2004 Honda Pilot 100k miles ATF Fluid Rec - Higher viscosity required?

[STL_G8GT]

Good afternoon - Recently purchased a 2004 Honda Pilot. It's at 97k miles, and has had Honda service its entire life. The 90k (most recent) service included the trans fluid, however it's also recommended to change at the 105k mark. I think this engine is on its original timing belt (YIKES), so that's going to be done in the next few days with the water pump and inspecting cam and crank seals.

I'm going to go away from the OEM trans fluid and wanted some thoughts on synthetic ATF options. Currently the transmission seems to shift fine, and no leaks or noises.

The 2004 Pilot does not have a separate front diff/transfer case. The transmission does not have a seal between those components, so the trans fluid serves as both transfer case fluid and front diff (of sorts) fluid.

With that in mind, should I be looking at something with a higher viscosity like Amsoil, or will the Valv MaxLife ATF be just fine? If I didn't have the consideration of sharing fluids, I'd punch the easy button: Valvoline maxlife atf. I've used that fluid in other vehicles and like it. But the shared use without isolation has me thinking hard on this.

If I remember and researched correctly, the big dig on the original Honda trans fluid (z1) was that it was shearing in no-time (is that why the change interval is so short?). Then the next gen fluid (w1) improved upon that, but I believe there are newer, better - and more readily available - options available now and I'd like to take advantage of them.

Any help appreciated.

 

[benjamming]

Nothing wrong with DW-1 which is as readily available as another ATF. You walk into a dealership & purchase. BTW, not trying to be snarky.
My '02 Accord (4-speed which is admittedly some different than your 5(?) speed AT) has almost 280k miles on it. I've run mostly Honda fluid in it with AMSOIL for a spell & a couple others. But I do a drain & refill at every oil/filter change which is 7500 miles.

 

[Hall]

If it was done routinely by the previous owner and was done as recently as 7k miles ago, you certainly don't need to change it again at 105k. They did the 105k service early.

A 2004 spec'd Z1 fluid but will now use DW-1. I'd stick to DW-1.

 

[NormanBuntz]

Do yourself a favor with the transmission: stick with Honda DW-1 and wait until 120K miles.

 

[Johnny248]

I've been using the MaxLife in my '04 5speed. Haven't had any issues yet. I've read that some people drain and fill these early 5speed auto's every oil change. Knock on wood mine is still going.

 

[JustTrynaHelp]

We have had both a 2006 ridgeline and a 2005 CRV.

For both, the higher viscosity transmission fluid from either Schaeffer or Amsoil has worked fine with no issues.

From reading online, the transmissions are not picky as far as requiring Honda fluid, but they are sensitive to having fresh fluid or not

 

[STL_G8GT]

I appreciate the feedback here - I'm honestly surprised to see such support for the OEM fluid. Seems like every other thread I'm reading about how it's a poor fluid, etc! I just reviewed the carfax and yes, it received the 30k service, the 45k service, there is an entry in 2017 at 80k where transmission, power steering and brake fluid was changed and the ecm was checked, then in 2022 the "90k mile service" was listed as completed. There are many oil changes, and a handful of other things (brake fluid, coolant).

 

[STL_G8GT]

Nothing wrong with DW-1 which is as readily available as another ATF. You walk into a dealership & purchase. BTW, not trying to be snarky.
My '02 Accord (4-speed which is admittedly some different than your 5(?) speed AT) has almost 280k miles on it. I've run mostly Honda fluid in it with AMSOIL for a spell & a couple others. But I do a drain & refill at every oil/filter change which is 7500 miles.

No worries - didn't read it as snarky. Thanks for the input.

 

[kschachn]

FWIW I have used Maxlife in my Honda for over 200,000 miles and I have no complaints. I know there are technical differences between the fluid and ATF DW-1 but so far at over 300,000 on the vehicle it hasn’t been an issue. Viscosity isn’t a concern as Maxlife has good viscosity stability.

 

[Hall]

I'm honestly surprised to see such support for the OEM fluid

Why ? It's the safest option. Is anything wrong with Maxlife and other ATFs ? Nope, not at all.

