Odyssey ATF Flush with DW-1

[UNC171]

Has anyone done an ATF flush with Hondas new DW-1.. Still seeing many folks performing a change over with Amsoils ATF but very few mention of Honda DW-1.

I will be doing a change over this spring on my 06 Odyssey, and I was hoping too see what results/butt dyno has anyone experience here with DW-1.

Regards

 

[Mau]

no change in my 07 rdx. I just did a drain and fill of close to 4.5L

 

[JTK]

Dunno, but I've had outstanding results with Valvoline Maxlife ATF drain/fills on my 2008 Odyssey. It's a much better behaving trans with Maxlife.

Joel

 

[Boss302fan]

Maxlife is the way to go... Much better way to go then any Honda ATF.

 

[ryland]

I like castrol IMV but Im willing to try this new honda stuff if honda approves and I hear good things on here.

 

[K20FA5]

Maxlife is working great in my wife's Pilot. Shifts much better than with the burnt Z-1 stuff!

 

[VicL]

Originally Posted By: CB900F2
Has anyone done an ATF flush with Hondas new DW-1.. Still seeing many folks performing a change over with Amsoils ATF but very few mention of Honda DW-1.

From everything that I have read about Honda's ATF, it has some special friction modifier that other ATF's do not contain. That is probably the real reason that people notice a difference, either good or bad, when they change brand ATF. If you like the way the Honda shifted when it was new, you probably would be best off getting the DW-1. If you want a firmer/tighter feel to the shifting, try an alternate ATF that is compatible, like Mobil 1, Amsoil, Redline, Valvoline. I've been using Honda's Z1 for my Accord and Civic and have no complaints. Single drain & fill every 10k miles.

Vic
2009 Accord EX V-6
2009 Civic EX

 

[DaddyBlogger]

Honda pushed their Z-1 ATF for years and it turned out to be horrible, thus they lost my business. I went with the Amsoil ATF and have been very happy with it on my 2003 Honda Odyssey. Shifts better in my opinion, and the ATF stays cleaner longer. I also use a bottle of Lubegard Red which is respected by most transmission shops. In addition to this I added a Magnefine In-Line Trans Filter. Certain Ody years have weak transmissions and so far this combo has kept my original transmission running still at 178,000 miles.

P.S. Although I use the Amsoil I have also heard great things about the Redline D4 ATF.

 

[oilmaven]

I'm using the Redline D4 ATF in my '96 Accord...much smoother shifting and cold weather performance. Honda's transmissions have never been known to be as smooth as some of it's competitors and Honda owners (particularly the older units) just accept their occasional rough and jerky shifts. We can attribute it to the design of the transmissions which is quite a bit different than other automatic transmissions.

 

[Cooper]

I know this is an old thread, but I have had Honda DW-1 in my 03 Ody for 30k miles. It has been great! I like it better than the Amsoil ATF that was in there before.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I have done two drain/fills in my '05 Acura MDX with the DW-1 and shifting is dramatically improved. It's almost "too smooth" now...it probably shifts now like it did when new. With the DW-1 in it, it's one of the smoothest-shifting units I've ever owned.

I go back and forth on which fluid I will use in my Honda. I think it's got Z-1 in it. The price of universal fluids is appealing, but I've had such a positive impression of the new DW-1.

 

[oiltard]

I just did a fluid exchange this past weekend on my 2005 Civic. This is the generation of Civics that had the high incidence of faulty auto transmissions, but apparently after they fixed whatever the problem was (I think the story I find most believable is that the clutch packs were made of a cheap material that would break away and clog lines or the pump in the transmission, leading to inadequate lubrication).

I also had an aftermarket transmission cooler installed at the same time. Maybe I'm going overboard on the preventative maintenance here, but I almost own this car outright, and it's got under 50,000 miles. I'm a huge fan of not having a car payment, and I'd like to do so for a very long time. (I also use RP 5w20 and Wix or PureOne filters.)

I unplugged the negative terminal of the battery for about a half hour after I had the fluid exchanged. (I insisted my mechanic not say the word "flush" and "transmission" in the same sentence. This was the service where a fluid exchanger collects old fluid pumped by the transmissions' own pump while putting in new fluid until all is clear). Theoretically this cleared all the information that the car used to determine when to shift. I think it takes 50 miles or so for the car to re-determine shift points and other ECU data, but I'm not certain that's right.

I honestly haven't noticed any real difference in the way the car drives or the fuel economy readout on my UltraGauge since doing this service. I've driven it about 150 miles since (so 50ish re-setting the ECU and TCU, and 100 since they recalibrated themselves?)

I still feel better about having all DW-1 vs. half & half in the transmission & torque converter, because I read in a forum somewhere that the DW-1 has less friction modifiers and therefore is less likely to lead to the kind of issues that the Z-1 might, even though mine was serviced regularly (3 drain & fills in 45,000 miles) and was perfectly clean, smelled like new, and always left very minimal gunk on the magnetic drain plug.

Maybe I am drinking the Honda Corporation's Kool-Aid, but I'd be afraid to use any non-Honda fluid in my Transmission. I think the Honda design is unique and far less robust than their manual transmissions. Pair that with the decline in quality Hondas have undergone since they were basically solid tanks in the 80's and early 90's, and I'm not willing to take the chance, despite several pieces of anecdotal evidence that MaxLife ATF or Castrol work fine and don't cause our transmissions to blow up.

