Maxlife ATF or DW-1 for rebuilt Honda 4-Speed?

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Feb 11, 2025
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To give a little context I recently rebuilt my Honda B4RA automatic off of my 2000 Civic with Raybestos GPX Clutches and filled it up completely with Maxlife, the rebuild was successful and the transmission worked perfectly, the shifts were smooth and quick for a while but after a few months of use the shift quality worsened specially in exreme traffic conditions. 1-2 engages with a little hesitation 2-1 becomes very aggressive and neck-breaking and 2-3 sometimes feels like it smacks into gear. What I’ve noticed is that if I leave the car sitting for more than 3 days and come back to it the shifts go back to their smooth ways for a day then start to get worse again. Recently I went on vacation for 10 days and when I came back the transmission was like it was the first day after the rebuild and that smoothness lasted for about 3 days so I thought maybe the issue had fixed itself, I did a drain and refill with Maxlife once again just to make sure and everything was going fine until I had to go into hard traffic, the transmission started to struggle after an hour and a half of constant traffic and the harshness came back in the same way it was before. Wondering if maybe it has something to do with the oil quality and if I should try to reintegrate DW-1 back into the tranny. P.S. I used Lubeguard Platinum to see if the shifting issues might get some relief with it but it didn’t really do much and a lot of it probably got flushed out in my last drain and refill.
 
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Anecdotal evidence says that Honda transmissions prefer DW-1. Some here will claim they've used Maxlife for a million years and/or a million miles with no issue, but OEM is usually the safer bet. Also, leave the Lubeguard out to reduce the number of variables.

Another thought: do you have access to a scan tool? Check the fluid temp next time it happens.
 
Anecdotal evidence says that Honda transmissions prefer DW-1. Some here will claim they've used Maxlife for a million years and/or a million miles with no issue, but OEM is usually the safer bet. Also, leave the Lubeguard out to reduce the number of variables.

Another thought: do you have access to a scan tool? Check the fluid temp next time it happens.
Unfortunately Honda decided to ship off the 6th gen civic with an obd1 p28 ecu to the Mexican market so I really have no way of scanning the temps. Is it advisable to mix both oils while I do a series of drain and refills and how long should I do them for?
 
Maxlife is a bit thin. The honda z1 fluid is around 7.5 cst average. I would go with this as it states both z1 and dw1 and it was been wonderful in my old 4 speeds which is what it's meant for and maybe some 5 speeds but nothing with 6 or more as those are too modern for this oil but I don't think this is a fluid issue. I think something has gone wrong with the rebuild. This doesn't really sound like a fluid problem.

https://www.homedepot.com/pep/CASTR...hL-b-ynvnXFlWNIH5JxoCdP0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://msdspds.castrol.com/bpglis/...EAF92768025805600724B2B/$File/BPXE-AFE8TS.pdf
 
I had a Honda transmission professionally rebuilt on a 2003 Odyssey minivan approximately 12 years and ~170,000 miles ago. The independent transmission shop warrantied the rebuilt unit for 5 years or 50,000 miles contingent on using Honda/Acura branded DW-1 fluid exclusively. They said the use of MaxLife or any other DW-1 equivalent non-Honda ATF would void their warranty...so take that for what it's worth.
 
Maxlife is a bit thin. The honda z1 fluid is around 7.5 cst average. I would go with this as it states both z1 and dw1 and it was been wonderful in my old 4 speeds which is what it's meant for and maybe some 5 speeds but nothing with 6 or more as those are too modern for this oil but I don't think this is a fluid issue. I think something has gone wrong with the rebuild. This doesn't really sound like a fluid problem.

https://www.homedepot.com/pep/CASTR...hL-b-ynvnXFlWNIH5JxoCdP0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://msdspds.castrol.com/bpglis/...EAF92768025805600724B2B/$File/BPXE-AFE8TS.pdf
It is possible I didn’t do a thorough enough job of overhauling the valve body and whenever the tranny gets hot enough they start to stick. If that’s the case then there’s not much I can do at this point other than put up with it.
 
It is possible I didn’t do a thorough enough job of overhauling the valve body and whenever the tranny gets hot enough they start to stick. If that’s the case then there’s not much I can do at this point other than put up with it.
You can try something like Sea Foam Trans Tune that might help a sticky valve or solenoid. I don’t usually advocate using mechanic-in-a-can products but Sea Foam has a good reputation and at this point it can’t hurt.

https://seafoamworks.com/trans-tune-transmission-hydraulic-power-steering-fluid-treatment/
 
All.

His 2000 is pre-Z1/DW1. Z1 wasn't introduced until 2002/2003 at the earliest. Prior to that it was "Honda Premium ATF", or Dexron III could be used. We never quite figured out what 'Honda Premium ATF" was, but it wasn't Z1.

DW1 probably isn't going to hurt, but I don't think I would go straight DW1. Maybe suck out a quart and add a qt of it to start.
 
I had a Honda transmission professionally rebuilt on a 2003 Odyssey minivan approximately 12 years and ~170,000 miles ago. The independent transmission shop warrantied the rebuilt unit for 5 years or 50,000 miles contingent on using Honda/Acura branded DW-1 fluid exclusively. They said the use of MaxLife or any other DW-1 equivalent non-Honda ATF would void their warranty...so take that for what it's worth.

Amusing.

My exclusively Honda Trans guy (Former Honda Master tech) uses a 'multi vehicle' fluid in his rebuilds and tells people to use DW1 if they want, but not 100% necessary. His opinion is that clean fluid in them is more important than what fluid (within reason, you don't want to use Type F or something silly).
 
I use the Aisin DW-1 equivalent in our 2002 crv and 2012 pilot with great results so far. The right viscosity and full synthetic. Only about 30k between them on the fluid though.
 
Maxlife will be fine, or any other synthetic ATF. It sounds like it doesn't get adequate cooling from the factory, since a couple people suggested an ATF cooler.

Just be glad you don't have a V6 Honda :D
I resemble that remark. Although I got the manual transmission so no worries for me LOLOLOL. I don't like how Honda auto transmissions shift in the V6's. My dad's 2012 CRV shifts decently (K24).
 
that was my first car, still miss it to this day.

I tried the following:
Amsoil ATF
Castrol ATF Multi-Vehicle

with Castrol ATF Multi-Vehicle, the transmission had smoother shifts but that transmission was awful compared to all the Toyota/Lexus transmissions (always shift flawlessly)

Harsh shifts, especially for older Hondas, are just the transmission characteristics.
 
All.

His 2000 is pre-Z1/DW1. Z1 wasn't introduced until 2002/2003 at the earliest. Prior to that it was "Honda Premium ATF", or Dexron III could be used. We never quite figured out what 'Honda Premium ATF" was, but it wasn't Z1.

My 2001 Accord EX owner's manual specifies ATF-Z1.

1739532611149.webp
 
My daughter’s 2016 Acura RDX started doing that lockup shudder/rpm fluctuation at around 30k miles so we took it to the dealer. Under warranty they reprogrammed the computer and replaced the atf. There was a TSB about the fluid not holding up to heat I believe. Well in another 30k it did it again so I changed out all the fluid to Maxlife. Never had the problem again.

To me it sounds like you have something besides fluid going on.
 
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