Rebuilt Trany in 03 Honda Odyssey, Honda DW-1 ATF

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Cooper

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I have posted in another thread about my 03 Odyssey being rebuilt. I figured a new thread would be more appropriate since I am now posting about DW-1 and not the previous Amsoil ATF that was in the unit when it failed. I have about 100 miles on the rebuilt unit. I have the transmission completely 100% filled with Honda DW-1 ATF. There has been some speculation as to how the DW-1 will work in an older style Honda AT. So, far I have had good shifts and have had no problems what-so-ever. It feels great from cold to hot shifting. I have driven the car cold at about 40 degrees F and all was fine. No harsh shifting like with the older Z-1. It is a little more firm of a shift than I got with Amsoil ATF, which I will no longer put in my transmission. I will add any new developments about my personal experience with the DW-1 fluid.
 
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Update us in a couple years...anything new always works as it should
smile.gif
 
Thanks for the info. Hope it lasts for you. Guess I will get the Honda dealer to do a complete drain and fill in a year,or so. I have Z1 in it now and I'll let the dealer put the new DW1 in it.
 
Originally Posted By: onion
Yeah, 'cause that Amsoil worked real well for him last time.


And the Amsoil failed? Give it a rest. You totally ignore the content of the original thread - or rather you selective pick out hate points, jump to your prejudiced conclusions, then bounce them into a new thread.

Please explain, in detail, with proof how Amsoil failed for Cooper. I'm sure the readers of BITOG will wait patiently.
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: onion
Yeah, 'cause that Amsoil worked real well for him last time.


And the Amsoil failed? Give it a rest. You totally ignore the content of the original thread - or rather you selective pick out hate points, jump to your prejudiced conclusions, then bounce them into a new thread.

Please explain, in detail, with proof how Amsoil failed for Cooper. I'm sure the readers of BITOG will wait patiently.


Boy, you're awfully quick to jump on his comment. Maybe you should take into consider the moronic comment to which he was responding? Just sayin'...
 
I apologize to you and others. I'm just saying a couple things. first of all Onion does this frequently - he has a history. Plus, there are much better ways of responding to such a comment.
 
Regardless of what fluid you put in there, a filter on the return line from the cooler might be a good idea, if not already there.
When the tranny failed, it might have put crud into the fluid, that is lodged in the cooler.
Adding a filter, like a magnefine, in the cooler return line will prevent any crud that is lodged in the cooler from getting back into the transmission.
A good filter is a good idea anyhow.
A brand new vehicle, the place to put the Magnefine is in the line flowing TO the cooler,
After a few thousand miles, the place to put the Magnefine is in the line flowing FROM the cooler.

I know that FORD has a TSB or so out about verification of flow through the cooler after a transmission fails.
They had issues with new units failing because the cooler was clogged with junk.....restricting fluid flow or even blocking it.
The best of transmissions will not be happy with little to no cooling.

As far as the fluid to use, use the fluid that is appropriate for the transmission.
The BEST fluid (if there is such a thing) is not good in the wrong application.
Look for the specification called for your particular transmission and make sure that the fluid that you use meets that specification requirements.

Also, just because a particular brand does not work in 1 application does not mean that it is not great in others.

I have never used Amsoil products, but have no reason to think that they are anything but top quality when in the correct application.

If you want to select a Amsoil product, go to the Amsoil website, select your particular vehicle and read up on what they recommend for your vehicle.
If you have any questions, we have several members of THIS forum that are dealers who will be more than happy to help you find the information you need.
Also, give them a look as a source for your Amsoil purchases.
 
Blaming the Amsoil for a tranny failure on a 2003 minivan that has a seriously bad reputation for failures has no logic. I own one of those pieces of junk, in fact the same year and I am convinced the Amsoil ATF is one of three reasons why it is still running with the original tranny.

Indirectly you admit to using the Honda Z-1 in the past and that would be one of your problems that lead to tranny failure. Apparently you put Amsoil in your tranny as a wish from God that the tranny might last longer.

