07 civic PS/ AFT fluid change, need suggestions

[Bulli]

19k miles on it. Everything works good.
just bled the brakes with some dot 4 racing fluid and its a night and day difference.


Im looking to change the power steering fluid next and the ATF as well.

Been looking at Royal Purple/Amzoil/REdline power steering fluid and not sure if i should get one of those or OEM stuff?

As far as the transmission, i think i want to use the OEM Z-1 fluid.


Either way i dont want to do drain and refills for the PS or ATF.


i was wondering if its ok to get the PS out by disconnecting a line and letting the old fluid pour out while adding new fluid?


same goes for the ATF

i know where my trans lines are... can i just connect 2 lines and have the fluid in a bucket and the fluid will exchange?

i work at jiffy lube and have a ATF matching that does that put i don't want to use the fluid we have...

 

[J. A. Rizzo]

DOT4 fluid isn't any less compressible than the recommended DOT3 fluid, so if there was a difference in pedal feel, it was probably psychosomatic or caused by a small amount of air in the line with the old fluid that you purged when doing the change. Moving from DOT3 to DOT4 or DOT5.1 or racing fluid shouldn't have any effect on pedal feel or brake performance. ATE Super Blue and ATE TYP 200 are excellent fluids, the only difference between the two being the color. See here: http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/accessoryDetail.jsp?ID=21

The power steering fluid is the one you should use the Honda fluid for. The Honda Z1 ATF can be substituted with any fluid that says it's a Z1 replacement, such as the Redline D4, etc.

When I changed the PS fluid on my Pilot, I disconnected the return line from the reservoir and connected a longer hose running into a drain jug, to drain the reservoir. Then I plugged the reservoir return hole and hooked the hose up to the return line from the pump. I poured 4 bottles of Honda PS fluid in a clean gallon jug for easier pouring, then had a friend start the car and start turning the wheel back and forth lock to lock. I just kept the reservoir full of new fluid until the fluid running into the drain jug was clean, then shut off the car, reconnected the hose, topped off the reservoir, and closed it up. An almost complete PS fluid change.

If you can get to the transmission fluid cooler lines, you can put the return line in a supply of fresh fluid and the other line in a drain bucket, then start the car and run it through the gears (safely!) until you see clean fluid in the drain bucket. Shut it off quick so you don't waste any more clean fluid than necessary.

All that said, of course, it's much easier to just drain and refill the ATF (twice after a short drive if you really want to be careful), leave the PS fluid alone unless it smells burnt (you will know - it's very obvious), and move on knowing that you're already exceeding the recommendations by doing this before it's necessary.

 

[PandaBear]

Honda Power Steering Fluid is thicker and has a detergent package in it, people have been mentioning that using typical ATF viscosity PSF will cause leak in the long term. I'd stay with either a "for honda" or Honda OEM ATF. Last time I bought from the dealer a 12oz bottle is only about $4.12, compare to $3 for the "for honda" fluid in parts store, it is worth going OEM.

 

[mopar_monkey]

i'm a honda tech so i have servuced several of these civics, first of all don't use anything but z1 in that trans, that being said you'll need 9 qrts of atf, first pull the drain plug on the bottom of the trans and drain it, it will take 3 qrts to top it back off, run it through all of the gears, repeat, the repeat for a total of 3 drain and fills, this is what honda recommends and it really does the best job, as for pwr steering, just empty the res using a turkey baster if you have nothing else, start it up turn the wheel a few times and repeat till you feel it has been properly flushed. also don't go thinner on ps fluid, the newer hondas are pleged withe steering racks that leak into the boots (so you may not know theres a leak till yours ps pump starts groaning for airation) using thinner fluid could possibly speed up this problem or even cause it.