I was about to perform the 3rd drain/fill with Amsoil ATF this afternoon when I came to the realization that I preferred the shift quality of Z1 ATF. Some of you will cringe, but I decided to convert back to Z1 and performed the 1st drain/fill accordingly. Read on if you want the details that drove me to this decision.
After reading a lot of threads here on BITOG, I decided to convert my new Civic LX over to Amsoil ATF. Honda is not known for robust automatic transmissions and I typically drive my cars until the wheels fall off. I was concerned about some of the UOA's posted for Amsoil ATF, but figured that the recent formula change had lined things out. I could not locate a shop with a flush machine that handled Amsoil products, so I decided to go with the 4x drain/fill process. My first drain/fill was performed when I had 2,050 miles on the vehicle. I drained 2.5 quarts of the factory fill and replaced it with Amsoil Universal ATF formula on September 20th. The drain plug magnet was coated with a fine layer of metallic sludge, leading me to believe that I had made the right decision in swapping over to a synthetic ATF. The shift quality was slightly more crisp, but all in all it felt better than Z1 alone on the low end. The Civic transmission down-shifts when the car coasts or stops. This is normal, but sometimes there is a noticeable hesitation between the time the accelerator pedal is pushed and actual gear engagement when straight Z1 is used. I noticed that this issue seemed to improved greatly after the 1st drain/fill with Amsoil ATF.
I was pleased with the results, so I decided to perform the 2nd drain and fill after driving ~50 miles. I don't drive very many miles to/from work, so the 2nd drain/fill took place on September 23rd. The drain plug magnet had a very slight layer of metallic sludge, but I wasn't expecting to see much after only 50 miles of driving. The shift quality seemed to get even more firm on the low end, almost to the point that I felt it was too firm. I was also able to notice the shift that takes place in the 37-40 mph range, which is something that never happened with straight Z1. I figured that the "Fuzzy Logic" would relearn shifting with the new mix of 65% Amsoil and 35% Z1, but it never really seemed to improve. I was in a state of denial and even bought some Lubegard Black, figuring that I could compensate for the increasingly annoying change in shift quality. Alarm bells should have sounded then, but they didn't. I drove for about 150 miles on this mix of Amsoil and Z1 waiting for an improvement that never came.
Still in denial, I was about to perform my 3rd drain/fill with Amsoil ATF this afternoon. I figured that the issue must be related to the residual Z1 in the system, but in retrospect that didn't make any sense. The vehicle had 2,237 miles on the odometer at the time I drove it up onto the ramps. I drained the ATF, which was still a pristine shade of red. I then inspected the drain plug magnet. To my surprise/shock, there was a fairly substantial layer of metallic sludge present. It was as much, if not more, than I had seen when I drained the factory fill during the 1st drain/fill with Amsoil. Alarm bells finally sounded and I decided that I did not want to roll the dice anymore with Amsoil ATF. I was not truly satisfied with shift quality and now I had reason to believe that wear had increased based on the drain plug magnet. I could have added Lubegard, but honestly why should I have to with a top shelf ATF like Amsoil? Also, I began to wonder if Honda would give me grief about using a non-Z1 ATF if I tried to obtain warranty work at some point in the future. If they did, would Amsoil stand behind me if they found out that I had added Lubegard to their ATF? All of these things weighed heavily on my mind.
I then realized that changing the ATF in my Civic is not a difficult task. Frequent drain/fills would provide adequate protection and peace of mind. For now, the best compromise it seemed was to revert back to a mix of 65% Z1 and 35% Amsoil ATF. I liked the shift quality with this mix, so perhaps that is the "Sweet Spot" for late model Civic transmissions. With the above in mind, I refilled the transmission with 2.5 quarts of Z1, which puts me at 63% Z1 and ~37% Amsoil. I will see how this works out and perform additional drain/fills with Z1 if I am not satisfied with shift quality. All of my drain/fills will most likely be performed using Z1 in the future.
