

Former User

I don't think that this^ would be referred to as a transmission flush. It's about the same as several drain and refill cycles.

Kohen

My dads friend owns a transmission shop and says his #1 business is from people getting a "flush" from (insert crappy franchise auto shop name here) and just stirring up the metal shavings and destroying the transmission.
So be careful where you're taking it and make sure you know what they're doing. Better yet, do it yourself Make sure you're not just stirring up the shavings and actually getting rid of the shavings and crap.

redm3turbo

Ive never heard of Honda even doing a flush, just drain/refill cycles as mentioned.
There is no filter
OEM honda is the best.

edd805

I agree with these guys dude just change out the fluid honda oem for sure i put GM syncomesh in my gsr but my tranny had been beat on before i got it so it helped clean it up a little bit but ive heard stories at my shop too of of people getting flushes and just tearing everything inside apart just change it out youll be good oh and the gym syncomesh is awesome fixed my stubborn reverse and made it smoother dont think you need it though

Kista20

I agree with everyone else by changing the fluid out over time and not having a complete system flush done. A flush might be ok if you have it serviced regularly but then you don't change out the filter and I'm a big fan of changing fluids and filters.