Originally Posted By: caravanmike
Originally Posted By: madibob
I'd stick with the Honda Z-1 for the Honda. I put Amsoil and Mobil 1 in my wife's TSX (by just doing a change every 10K....not a complete flush) and it developed a howl. The howl was worse with Mobil 1 (the transmission holds 7+ qts and only 3 qts comes out when the plug is pulled....I was changing 3 qts every 10K).
I did a complete flush now back to Honda genuine Z-1 and it seemed better. Time will tell. I've read on Honda forum's the honda ATF is a special formulation and there is no decent alternative if you want the transmission to last.
to each his own! plenty of people on this very forum are running valvoline maxlife and castrol import instead of honda z-1. it is working great! mike
I hear what you are saying. I've used both in the past with no problems. Did the first drain and fill with amsoil (not a complete flush) and there was a slight howl at 75 mph. 10K later, did the same with amsoil and was slightly louder. 10K later, did a drain and fill with Mobil 1 and the howl got louder (to the annoying point) and the transmission would hesitate to upshift on occasion when accelerating and then letting totally off the gas while going down a slight grade (or a big grade).
I went and read on some honda and TSX forums to stick with Honda brand Z-1. One forum had info that the Honda formulation does have something unique. I went and did a complete flush (drain and refill 3 times) and the upshifting problem went away. The howl is still there, though a little quieter. Time will tell.