I am not trying to slam Amsoil here. They make some of the finest lubricants available. There is just too much going on with the Honda transmissions these days and I am not willing to roll the dice. I have no issues with folks that have had a better experience with Amsoil ATF than I did. I just wanted to share my experience.
After reading a lot of threads here on BITOG, I decided to convert my new Civic LX over to Amsoil ATF. Honda is not known for robust automatic transmissions and I typically drive my cars until the wheels fall off. I was concerned about some of the UOA's posted for Amsoil ATF, but figured that the recent formula change had lined things out. I could not locate a shop with a flush machine that handled Amsoil products, so I decided to go with the 4x drain/fill process. My first drain/fill was performed when I had 2,050 miles on the vehicle. I drained 2.5 quarts of the factory fill and replaced it with Amsoil Universal ATF formula on September 20th. The drain plug magnet was coated with a fine layer of metallic sludge, leading me to believe that I had made the right decision in swapping over to a synthetic ATF. The shift quality was slightly more crisp, but all in all it felt better than Z1 alone on the low end. The Civic transmission down-shifts when the car coasts or stops. This is normal, but sometimes there is a noticeable hesitation between the time the accelerator pedal is pushed and actual gear engagement when straight Z1 is used. I noticed that this issue seemed to improved greatly after the 1st drain/fill with Amsoil ATF.
I was pleased with the results, so I decided to perform the 2nd drain and fill after driving ~50 miles. I don't drive very many miles to/from work, so the 2nd drain/fill took place on September 23rd. The drain plug magnet had a very slight layer of metallic sludge, but I wasn't expecting to see much after only 50 miles of driving. The shift quality seemed to get even more firm on the low end, almost to the point that I felt it was too firm. I was also able to notice the shift that takes place in the 37-40 mph range, which is something that never happened with straight Z1. I figured that the "Fuzzy Logic" would relearn shifting with the new mix of 65% Amsoil and 35% Z1, but it never really seemed to improve. I was in a state of denial and even bought some Lubegard Black, figuring that I could compensate for the increasingly annoying change in shift quality. Alarm bells should have sounded then, but they didn't. I drove for about 150 miles on this mix of Amsoil and Z1 waiting for an improvement that never came.
Still in denial, I was about to perform my 3rd drain/fill with Amsoil ATF this afternoon. I figured that the issue must be related to the residual Z1 in the system, but in retrospect that didn't make any sense. The vehicle had 2,237 miles on the odometer at the time I drove it up onto the ramps. I drained the ATF, which was still a pristine shade of red. I then inspected the drain plug magnet. To my surprise/shock, there was a fairly substantial layer of metallic sludge present. It was as much, if not more, than I had seen when I drained the factory fill during the 1st drain/fill with Amsoil. Alarm bells finally sounded and I decided that I did not want to roll the dice anymore with Amsoil ATF. I was not truly satisfied with shift quality and now I had reason to believe that wear had increased based on the drain plug magnet. I could have added Lubegard, but honestly why should I have to with a top shelf ATF like Amsoil? Also, I began to wonder if Honda would give me grief about using a non-Z1 ATF if I tried to obtain warranty work at some point in the future. If they did, would Amsoil stand behind me if they found out that I had added Lubegard to their ATF? All of these things weighed heavily on my mind.
I then realized that changing the ATF in my Civic is not a difficult task. Frequent drain/fills would provide adequate protection and peace of mind. For now, the best compromise it seemed was to revert back to a mix of 65% Z1 and 35% Amsoil ATF. I liked the shift quality with this mix, so perhaps that is the "Sweet Spot" for late model Civic transmissions. With the above in mind, I refilled the transmission with 2.5 quarts of Z1, which puts me at 63% Z1 and ~37% Amsoil. I will see how this works out and perform additional drain/fills with Z1 if I am not satisfied with shift quality. All of my drain/fills will most likely be performed using Z1 in the future.
I am not trying to slam Amsoil here. They make some of the finest lubricants available. There is just too much going on with the Honda transmissions these days and I am not willing to roll the dice. I have no issues with folks that have had a better experience with Amsoil ATF than I did. I just wanted to share my experience.
