Honda ATF-Z1 or ATF-DW1

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I'm getting ready to buy another case of transmission fluid for my 2005 Accord with 192K miles. I usually do a drain and fill every 15K miles with ATF-Z1. I see that Honda is discontinuing Z1 and replacing it with DW1. Should I buy a case of DW1 or Z1? My gut tells me to just get the Z1 since it has worked fine for the last 192K miles and it still shifts like new.

My 2010 Acura TSX came with Z1, but I most likely will transition it over to DW1 since it is so new and the Z1 fluid will no longer be supported and will be increasingly hard to find.
 
Well, your going to have to buy the DW1 sooner or later. If they will sell you the Z-1 at a discount since they are going to discontinue it, I would go ahead and buy the Z-1, if not, I would buy the new DW1.
 
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
I'm getting ready to buy another case of transmission fluid for my 2005 Accord with 192K miles. I usually do a drain and fill every 15K miles with ATF-Z1. I see that Honda is discontinuing Z1 and replacing it with DW1. Should I buy a case of DW1 or Z1? My gut tells me to just get the Z1 since it has worked fine for the last 192K miles and it still shifts like new.

My 2010 Acura TSX came with Z1, but I most likely will transition it over to DW1 since it is so new and the Z1 fluid will no longer be supported and will be increasingly hard to find.
Difficult to argue with that "if it ain't broke don't fix it" logic. Have an 01 Civic (now daughter's) with ~150k using only Z-1, and also did one drain and fill on an 07 3.0L Accord with it.

That said, Z-1 isn't especially inexpensive and I generally have to use a price match to get it in the ~$6.50/qt. range at the dealer, not sure what DW-1 will cost. Since you own two Honda products probably use it up rather quickly. Is a case now 6 or 12 qts. in ATF? That said, since it supercedes Z-1, DW1 should be a better spec, right?
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Originally Posted By: bubbatime
DW1 is supposed to be fully synthetic (probably group III)


I am pretty sure that I read here at another discussion that it is a semi syn... I could be wrong.
 
So that's a VI of 255? (Viscosity @40C= 25.09 cSt; @100C = 6.835 cSt).

It'll be interesting to see how shear-resistance this ends up being. Regardless, I'd definitely use this over Z-1 in any Honda.
 
The 25cst @ 40c number was interesting. I wouldn't fully quote the MSDS but it gives us an idea of what it could be.
Most synthetic Dex/Mercs are 10cst higher at about ~35cst.
Even the DexronVI's are about 30cst.

~cst @40c:
MSDS of DW-1 25
Mobil1 ATF 36
Mobil DexronVI 30
Amsoil ATF 39
Amsoil ATL 30
Redline D4 34
Redline D6 30
RoyalPurple 35 (anyone notice the MaxATF datasheet change again)
Amalie 29

I wouldn't waste a cent on Z1 if DW1 is available.

Now we just need a bunch of UOA's and a VOA.
 
Originally Posted By: Kaie
we should combine all the Z-1 DW-1 threads.


Who's "we", theres only 1 thread on Z-1, DW-1 in the first 10 pages.
 
Originally Posted By: sayjac
Just wondering what the stealership is going to charge for the DW1? Bet it's not cheap.


I believe its $8.something at a local dealer. HondaAutomotiveParts.com has it for $5.44. I haven't ever ordered from them. Though in my cart i have 3 coolant jugs, 6 DW-1s, 3 Power Steering Qts., 3 Brake Fluids and my shipping is only $11.00 w/ $5.00 S&H. So depending on how much you are ordering it can save you a bunch from the dealer prices.

Bernardi has it for 5.56. But i find their shipping to be pretty unfair, and doesnt save me anything versus going to the dealer.

Originally Posted By: R2d2
Originally Posted By: Kaie
we should combine all the Z-1 DW-1 threads.


Who's "we", theres only 1 thread on Z-1, DW-1 in the first 10 pages.


There are several when typing in the search. Infact i just made one last week because i had questions that hadnt been gone over the 10xs prior.

We as in the forum mod? I don't know. But they could all be consolidated into one 'The DW-1 & Z-1 Thread'. That way when a new thread arrives due to not searching the person could just be directed to one thread with tons of info.

But good job getting so defensive at me for suggesting something useful.
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The next drain + fill in my 2004 Accord will be with Dexron VI. I'll let ya'll know how it goes. I expect to notice absolutely nothing.

But for the faint of heart, DW-1 is the obvious choice.
 
I did a quick excel sheet to determine how long it'll take to completely (more or less) switch to a different ATF using the 3-quart drain & fills that are pretty standard for Hondas. I'm starting with the assumption that this transmission holds a total of 9 quarts of ATF- I'm thinking that was the capacity for my 2004 Accord with a 4-cyl. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong and I can change the numbers a bit.



# Quarts Z1... Quarts D6
0 9.000000000 0.000000000
1 6.000000000 3.000000000
2 4.000000000 5.000000000
3 2.666666667 6.333333333
4 1.777777778 7.222222222
5 1.185185185 7.814814815
6 0.790123457 8.209876543
7 0.526748971 8.473251029
8 0.351165981 8.648834019
9 0.234110654 8.765889346
10 0.156073769 8.843926231
11 0.104049179 8.895950821
12 0.06936612 8.93063388
13 0.04624408 8.95375592
14 0.030829387 8.969170613
15 0.020552924 8.979447076
16 0.01370195 8.98629805
17 0.009134633 8.990865367
18 0.006089755 8.993910245
19 0.004059837 8.995940163
20 0.002706558 8.997293442
 
Originally Posted By: onion
The next drain + fill in my 2004 Accord will be with Dexron VI. I'll let ya'll know how it goes. I expect to notice absolutely nothing.

But for the faint of heart, DW-1 is the obvious choice.



Well I talked the talk, but couldn't walk the walk. After some soul-searching, I ended up ordering some DW-1. Just did a 3-qt. drain & fill- I'll see how it runs tomorrow. I expect to notice absolutely nothing... but with less anxiety than if I had used Dexron VI.
 
I have never used DW-1, but a great alternative from Honda ATF is Valvoline Maxlife ATF. Have used it for 2 years now in the imfamous Acura MDX tranny. So far shifts much better and at a bargain for a Synthetic!
 
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