Honda DW1 ATF condition after 10K mi only. wow

[ARB1977]

Red...thanks.

 

[parshisa]

just to update on this, I've pulled the trigger and installed an OEM ATF cooler. Max ATF temps I've seen so far is 175F (around 25-30deg lower than without the cooler). Most of the time while highway driving temp stays at 160F or so. Should've done earlier but oh well

 

[TeamZero]

Doesn't surprise me, I am a WS and DW1 hater. My wife's Rav4 at 22,000 miles looked black and burn't that it made me sick in my garage. I had to open the garage door in the mid of winter. I run Redline D6 with a cocktail of 1.5 qt of Redline Racing and 1.5 qt Redline Racing Low Viscosity to come close to matching the viscosity of D6 to get rid of some of the slip agents I don't like. I like nice fast and firm shifts and both the Honda's I have had and one Rav4 have RED ATF after many many miles because of it, not black ATF. I do only 100% switch outs of ATF now. No dump and fills. I want CLEAN ATF.

My daughters Honda in my signature has MaxLife with 2 qts of Redline Racing and 2 qts of Redline Racing Low Viscosity added to stop a slip issue it had with both DW1 and MaxLife. That fixed the slip issue now for 45,000 miles.

Interesting! Do you mind sharing the ratio you used on both cars?

 

[Mainia]

Interesting! Do you mind sharing the ratio you used on both cars?

The ratio is in the post, the Rav4 has about 8 qts total and the Honda I think is 6-7 total. You just have to get some of those slip agents out of there. There is no exact ratio. I even talked to an chemist at Redline when Dave was on vacation and he hears people do this. He can't say go a head and do it, but he said nothing new, been done for decades as far as "tuning" one's shifting personality.

 

[TeamZero]

The ratio is in the post, the Rav4 has about 8 qts total and the Honda I think is 6-7 total. You just have to get some of those slip agents out of there. There is no exact ratio. I even talked to an chemist at Redline when Dave was on vacation and he hears people do this. He can't say go a head and do it, but he said nothing new, been done for decades as far as "tuning" one's shifting personality.

Thanks! I'm going to give this a go as I also dont like the soft shifting. Sounds like it makes a noticeable difference? I'll flush the T4 toyota out with maxlife and then add some redline to get it where it feels good.

 

[mightymousetech]

The system holds about 12L so when doing a dump and fill, you are only getting a small percentage. When we would have a car with a failed trans cooler, it would often take around a dozen dump and fill to get the trans fluid looking normal again.

May want to check with the dealer. We were having similar issues with the MDX overheating fluid. There was a service bulletin for overheated fluid. If overheated the torque converter would start to flare up and down when cruising at steady low highway speed. You could watch the tach go up and down about 500 rpm. The “fix” was to do three drain and fill and reprogram the trans computer. But these trans will always be hard on the fluid.

 

[parshisa]

The system holds about 12L so when doing a dump and fill, you are only getting a small percentage. When we would have a car with a failed trans cooler, it would often take around a dozen dump and fill to get the trans fluid looking normal again.

May want to check with the dealer. We were having similar issues with the MDX overheating fluid. There was a service bulletin for overheated fluid. If overheated the torque converter would start to flare up and down when cruising at steady low highway speed. You could watch the tach go up and down about 500 rpm. The “fix” was to do three drain and fill and reprogram the trans computer. But these trans will always be hard on the fluid.

Yes, there's a TSB that covers that. Essentially due to tranny running hot by nature, fluid quickly deteriorates. So this TSB is just a band aid, not s fix, fluid will quickly deteriorate again and issue will be back. I believe with the cooler installed I'll be able to maintain 160-170 temps which is safe for the fluid and avoid the issue.
What were the troubles with the coolers on the cars you were referring to? Also, pilot's total capacity on ATF is 8.9qts, not 12

 

[mightymousetech]

Yes, there's a TSB that covers that. Essentially due to tranny running hot by nature, fluid quickly deteriorates. So this TSB is just a band aid, not s fix, fluid will quickly deteriorate again and issue will be back. I believe with the cooler installed I'll be able to maintain 160-170 temps which is safe for the fluid and avoid the issue.
What were the troubles with the coolers on the cars you were referring to? Also, pilot's total capacity on ATF is 8.9qts, not 12

The cooler would leak internally allowing coolant to enter the trans fluid, and trans fluid the enter the cooling system. A real PITA to clean both systems. The software update greatly reduce the overheating of the fluid issue.

 

[bulwnkl]

been done for decades as far as "tuning" one's shifting personality.

That sounds like a problem to see one's doctor for.
(-:

 

[SOHCman]

just to update on this, I've pulled the trigger and installed an OEM ATF cooler. Max ATF temps I've seen so far is 175F (around 25-30deg lower than without the cooler). Most of the time while highway driving temp stays at 160F or so. Should've done earlier but oh well

Did you just install a factory optional towing kit? Would you mind sharing the part number? TIA!

 

[parshisa]

Did you just install a factory optional towing kit? Would you mind sharing the part number? TIA!

Here's where I got it from https://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/oem-parts/honda-trailer-accessory-06255rlx306.
Yes, it is an OEM accessory. I just got the cooler but not the towing hitch as I've got nothing to tow. Please keep in mind, that technically this EOM is to be installed on AWD models although mine is FWD and it fits just fine.

 

[KlubMarcus]

I'm at 15K on our 19 Pilot AWD EXL. No tow package but now I'm considering ordering a factory trans cooler. Back when we had a 08 CRV I did 30K fills with Maxlife ATF. All ways came out red looking. 180K at trade in with no issues. I may use Maxlife or Amsoil Universal.

I did a drain and fill on the 2017 Honda Pilot Elite with the 9-speed ZF transmission, the pushbutton and paddle shifter option. The SUV just hit 55k miles so I used Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic and it's Honda Type 3.1 compatible according to the Product Information sheet. I stick to the same schedule I used on my 2009 Honda CR-V which has almost 170k miles, just drain and fill every 3 years or 30k miles . I recorded because it's hard to find ATF change videos for the Honda ZF9.

 

[ARB1977]

I did a drain and fill on the 2017 Honda Pilot Elite with the 9-speed ZF transmission, the pushbutton and paddle shifter option. The SUV just hit 55k miles so I used Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic and it's Honda Type 3.1 compatible according to the Product Information sheet. I stick to the same schedule I used on my 2009 Honda CR-V which has almost 170k miles, just drain and fill every 3 years or 30k miles . I recorded because it's hard to find ATF change videos for the Honda ZF9.

Wow Maxlife speced the 9 speed transmission. The factory stuff is like 30.00 a qrt. I did add the transmission cooler, deactivated the VCM and running Amsoil SS blue cap ATF to the six speed. My 30K is coming up and plan on doing a third aft change.

 

[KlubMarcus]

Wow Maxlife speced the 9 speed transmission. The factory stuff is like 30.00 a qrt. I did add the transmission cooler, deactivated the VCM and running Amsoil SS blue cap ATF to the six speed. My 30K is coming up and plan on doing a third aft change.

That's what Valvoline claims, Type 3.0 / 3.1 / DW-1 / Z-1 compatible. I've used MaxLife ATF on a Honda (160k miles and still going) and a Volvo (150k miles). I've also used Valvoline CVT Fluid on a Nissan (212k miles and still going). No problems so far, but I'll be back here to complain if I get a tranny failure!