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....with the 3 quart drop every oil change since about 80K. No noises, leaks, etc. etc. I'm a mechanic and ......
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- Yeah, right. I mean, this AT was babied. The book calls for AT change every 30K or so and I was doing it every 12K. I really .....
Schmoe ,
Look , I "agree"(roughly in some cases) with alot of what you are saying and I'm not here to bust your chops ,nor insult your knowledge base as a mechanic , BUT ,the information you posted that I've quoted and highlighted above is incongruent in the extreme and
IF I understand you correctly
AND you have accurately posted your maintenance history .... well .... I don't know how to say it other than you got alot to learn about what it means (fully) to "baby" an AT - esp a "weak sister" .
Starting an ATF maintenance program at 80k regardless of how driven or what the OEM SAYS is NOT "babying" an AT - OK, at least not in my opinion - and that goes for ANY at from any OEM .
You are also jumping to conclusions about the value of what you did do from 80k forward . Neither you , nor I , nor anyone else can say with certainty what would have happened if you hadn't done the good stuff you did , but there are plenty of people who didn't and failed sooner .
Again , we can't know for sure , but I'd take the bet that it would have gone better if you had started your 12k program at 12k .( Yes , certain applications had serious design shortcomings . ) How much? I haven't a clue - and again nobody can say for sure .
Maybe more usefully , now that its been replaced , if it were mine , at the very least (or really , one simple way to go) , I would drain and fill at 5 and 10k and then repeat every 10 - 15k - if its still all highway .
On a more positive note , I do agree that AHM is ONE OEM that is "above average" to deal with on something like this or even something else , but thats sadly , not saying much given the current "political regulatory climate" and resulting industry "standard" .
And lets give credit where credit is due - every undesirable trend in this area as far as "showing the industry how to do it and be successful ($)" has been developed into an art form by Toyota . This is but one negative aspect of what I MEAN BY "TOYOTIAS" and the effect its having on the industry .
Be very , very glad you have two late model Accords with whatever warts they may or may not have at this point rather than two late model Camrys .
Just another opinion really , but the sooner "we" wake up to the industry trend of disposable engines and transmissions the sooner we're all going to be happier as high mileage / long term owners .
I'd love to be corrected by somebody from an OEM on this , but from here , it looks to me that even with the severe
schedules nobody is giving the information or really designing for more than approx. a 8-12yr life expectancy with a 120-150-160k mileage target . ( Also in some cases accompanied with a rather high " oops ,you didn't make it" failure rate .
On ATs or rather , more accurately , on many ATs , thinking outside the box is going to result in alot more satisfaction longterm .
uD , I started writing my post before you got yours up - I'm slow .