You should place your blame with the correct people which is HONDA!
 
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Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: onion
Yeah, 'cause that Amsoil worked real well for him last time.


And the Amsoil failed? Give it a rest. You totally ignore the content of the original thread - or rather you selective pick out hate points, jump to your prejudiced conclusions, then bounce them into a new thread.

Please explain, in detail, with proof how Amsoil failed for Cooper. I'm sure the readers of BITOG will wait patiently.


I never said that the Amsoil failed.

But the transmission died from WEAR at 109,000 miles. Doesn't look like Amsoil did this tranny any favors. And why would it? It's the WRONG transmission fluid for the application.
 
Originally Posted By: DaddyBlogger
Blaming the Amsoil for a tranny failure on a 2003 minivan that has a seriously bad reputation for failures has no logic. I own one of those pieces of junk, in fact the same year and I am convinced the Amsoil ATF is one of three reasons why it is still running with the original tranny.

Indirectly you admit to using the Honda Z-1 in the past and that would be one of your problems that lead to tranny failure. Apparently you put Amsoil in your tranny as a wish from God that the tranny might last longer.You should place your blame with the correct people which is HONDA!
The Z-1 is the oem spec fluid. It's right there in the Manual.
 
Originally Posted By: Boss302fan
Using any honda ATF is pretty stupid. Drain that junk out and use Maxlife or go back to Amsoil...


This statement is just plain ignorant. If you were to read up on the DW-1 fluid and the reasoning behind my personal choice to use it, you would understand. Making blind comments like this helps to build your reputation in a board like this. Fine work.


Originally Posted By: DaddyBlogger
Blaming the Amsoil for a tranny failure on a 2003 minivan that has a seriously bad reputation for failures has no logic. I own one of those pieces of junk, in fact the same year and I am convinced the Amsoil ATF is one of three reasons why it is still running with the original tranny.

Indirectly you admit to using the Honda Z-1 in the past and that would be one of your problems that lead to tranny failure. Apparently you put Amsoil in your tranny as a wish from God that the tranny might last longer.

You should place your blame with the correct people which is HONDA!


Yes, the Z-1 was the OEM fluid and was changed with it as such. I put Amsoil in at 64k and it was changed with Amsoil at 10k intervals until it failed at 109k. It now has DW-1 fluid in it. Oh, and posting a rude post such as this is a great way to get into a conversation.
 
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Originally Posted By: Cooper
Originally Posted By: Boss302fan
Using any honda ATF is pretty stupid. Drain that junk out and use Maxlife or go back to Amsoil...


This statement is just plain ignorant. If you were to read up on the DW-1 fluid and the reasoning behind my personal choice to use it, you would understand. Making blind comments like this helps to build your reputation in a board like this. Fine work.


Originally Posted By: DaddyBlogger
Blaming the Amsoil for a tranny failure on a 2003 minivan that has a seriously bad reputation for failures has no logic. I own one of those pieces of junk, in fact the same year and I am convinced the Amsoil ATF is one of three reasons why it is still running with the original tranny.

Indirectly you admit to using the Honda Z-1 in the past and that would be one of your problems that lead to tranny failure. Apparently you put Amsoil in your tranny as a wish from God that the tranny might last longer.

You should place your blame with the correct people which is HONDA!


Yes, the Z-1 was the OEM fluid and was changed with it as such. I put Amsoil in at 64k and it was changed with Amsoil at 10k intervals until it failed at 109k. It now has DW-1 fluid in it. Oh, and posting a rude post such as this is a great way to get into a conversation.



Most likely your tranny was on its way out by the time you used Amsoil. I am not a user of Amsoil but I have owned many Honda and Acura vehicles and I know their trannys are problems waiting to happen. I only stated that it was stupid to use Honda ATF because there are so many posts EVERYWHERE that state not to use it.

