8th Gen Accord-Trans Service Interval

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lukejo

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2012 Accord 4cyl
Does anyone know, if (IF) I waited for the maintenance minder to indicate transmission fluid change, how many miles is that set for, assuming normal driving conditions??
——I know, this is BITOG and everyone here recommends earlier drain & fills—-BUT, I'm wanting to know what mileage the mm would actually recommend it. The owners manual does not tell that. Thanks!
 
It likely uses similar formulas used by the engine oil monitor, which accumulates data like load, maximum temperature, time at normal operating temperature, number of heat cycles, etc. and counts down to 0% life left. There's no way someone can tell you when they think it will reach a certain percent, as every car's circumstances are different.

Speaking for myself, I ignore maintenance minder recommendations, as my sister-in-law was bit in the @$$ by the one in her Equinox, which ended up requiring an a new timing set. I change the transmission fluid in all my vehicles at 30K, but none of mine have a transmission minder. Keeping Honda's past transmission woes in mind, I wouldn't do anything differently if I had an an Accord.
 
Your owners manual does tell you. If you drive in mountainous terrain, or use the car for taxi or delivery it says D&F at 25k miles.

If you don't, the MM will tell you closest to the 50k mile mark.
 
With a lot of routine around town use, our 2014 Odyssey requested AT fluid around 36k. It was one of the numbered services in the OM, and the number popped up.

I do a 2 qt refresh every other oil change or so, may start to reduce the tempo of that now that were past 40k miles, but the plug still always comes out with a good collection of material... and no readily replaceable filter... So I may just keep the tempo, its so easy to do...

I know thats a V6 car, not an I4 car, but its a data point...
 
Who cares what the manual says....
It's so easy to dump out some fluid and add some fresh, why not do it fairly often.

I usually dump out 3-4 quarts every year and replace with fresh Honda DW-1 or MaxLife. (I drive about 25-30k miles a year in my Honda).
At 100k and 200k miles, I have the dealer do a complete fluid swap. I change the little filter that sits on top of the transmission every 100k miles as well.
 
Originally Posted by lukejo
2012 Accord 4cyl
Does anyone know, if (IF) I waited for the maintenance minder to indicate transmission fluid change, how many miles is that set for, assuming normal driving conditions??
——I know, this is BITOG and everyone here recommends earlier drain & fills—-BUT, I'm wanting to know what mileage the mm would actually recommend it. The owners manual does not tell that. Thanks!


Keep in mind that the m/m is the tool of last resort not necessarily the recommended interval. Also if you read the OM you'll see that probably what you consider normal driving falls under the "Severe Use" title. I would not exceed 50K mile interval on ATF exchange and I mean FULL exchange not just D & F. If you do just D & F I'd do that every 25K miles.
 
I have no idea what the MM miles/time is for ATF, so can't help you there. I've always done simple 1x d&fs at 25-30k mi. intervals, always worked fine. Two referenced anecdotes are "supposedly" problematic. 01 Civic with no MM, check that one on carcomplaints.com, it's a #1. Has ~285k+ miles with original trans. The other a 3.0L V6 with MM, approaching 100k mi. Both still shifting fine.

So other than being a point of information, wouldn't be too concerned with the MM reading for ATF service. Pick a similar to noted interval, or one you're comfortable with and do the d&f. As noted, not very difficult.
 
It can vary according to your driving conditions. The whole purpose of the MM is you don't have to assume anything since it does that for you
smile.gif


My best guess would be 30-60k, but this is only based on a Civic that I do some work on.

However, since Autozone has Castrol ATF on sale right now for $5/qt, you should pick up 4 quarts of Castrol Full Synthetic ATF. The car only takes 3, but you have to buy in multiples of 2 to get the sale price.

Originally Posted by Pelican

Keep in mind that the m/m is the tool of last resort not necessarily the recommended interval. Also if you read the OM you'll see that probably what you consider normal driving falls under the "Severe Use" title. I would not exceed 50K mile interval on ATF exchange and I mean FULL exchange not just D & F. If you do just D & F I'd do that every 25K miles.


Actually, the MM is indeed the recommended interval, and it accounts for severe use
smirk2.gif


In fact, Honda doesn't even publish a maintenance schedule anywhere for MM-equipped cars. Some dealers will make their own fake schedule to take your money, but the only official schedule is the minder.

The only number Honda actually publishes is brake fluid, which they say to change every 3 years regardless of miles
smile.gif
 
Every 25K to 35K is great, especially since this is easier than an oil change.
3 quarts fill and spill.
I have ueed DW-1 for years but I don't anymore.
The Castrol from an earlier post is good stuff.

I like the Idemitsu equivalent. Pulls better, especially at low speeds.
 
Originally Posted by JHZR2
no readily replaceable filter

Hondas DO have an easily replaceable transmission fluid filter. It is an external in-line filter located in one of the transmission cooler lines that go to the radiator. It is a metal canister type filter that looks like a fuel filter. Honda does not specify a replacement interval for it. The dealers must not replace very many of them because they don't generally stock them (at least mine doesn't, I ordered one on-line).
 
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog


Originally Posted by Pelican

Keep in mind that the m/m is the tool of last resort not necessarily the recommended interval. Also if you read the OM you'll see that probably what you consider normal driving falls under the "Severe Use" title. I would not exceed 50K mile interval on ATF exchange and I mean FULL exchange not just D & F. If you do just D & F I'd do that every 25K miles.


Actually, the MM is indeed the recommended interval, and it accounts for severe use
smirk2.gif


In fact, Honda doesn't even publish a maintenance schedule anywhere for MM-equipped cars. Some dealers will make their own fake schedule to take your money, but the only official schedule is the minder.

The only number Honda actually publishes is brake fluid, which they say to change every 3 years regardless of miles
smile.gif



Thank you. +1
 
Originally Posted by wag123
Originally Posted by JHZR2
no readily replaceable filter
Hondas DO have an easily replaceable transmission fluid filter. It is an external in-line filter located in one of the transmission cooler lines that go to the radiator.
In the OP's case, true. Not so for all Hondas. Some V6s like 7th Gen have a cartridge style filter, which while doable, I wouldn't classify as easy. Certainly not in the same category as the OP's in line.

I can't recall ever seeing the letter for transmission fluid on the MM, but I likely never looked for it as use mentioned interval for d&f so immaterial to me. And since some fluid recommendations mentioned, since Z1 discontinued only used MaxLife. Looks like DW1 original spec for topic Honda.
 
Originally Posted by wag123
Originally Posted by JHZR2
no readily replaceable filter

Hondas DO have an easily replaceable transmission fluid filter. It is an external in-line filter located in one of the transmission cooler lines that go to the radiator. It is a metal canister type filter that looks like a fuel filter. Honda does not specify a replacement interval for it. The dealers must not replace very many of them because they don't generally stock them (at least mine doesn't, I ordered one on-line).


7th gen Civics certainly don't.
 
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