(sorry this is long) Okay, so I'm interested in thoughts of using the transmission's own pump to get out the atf. I see many posts where using a atf machine on a Honda is probably a no no, so the Honda procedure seems to be that you drain what’s in the pan and then you can repeat that process in the future. You end up basically refreshing the fluid, but you still have a mix of old and new. I currently use this process, and my transmission works great after 100,000 miles, but I guess this tranny is known for failure.
Now on the Amsoil site, a Mazda 3 site, and several other places, they talk about using the transmission pump to do the job. The common method seems to be that you disconnect the output line of the transmission or transmission cooler, and get the fluid out that way. Amsoil has you adding fluid at about the same rate as the transmission pumps it out(which seems a bit tough to gauge). On the Mazda site, he simply pumps out 3 litres or so, stops the engine, adds the same amount that pumped out, and repeats until the fluid colour in the tube changes or you’ve pretty much replaced how much the tranny actually holds. (I left out the part about removing the pan and changing the filter, etc…)
Even though Honda doesn’t recommend the machine method, it seems to me that using the transmission to pump it out (3 litres/quarts) at a time would be fairly safe? You guarantee that some shop doesn’t circulate any debris that might be in there or use the wrong atf.
So my choices seem to be that I drain out the contents of the pan, and replace what I put it. In this case, I think I would stick to Honda atf. I’m also interested in the tranny pump method, which seem like a good way to switch out almost all of the atf. In that case I might go with Amsoil or stick with the Honda stuff.
Now on the Amsoil site, a Mazda 3 site, and several other places, they talk about using the transmission pump to do the job. The common method seems to be that you disconnect the output line of the transmission or transmission cooler, and get the fluid out that way. Amsoil has you adding fluid at about the same rate as the transmission pumps it out(which seems a bit tough to gauge). On the Mazda site, he simply pumps out 3 litres or so, stops the engine, adds the same amount that pumped out, and repeats until the fluid colour in the tube changes or you’ve pretty much replaced how much the tranny actually holds. (I left out the part about removing the pan and changing the filter, etc…)
Even though Honda doesn’t recommend the machine method, it seems to me that using the transmission to pump it out (3 litres/quarts) at a time would be fairly safe? You guarantee that some shop doesn’t circulate any debris that might be in there or use the wrong atf.
So my choices seem to be that I drain out the contents of the pan, and replace what I put it. In this case, I think I would stick to Honda atf. I’m also interested in the tranny pump method, which seem like a good way to switch out almost all of the atf. In that case I might go with Amsoil or stick with the Honda stuff.