 

[nicholas]

Good afternoon - Recently purchased a 2004 Honda Pilot. It's at 97k miles, and has had Honda service its entire life. The 90k (most recent) service included the trans fluid, however it's also recommended to change at the 105k mark. I think this engine is on its original timing belt (YIKES), so that's going to be done in the next few days with the water pump and inspecting cam and crank seals.

I'm going to go away from the OEM trans fluid and wanted some thoughts on synthetic ATF options. Currently the transmission seems to shift fine, and no leaks or noises.

The 2004 Pilot does not have a separate front diff/transfer case. The transmission does not have a seal between those components, so the trans fluid serves as both transfer case fluid and front diff (of sorts) fluid.

With that in mind, should I be looking at something with a higher viscosity like Amsoil, or will the Valv MaxLife ATF be just fine? If I didn't have the consideration of sharing fluids, I'd punch the easy button: Valvoline maxlife atf. I've used that fluid in other vehicles and like it. But the shared use without isolation has me thinking hard on this.

If I remember and researched correctly, the big dig on the original Honda trans fluid (z1) was that it was shearing in no-time (is that why the change interval is so short?). Then the next gen fluid (w1) improved upon that, but I believe there are newer, better - and more readily available - options available now and I'd like to take advantage of them.

Any help appreciated.

Maxlife is much better than Honda oem.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Welcome to BITOG

High viscosity is not required. In fact, Honda has back-spec'd lower viscosity DW1 for every Honda automatic transmission that used Z1.

Maxlife is good stuff, but any modern LV Synthetic multi vehicle ATF will be fine in your Pilot

However, you should change the ATF frequently, as V6 Hondas are known for having transmission problems. Thankfully, changing the ATF is very easy.

Some people have had problems with Aisin water pumps in Hondas. See this thread. Therefore, you might want to buy the WP from the dealer. The other stuff you can buy from Rock Auto:
Gates TCK286 timing belt kit without the water pump
Aisin BTH002 timing belt tensioner

The best coolant to use is Pentofrost A3 or Zerex Asian Blue

 

[STL_G8GT]

Welcome to BITOG

High viscosity is not required. In fact, Honda has back-spec'd lower viscosity DW1 for every Honda automatic transmission that used Z1.

Maxlife is good stuff, but any modern LV Synthetic multi vehicle ATF will be fine in your Pilot

However, you should change the ATF frequently, as V6 Hondas are known for having transmission problems. Thankfully, changing the ATF is very easy.

Some people have had problems with Aisin water pumps in Hondas. See this thread. Therefore, you might want to buy the WP from the dealer. The other stuff you can buy from Rock Auto:
Gates TCK286 timing belt kit without the water pump
Aisin BTH002 timing belt tensioner

The best coolant to use is Pentofrost A3 or Zerex Asian Blue

Slack - Thank you - So I'm digging deeper into this Aisin WP problem and overall TB kit problems. (Issue is, I have the TKH-001 in hand, correct aisin kit for 03-04 pilot, the 05 and up use the TKH-002). Seems it's all over the place. Two issues? The chirp and the warbling? The chirp is fixed by using the shim, but for pilots only lists 2005 and newer, and the shim goes on the oil pump, not the WP. I haven't checked, but I'm going to assume (uh oh) that the 03-04 j35a4 engine uses a different oil pump part number than the j35a6 engine (the water pumps are a different p/n). For the warbling, I saw a JeepFix video outlining some sketchy Aisin water pumps in the 2018 era, but he posted a follow up that his concerns were addressed. Now, his concerns where he talks about "cracks" really seem to be casting marks and I'm surprised he calls them cracks. Others opine that the warbling comes from a too tight TB and overpowered hydraulic tensioner. Kind of paralyzed here - finding comments that even the oem kits will get the warbling sound here and there... I suppose I could be the guinea pig and see if the 03-04 are gtg and the warbling confined to 05 and up....?

 

[BAJA_05]

Since recently done --- spill and fill Honda DW1 and 1 bottle of LubeGard Red every 20k...