 

[Kira]

Hello, Good stuff to read. I'll be doing a DW-1 drain and fill in my brother's "new" 2007 Odyssey when it gets to 50K next week. Just bought a case of DW-1 at the dealer. I think this Kool-Aid is OK. Just off the top of your heads; how frequently would you do drain and fills in this vehicle? It'll be driven a mixture of local driving with once-a-month long trips. Soft right foot at all times. Also, many on this board have had bad things to say about the Z-1 which is in there now. I'm glad to get it out. Any and all comments welcome. Kira

 

[Sayjac]

Quote:
....Also, many on this board have had bad things to say about the Z-1 which is in there now.....

True, but I wouldn't be one of them. Have used only Z-1 in an 01 Civic EX since new, currently ~160k miles. Done the single drain and ~3qt. refill with Z-1 since FF came out ~65k. Average Z-1 drain/refill since has been ~20-25k and still going. Fwiw, the 01 Civic AT has been infamous for AT issues, perhaps #1 at Auto Beef. So, no complaints here.

That said, with the discontinuance of Z-1 not going to the expensive DW-1. Next will be the reasonably priced/readily available and well thought of here MaxLife, for the two Hondas I maintain that spec'd for Z-1. Also, will continue to do the single drain and refill on a similar interval as mentioned.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Kira, I recently (well, almost a year now) purchased a 2005 MDX. It had a complete service history with it, to include the original Z-1; I did my first drain/fill (D&F) with DW-1 at a shade under 70,000 miles. I could tell that shift quality had degraded with the original Z-1.

I've D&F'd with DW-1 twice now in about 2,000 miles. I plan to do it again soon, and will probably D&F once every 15k miles from here on out...which will be about once a year for us. It's easier even than changing the oil, and even the DW-1 (3 quarts) costs about the same as a 5-quart jug of Mobil 1 at Walmart. So the time or the cost isn't really an issue to me...cost is even less if you use a third party fluid like Valvoline MaxLife Dex/Merc or Castrol IMV.

For your brother's Odyssey, I'd D&F 2 or 3 times up front, then probably once a year or once every 15,000 or 30,000 miles or whatever he's comfortable with. I'm doing mine every 15k just because of how long the Z-1 was in it. It'll likely take between 3 and 3.5 quarts for each drain, so your case should get you close to 4 D&Fs.

 

[oiltard]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
For your brother's Odyssey, I'd D&F 2 or 3 times up front, then probably once a year or once every 15,000 or 30,000 miles or whatever he's comfortable with. I'm doing mine every 15k just because of how long the Z-1 was in it. It'll likely take between 3 and 3.5 quarts for each drain, so your case should get you close to 4 D&Fs.


I would entirely agree with this.

I think the evidence suggests that the Z-1 worked fine until some change Honda made to the auto transmission components. There wer several Honda and Acura models with a high reported incidence of catastrophic ATF failure in the early and mid 2000's. I do think Honda was quick to make some changes once this was noted (e.g. the 2005 Civics have very low reported transmission failures. The 2001 and 2002 have unbelievable figures for Honda).

But I think Honda introduced DW-1 both to improve fuel economy and to ensure better longevity of the ATFs they build. At least that's what I banked on when I got the Z-1 out and DW-1 in. I hope it works out for me and I hope it works out for your Odyssey if that's the route you choose to go, Kira. Best of luck.

 

[tdpark]

i have done 2 drain and fills on my 04 and it works great. Should be interesting to see how it performs in the cold winter.

 

[Cooper]

Mine ALWAYS shifts erratically when it is cold. It has 100% DW-1 in it. It performs great when warm. The very first 2-3 shift when very cold out always slips a little. It has done that since day one with brand new clutch plates. It shifts fine after that every time. I attribute this to the lack of fluid circulation that is one of the main reasons these AT5s fail as often as they do. I do have a warranty on the transmission, so, if it goes, it gets fixed for free. (For another year at least) That being said, I like the DW-1 in there.

 

[R2d2]

Originally Posted By: Cooper
Mine ALWAYS shifts erratically when it is cold. It has 100% DW-1 in it. It performs great when warm. The very first 2-3 shift when very cold out always slips a little. It has done that since day one with brand new clutch plates. It shifts fine after that every time. I attribute this to the lack of fluid circulation that is one of the main reasons these AT5s fail as often as they do. I do have a warranty on the transmission, so, if it goes, it gets fixed for free. (For another year at least) That being said, I like the DW-1 in there.


Really? You mean you changed over to Dw1 because it wasn't standard until the 2011 model year. It was back spec'd by a tsb for certain models sometime later.

 

[Throckmorton]

Originally Posted By: CB900F2
Has anyone done an ATF flush with Hondas new DW-1.. Still seeing many folks performing a change over with Amsoils ATF but very few mention of Honda DW-1.

I will be doing a change over this spring on my 06 Odyssey, and I was hoping too see what results/butt dyno has anyone experience here with DW-1.

Regards
Fwiw, Honda does not recommend an ATF flush - only drain & refill 3X3.

I had my '03 V6 Accord's 5-spd transmission rebuilt after 170K miles just this week. My builder used DW-1. Seems good so far, but then it is nearly new.

I had used Maxlife ATF, Castrol import formula, and reformulated Mobil 1 ATF - all are Z-1 compaible. I think any one of those should suffice. I'm sure DW-1 is at least as good as Z-1 ATF, too.