Wanting to change fluid on my 03 Accord

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Elijah1

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My newly acquired accord currently has around 148,000 miles on it. The previous owner (my mom) did a reasonable job with maintenance, but typically had bargain basement products put in. Transmission fluid was changed at 100,000 miles so it’s time. Any recommendations on what to use, and more specifically how many drain and fills I should do to be satisfied? I’m also planning on purchasing a new “lifetime” external filter.

Thanks in advance.

Goals for the vehicle is to continue to daily drive it, and give it to my son when he turns 15 in three years.
 
Use honda dw-1, drain and fill once a year, and change the external transmission filter that honda included from the factory.
 
Originally Posted By: JamesBond
Use honda dw-1, drain and fill once a year, and change the external transmission filter that honda included from the factory.


Any idea how much fluid I should order?
 
Originally Posted By: Elijah1
Originally Posted By: JamesBond
Use honda dw-1, drain and fill once a year, and change the external transmission filter that honda included from the factory.


Any idea how much fluid I should order?


Would the owners manual have a spec for a D&F? Just google the trans capacity of your make and model and someone will have asked and answered the question.

Honestly dude, you should do a cooler line flush and splice a magnefine filter in while you are at it. I did 2 D&Fs recently and I wish I had just bit the bullet and flushed it.
 
Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Originally Posted By: Elijah1
Originally Posted By: JamesBond
Use honda dw-1, drain and fill once a year, and change the external transmission filter that honda included from the factory.


Any idea how much fluid I should order?


Would the owners manual have a spec for a D&F? Just google the trans capacity of your make and model and someone will have asked and answered the question.

Honestly dude, you should do a cooler line flush and splice a magnefine filter in while you are at it. I did 2 D&Fs recently and I wish I had just bit the bullet and flushed it.


How difficult is it to flush at home? And could I just replace the inline filter with the magnafine?
 
3x D&F with Honda DW-1 are usually good enough.

You could live by 2, maybe? ATF external filter, I have never touched on any of my Honda's.

Good luck
thumbsup2.gif
 
Manual actually calls for 4X D&F, about 4 gallons worth. I'd use Valvoline Maxlife ATF, it cured hanging and banging shifts on my 06 Odyssey and is quite a bit cheaper than DW-1. There are TONS of Honda success stories moving to Maxlife ATF over Honda fluids.
 
V6 or I4? But yes, 3x D&F will be fine. DW1 since that's probably what has been in there. If its the V6 just pay attention to shift flares and the like, once they start they're not going to stop regardless of what fluid or what pressure switches you change, it will just be time for a rebuild. The I4 trans is a good bit more reliable.
 
I have used the Honda DW1 ATF. I also like MaxLife. I hear the Castrol stuff is good as well.
Do a couple spill and fills. The do it again at the next oil change.

I would renew the power steering fluid as well. I have used the Honda PS fluid and O'Reilly's has quart bottles.
Do a flush; it will make a difference.

Next, flush that nasty old brake fluid... OK, I'll quit now.
 
Last edited:
Maxlife ATF is awesome and very popular here on BITOG. It is a quality full synthetic ATF designed with high mileage cars in mind, and you can find it at a good price at Walmart.

Castrol Full Synthetic ATF is also a great fluid to use. It goes on sale a few times a year for $5/qt.

A single drain and fill is sufficient for the interval suggested by Honda. It's probably 30k or 60k, so one drain and fill every 30k is no problem at all, especially with a quality synthetic ATF.
 
I would do the 4X drain and refill method Honda recommends per the owners manual. I have had 2 of the Honda 5 speed autos and they both respond well to this. Just bite the bullet and buy Honda OEM DW-1 transmission fluid. It's really not that much more expensive. I would do a drain and refill every year after you do the 4X drain and refill to keep the fluid fresh. You may know this already but the early 7th gen Accords like to toast the trans early.
 
I've used Castrol TransMAX Import Multi-Vehicle ATF in a Lexus, Mazda & Nissan with good success. However as others have stated, using Honda DW-1 surely wouldn't hurt!
 
Originally Posted By: Elijah1
Any fluid other than oem Honda I should consider?

Since you asked, I've been using MaxLife Full Synthetic MV ATF in two Hondas since Z1 superseded. Between the two them, a 3.0L V6 an 01 Civic 150k+ miles on ML, both original trans and working fine. Service interval has been 25-30k miles with single d&f. It's still less than $18/gal available from WM, either in store or for pick up with online order.

Z1 was nothing special as an ATF. DW1 obviously an option, though a significantly more expensive one. But, some get the warm fuzzies from having the Honda name on the bottle. When it comes to an ATF for Honda Z1 application, I'm not one of them. And anecdotally MaxLife has worked for me.

Lastly, normal d&f is ~3qts. Best practice, measure amount that drains out so you have a reference point. Put at least that much back in but no more than OM says is capacity. When finished, check level according to OM procedure, and top up as needed.
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Sayjac,

How did your transmission shift with Maxlife compared to Honda ATF ?

Well on both Hondas I went straight from Z1 to ML and didn't notice any difference one way or the other. Perhaps I'm not as discerning as some, but in my experience ML has worked and shifted as well as Z1, which was fine. Since I've never tried DW1, can't say if there would be a difference there. Practically speaking, as ML has shown itself to be a reliable and competent ATF in my uses, no need to try DW1.

Some have reported crisper firmer shifts on ML compared to Z1/DW1. Not something I've noticed.
 
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