manual transmission fluid change

[greenjp]

My 2006 Accord is calling for a change of the transmission fluid. Haynes manual states to raise the car, keeping it level, open the inspection port, drain the fluid, replace drain plug, fill up to inspection port level, close it up and you're done. That's all pretty easy with the exception of ensuring the car is level - I've just got the typical jack, pair of stands, and pair of ramps.

So, I'm thinking of draining out the fluid and just replacing with the same amount. Sound like a good plan?

jeff

 

[Quest]

if you can get another pair of jackstands to raise the rear of the vehicle to make it as level as possible before drain and fill, then it should be ok.

Q.

 

[stranger706]

On my 2002 Accord, if I turn the wheels to the far right, I can access the drain and fill ports of the MT through the passenger wheel well. This keeps the car level and you don't have to mess around with jacks and stands. Have you tried this on your 06?

 

[greenjp]

Originally Posted By: stranger706
On my 2002 Accord, if I turn the wheels to the far right, I can access the drain and fill ports of the MT through the passenger wheel well. This keeps the car level and you don't have to mess around with jacks and stands. Have you tried this on your 06?

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to check this out.

 

[Danh]

Just two suggestions:

Before you drain the fluid, make sure you can remove the filler plug. A bad outcome would be drained fluid and no way to replenish same.

With the car on a level surface find a spot on the roof, hood, console, etc. where the bubble in a short level will center. When the car is raised on ramps and/or stands, the objective is to have the bubble equally centered. If not, you may over or under-fill the transmission.

 

[scurvy]

This is broadly the same as the procedure for mk4 VWs. On all of those that I have changed the MTF, I simply had the front end up on Rhino Ramps and put in 2 one-liter bottles of G060 or G070 fluid, or until it ran out of the fill hole. Yes, the car wasn't level. Yes, this technically overfilled the transmission by some unknown amount. No, it never caused any problems or issues. All of the cars are still on the road, including my own, 100k km after changing the fluid and they shift beautifully. Manual transmissions have an overflow hole or breather vent the fluid can puke out of if it gets too high (also to account for fluid expansion as it warms up - you don't want designed to blow out an axle seal).

Do note it's best practice to remove the fill plug first before removing the drain plug. If you get the fluid drained and can't remove the fill plug you are up the creek!

On twist-beam rear axle cars (like mk4 VWs) you can use a sturdy floor jack at the center of the rear beam to lift the entire rear end in one motion. Not sure if your accord is IRS or not, but it's one less place to jack otherwise.

 

[4x4chevydude]

If you can do it without jack stands its prob the best...othrwise just make sure you replace exactly what came out....also good suggestion above first remove filler plug then drain plug...this is good advice for anything really..

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Good luck getting good MTF. what are you going to use? I might suggest you DONT use General/Multi purposed GL-5/ MT rether the Honda MTF product (which is fair, though very lightduty and shear prone) to excellent AMSoil and Redline stuff.

 

[TallPaul]

I would level the vehicle and fill-to-spill unless the book says the level should be lower than the bottom of the fill hole.

Just did my son's 2001 S10 manual transmission. We were on a slight grade so I used a 2-foot long level on the bottom of the frame and jacked the rear up about an inch until it was level. This corresponded with the driveway slope which I calculated. Anyway, the book did not say how much the manual transmission held. Web searches typically said 5.7 pints, but some said 3 qts. The owner manual said basically fill-to-spill, so I did and it took exactly 3 quarts.

I would go with RedlineOil.com products for any transmission (auto and manual).

 

[greenjp]

Great suggestions everybody, I'll check the car out more carefully and survey the garage for supplies and figure out the best approach.

Regarding the fluid, I was just planning to go to the Honda dealer and get whatever MTF they have. Hadn't thought to look into Red Line/Amsoil/etc but if there are compelling reasons I'm open to it.

Puzzled as the Red Line site shows a 70W80 GL-4, while Amsoil shows a 5w30. That's a pretty huge difference, anyone know what the Honda stuff is?

jeff

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Honda is and HD additised 5w30 motor oil. 70w-80 gear lube is thinner than a SAE 40 grade oil. The Grade(commonly: weight) numbers do NOT compare 1:1 in Lube vs oil. an 80w90 GL-4 is basically a 20w40.

 

[tinmanSC]

Originally Posted By: Danh

Before you drain the fluid, make sure you can remove the filler plug. A bad outcome would be drained fluid and no way to replenish same.

^^ Best advice ever ^^

 

[mechtech2]

Who knows if the level is OK to begin with?
So figure out a way to get it level. Maybe overfill it and lower the car to let it drain to it's proper level.

 

[TallPaul]

Originally Posted By: greenjp

Puzzled as the Red Line site shows a 70W80 GL-4, while Amsoil shows a 5w30. That's a pretty huge difference, anyone know what the Honda stuff is?

jeff


The Redline you note is their MTL, which is 10.6 Cst which is a solid 30 weight for motor oil classification. The Amsoil if MTF is around 9.4 cSt.

Be sure to check out Molakule's thread on this:
Good info on Synrcomesh fluids which is where I got the Amsoil cSt numnber.

I just changed my son's from GM Synchromesh to Redling MTL which is about 1 cSt thicker and he said the shifter has a much better feel to it. Now Amsoil may have something thicker (even mix two weights) but I do know that Redline has gobs of antiwear additive.

Oh, one last bit of advice. Get 5 or 6 feet of clear plastic tubing from the hardware of the right size to fit snugly in the fill hole, then route it up under the hood and jam a funnel in the top of the tube, zip tie it to something to hold it, make sure the funnel won't slide out (some are tapered), and then it is an easy pour. One guy topside, one guy underneath. On my F150 there was enought space I could see it go in the transmission while pouring from under the hood.

 

[Whimsey]

My driveway is a steep incline. I could never level the vehicle, sorry to say.

.

Whimsey

 

[TallPaul]

Originally Posted By: Whimsey
My driveway is a steep incline. I could never level the vehicle, sorry to say.

.

Whimsey
Oh, just take off the front wheels and set it down on the disks, then jack up the back and put the wheels under the tires, and maybe a few planks. You'll get there.

But a lot easier is to check and top up the fluid on a level surface, then park in the driveway (front ways or back up depending on fill hole location along length of transmission housing) and then check again, noting level in relation to fill hole.

 

[SLCraig]

I like to add the fluid from above. In other words, raise the car, let the gear oil drain out, put the plug back in, lower the car and fill the car from the top while the car is level on the ground. As soon as it starts to drip out you're done. I then raise the car on the opposite side of how it would want to drain out, and put the fill plug back in. Done.

 

[Whimsey]

Originally Posted By: TallPaul
Originally Posted By: Whimsey
My driveway is a steep incline. I could never level the vehicle, sorry to say.

.

Whimsey
Oh, just take off the front wheels and set it down on the disks, then jack up the back and put the wheels under the tires, and maybe a few planks. You'll get there.

But a lot easier is to check and top up the fluid on a level surface, then park in the driveway (front ways or back up depending on fill hole location along length of transmission housing) and then check again, noting level in relation to fill hole.


Don't think the county would be too thrilled with me blocking off one lane of the road for me to check the fluid level

.

Whimsey