I have an 03 MDX with 130K miles and used Honda ATF for the warranty period but I changed it every 15K miles. I then switched to Maxlife and my tranny has been working great and very smooth(knock on wood) LOL. I still do a dump and fill with Maxlife every 15K miles and it now comes out looking like new. When I changed the Honda ATF every 15K it came out very dark and just about black.


Your choice your tranny... But I would be nervous using any Honda ATF. Maybe the new stuff is good but why take the chance. Do a drain and fill after 15K miles and see how it looks... Good luck.
 
Originally Posted By: Boss302fan

Blaming the Amsoil for a tranny failure on a 2003 minivan that has a seriously bad reputation for failures has no logic.


Where on earth did he "blame the tranny failure on Amsoil?"

Originally Posted By: Boss302fan
I own one of those pieces of junk, in fact the same year and I am convinced the Amsoil ATF is one of three reasons why it is still running with the original tranny.


You can convince yourself of that all you want, but your logic is no different that saying "it's Amsoil's fault my tranny broke"...



Originally Posted By: Boss302fan
Most likely your tranny was on its way out by the time you used Amsoil. I am not a user of Amsoil but I have owned many Honda and Acura vehicles and I know their trannys are problems waiting to happen. I only stated that it was stupid to use Honda ATF because there are so many posts EVERYWHERE that state not to use it.


"EVERYWHERE" meaning random internet posts which make as little sense as yours? Go look through the UOAs on this site and then try to explain to me how this fluid is that horrible? Yes, it shears out of grade if it's left in too long. That seems really obvious. Besides that, the UOA's of other fluids tend to look worse than those of the Z1.

Originally Posted By: Boss302fan
I have an 03 MDX with 130K miles and used Honda ATF for the warranty period but I changed it every 15K miles. I then switched to Maxlife and my tranny has been working great and very smooth(knock on wood) LOL. I still do a dump and fill with Maxlife every 15K miles and it now comes out looking like new. When I changed the Honda ATF every 15K it came out very dark and just about black.


You've gotten 130K out of a transmission known to be flaky, and you're calling the fluid junk because it's changed color? Do you really feel that color is an adequate indicator of fluid condition? Really??


Originally Posted By: Boss302fan
I would be nervous using any Honda ATF. Maybe the new stuff is good but why take the chance. Do a drain and fill after 15K miles and see how it looks... Good luck.


This is the part I don't get. I just don't see how using the manufacturer's recommended fluid is "taking a chance". This has been asked of Amsoil, so I'll ask it of Z1: can you point to a single failure related to inadequate lubrication? Just because the clutch packs are failing, it doesn't mean the fluid is necessarily at fault--whether it's Amsoil or Honda's fluid being used. Plus, NO ONE KNOWS WHAT'S EVEN IN THE NEW FLUID!
 
OK, fair enough, he kinda did:

"Transmission is shot. Getting it rebuilt at 109,000. Originally switched from Z1 to Amsoil ATF at 64,000 and did drain and fills every 10k since then. So, as for what I can deduce from this....Amsoil ATF made the transmission slip more than I would like. It is NOT suitable for the Honda transmission. It is more than likely due to the design of the Honda and the clutch packs. My personal opinion, I will use the Honda fluid from this point that was designed for the Honda transmission. The Amsoil ATF should not be used in this application. My $3k mistake."

I guess that would be "blaming the fluid".

After it's all said and done, my money is still on the shift solenoids being the real root of the problem.
 
I also started this thread to no longer discuss the failure, but to discuss the Honda DW-1 fluid in a rebuilt Honda 03 5AT. At this point, I could care less about the Amsoil fluid that was in there. Now my focus is on rebuilt unit working with the new DW-1 fluid.
 
Originally Posted By: Cooper
Yup, I believe it was a combination of the wrong fluid in a weak unit.


Well, Benjamming's Honda is probably the most documented. Here's one post, but he has many more on the same car: LINK

I will admit, his posts were one of the reasons I ended up putting Z1 instead of Amsoil in a friend's CR-V.

The wear metals went up with the Amsoil, and they went down with the RLI. It's pretty hard to argue that one.
 
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