ATF drain and replace, V6 AT

[Jesse H]

Wife's 08 has 56K miles on it. We bought it used and during the test drive I noticed it would hesitate during light accelleration. At the time I thought it was the ECO issue and paid no worry to it, besides, it's still under warranty.

After having it a week I realized this was just too rough to be the ECO issue so I took it in to the dealership and they resolved it with an ECU reflash. The torque converter was locking up improperly. Since then it's driven fine, although it did shift somewhat jerky.

In the past we had a 92 Acura Legend and it shifted similarly, I've also been in other Honda automatics and they've never shifted as smooth as other cars did...so I just thought it was normal for a Honda.

Well I got around to doing a quick drain and replace yesterday. Old fluid wasn't horrible but noticeably darker than fresh stuff. There was also a decent amount of crud on the drain magnet. With the huge 17mm fill bolt on top of the transmission, it was a breeze.

I was very surprised to find out just 3.5 quarts made a noticeable difference in shift quality. Most cars you'd have to pay attention to note a downshift while slowing down. In the Accord it was very noticeable. It's still there but not nearly as jerky. In about 4K miles the Accord is due for an oil change so I'll wait 2K miles and do another drain and refill. This way I'll do the last one at the same time as the oil change. Hoping things will really smooth out.

Seems like these transmissions seem to really put a beating on the ATF and benefit from regular replacement. I had a 12 year old F150 with 120K miles on the original ATF that shifted beautifully and the fluid looked as great as day one when I sold it.

[ninjaseal]

is there a cover to get to the transmission fluid bolt under the car?

[drowned12]

Originally Posted by ninjaseal

is there a cover to get to the transmission fluid bolt under the car?

Yes. At least for the i4 and I'm nearly certain that it's the same cover as the V6, because that would explain why the drain bolt doesn't line up to the cutout (if it was designed for the V6).

@OP - Just do what I do: drain and fill with every oil change. You're down there anyways. I know the V6 has tranny issues that the i4 doesn't but I'm blown away by how smooth the i4 shifts are. If I had earplugs in I wouldn't be able to tell they were happening.

[Jesse H]

I plan on a drain and replace every oil change (10 k) miles from this point on.

[Pete240z]

Change the manual trans often too. I waited until 40,000 miles (19 months) and was happy with the improvement. Taking that plastic bottom cover off is a pain.....

[drowned12]

Originally Posted by Pete240z

Change the manual trans often too. I waited until 40,000 miles (19 months) and was happy with the improvement. Taking that plastic bottom cover off is a pain.....

That's why I dremeled a cutout in the plastic right around the bolt:

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/sh...5&postcount=18

[Jesse H]

Mine didn't have one.

[ninjaseal]

jesse there is no cover on your 08 v6?

[sodaks2k]

Originally Posted by ninjaseal

jesse there is no cover on your 08 v6?

Get under your car and look!!

[Jesse H]

Originally Posted by ninjaseal

jesse there is no cover on your 08 v6?

There is an undertray. It does not get in the way of the drain bolt.

[Hittman]

On my wife's Element, I routinely drain/fill her ATF every other oil change. As mentioned before, it's easy enough to do while you're down there doing the oil.

[ninjaseal]

where is the drain bolt , i did look but not good , i lookedwithout a jackstand

[sodaks2k]

Originally Posted by ninjaseal

where is the drain bolt , i did look but not good , i lookedwithout a jackstand

It's on the transmission.

[drowned12]

Originally Posted by ninjaseal

where is the drain bolt , i did look but not good , i lookedwithout a jackstand

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/sh...5&postcount=18

See the 3rd picture. The top of the picture is the center jacking point for the front. The huge cutout 5 o'clock from it lines up with the drain bolt on the V6, but not on the I4.

[gooderthanyou]

I can not even get to mine with out jacking up the car. If you go under from the center you'll see a bolt sticking out slightly horizontally. This is the drain bolt, I think it takes a stanadard 3/8 socket or something to get it off. I just drained mine yesterday

http://www.diymyhonda.com/accord/wp-...bbc1318b4e.jpg