2010 Honda Odyssey 175k Miles, which ATF?

[iCurious]

The transmission fluid level looks normal, although the fluid is slightly brown. Shift quality isn't ideal—the shifts are somewhat rough and inconsistent. I'm not sure what brand or type of ATF was previously used.

Which ATF would you recommend, and would it be beneficial to add Lubegard?

 

[Kira]

I cared for a 2010 Honda Accord 4-cyl.
EVERYONE said to use Honda fluid. I've read there are other good substitutes.
But since you don't know, using DW1 keeps it simple and cheaper.
I used Lubegard on the one I maintained.

 

[martinq]

What does the manual recommend for ATF?

What's the service history like?
Has the transmission pan been off before?
Magnets cleaned / added to?

 

[HyundaiAbuser]

My pilot's 5 speed has enjoyed a combination of wolf's head mv, maxlife and aisin DW-1 for 120k miles. Pick something that says dw-1 on the front or back and be happy.

 

[Hall]

Honda DW-1 - not the Aisin or Idemitsu knock-offs. Do 1-3 drain and refills over time and see how it improves before considering adding Lubegard.

 

[GW.]

2016 Acura RDX here. I’ve been using Maxlife for over 140k miles with zero problems. The original DW1 caused a problem and a TSB was released which never really fixed the problem. Maxlife cured the shuddering problem permanently.

 

[nwjones18]

2008 CRV. First change around 100k with Maxlife. Did a change every OCI for 3-4 intervals and now am doing it every 30k. Shifts great.

 

[melk]

Took me 5 drain and fills for my 2007 CRV to finally start coming out clean and not dark. Cleared up the funky hard 1-2 shift I had. First three were with DW1 before switching to MaxLife.

 

[iCurious]

Looks like I will be using the Maxlife with Lubegard. Hope it fixes the shifting points

 

[Kira]

^^FYI: Someone here posted that Lubegard isn't necessary with synthetic ATFs.
I have no idea if that's true or not.

 

[iCurious]

^^FYI: Someone here posted that Lubegard isn't necessary with synthetic ATFs.
I have no idea if that's true or not.

I heard it aids with the shift points.

 

[Kira]

I heard it also disipates heat better....and I used it with Maxlife too.

The LG red was absolutely noticable in the balky AW transmissions which called for 3309, a mineral ATF.

 

[melk]

Bottle of Lubegard red absolutely improved the shifting of my Chrysler 62TE with 177k miles on it.

 

[Hohn]

The transmission fluid level looks normal, although the fluid is slightly brown. Shift quality isn't ideal—the shifts are somewhat rough and inconsistent. I'm not sure what brand or type of ATF was previously used.

Which ATF would you recommend, and would it be beneficial to add Lubegard?

I just did Restore and Protect ATG on my 2005 Odyssey. So far so good, it's very smooth so far and I'm quite happy with it.

Before that, I was using the blue jug Valvoline ATF for imports. It worked well too.

 

[JonesZ]

2004 Pilot. 238k. Original owner. Multiple drain and fills of Maxlife. I've done the x3 thing, but don't bother anymore. When it got regular use, I did it every 15k or so. Overkill, maybe. But it's the original transmission with zero issues, ever.

 

[Egg_Head]

Looks like I will be using the Maxlife with Lubegard. Hope it fixes the shifting points

If it were mine, I'd hold off on the LubeGard. Change the fluid once, drive it, see if anything improves. Then based on that, consider another fluid change w/LubeGard. Otherwise you have no idea which one had an effect.

 

[martinq]

^^FYI: Someone here posted that Lubegard isn't necessary with synthetic ATFs.
I have no idea if that's true or not.

Additives are not necessary or recommended outside of friction modifiers for certain limited-slip differentials. If the ATF blender / manufacturer did not formulate the fluid properly, that's a failure on their part and it should be made aware to the public. The end user should not need to be playing the role of lubrication chemist / blender.

 

[wlk]

Ive used Valvoline MV Import synthetic atf and Idemitsu Type H Plus in my 05 Element with Lubegard Red just fine. Was using DW-1 and Lubegard Red but it would darken in <10k miles, so i switched to the Valvoline then found a ton of the Idemitsu on clearance at Advance. Did a 3x drain and fill with it and added the Lubegard on the last fill and been fine. No shift differences, nice and smooth. I run Lubegard Red in all my vehicles and been fine. It resolved the 1/2 hard shifts in my 90s trucks when Maxlife by itself helped but not resolved.

 

[TomYoung]

Honda DW-1 - not the Aisin or Idemitsu knock-offs. Do 1-3 drain and refills over time and see how it improves before considering adding Lubegard.

Idemetsu is OEM supplier. Aisin would be trusted. While I am sensitive to the need for DW 1, Honda branded stuff and these two brands are the universe of acceptable substitutes. What is not advised is, say Valvoline Maxlife, even though the label suggests it works for everything. Even this has an exception, which is if you have one of the years where the ZS transmission was installed, where Maxlife would be just fine. It’s unfortunate that Honda had such a terrible automatic transmission history that this sensitivity to fluids is required.

 

[cheech279]

Honda DW-1 - not the Aisin or Idemitsu knock-offs. Do 1-3 drain and refills over time and see how it improves before considering adding Lubegard.

What exactly is the science that supports using only Honda DW-1? I've owned my 2007 Ridgeline (only 119K miles) since new, have done 5 drain and fills with Aisin DW-1 or Eneos Model H and have not had a single issue. If those ATF blenders make the fluid for a specific Honda application, why can't it be trusted?