Ok.. so I know DW1 vs Z1 has been discussed a number of times on here.. but I wanted to tell my story.. and see if anyone can help.
2005 Acura TSX 5AT with Z1 from factory. Did a factory drain and fill in 2008 (45k) which was early compared to the 96k recommendation. I then had a tranny failure on my Mazda, so it got me concerned about my Acura.
So I brought her into Acura to do a drain and fill.. by then the Z1 fluid looked pale red in colour.. not black or anything. It was 86,000kms or 41k since last changed. (all KMs not Miles).
After the drain and fill, I noticed the dip stick was about a cm over the full when cold and after highway drives.. about 3cms over the full. I also started to notice hard jerks when I was on and off the throttle..(think of applying the brakes hard when the tranny was making a shift). This usually happened when the tranny was cold and from 1st to 2nd gear.
I brought it back to the dealer and they drained ½ liter of fluid (now a mix of Z1 & DW1). On the highway the next day I downshifted using the sportshift and it banged hard into gear. I brought it back to Acura and told them to do another drain and fill… because the fluid must have got aerated from being over-full. (approx 6L DW-1 and 3L Z1)
The car no longer banged hard into gear.. but it also was slowly turning from Winter to Spring.. and the tranny fluid was much warmer… it’s been about 7 months with the DW1 in the tranny.. and it was almost back to normal minus the occasional sharp shifts that have made driving kind of uncomfortable. It has made me extremely sensitive to transmission shifts in any car.. including our new Toyota.
I went back to have one last tranny drain and fill done.. to completely run DW-1… no real change.. I still feel every shift. The shift points also seem to be different, shifts faster than I would expect for other gears and slower from 1st to 2nd.
I have had the Acura dealer drive the car cold and warm on two difference occasions. They find nothing wrong with the tranny. I’ve spoken with a few transmission shops and they explain that DW-1 is doing what it should and making the shifts harder.
I’m considering going BACK to Z1 just to get the smooth shifts I purchased this car for.. is that a waste of time? I know Z1 has a pretty bad rep, but it worked great in my car.. butter smooth shifts. Use to love driving my car, now I look for every excuse not to drive it.
2005 Acura TSX 5AT with Z1 from factory. Did a factory drain and fill in 2008 (45k) which was early compared to the 96k recommendation. I then had a tranny failure on my Mazda, so it got me concerned about my Acura.
So I brought her into Acura to do a drain and fill.. by then the Z1 fluid looked pale red in colour.. not black or anything. It was 86,000kms or 41k since last changed. (all KMs not Miles).
After the drain and fill, I noticed the dip stick was about a cm over the full when cold and after highway drives.. about 3cms over the full. I also started to notice hard jerks when I was on and off the throttle..(think of applying the brakes hard when the tranny was making a shift). This usually happened when the tranny was cold and from 1st to 2nd gear.
I brought it back to the dealer and they drained ½ liter of fluid (now a mix of Z1 & DW1). On the highway the next day I downshifted using the sportshift and it banged hard into gear. I brought it back to Acura and told them to do another drain and fill… because the fluid must have got aerated from being over-full. (approx 6L DW-1 and 3L Z1)
The car no longer banged hard into gear.. but it also was slowly turning from Winter to Spring.. and the tranny fluid was much warmer… it’s been about 7 months with the DW1 in the tranny.. and it was almost back to normal minus the occasional sharp shifts that have made driving kind of uncomfortable. It has made me extremely sensitive to transmission shifts in any car.. including our new Toyota.
I went back to have one last tranny drain and fill done.. to completely run DW-1… no real change.. I still feel every shift. The shift points also seem to be different, shifts faster than I would expect for other gears and slower from 1st to 2nd.
I have had the Acura dealer drive the car cold and warm on two difference occasions. They find nothing wrong with the tranny. I’ve spoken with a few transmission shops and they explain that DW-1 is doing what it should and making the shifts harder.
I’m considering going BACK to Z1 just to get the smooth shifts I purchased this car for.. is that a waste of time? I know Z1 has a pretty bad rep, but it worked great in my car.. butter smooth shifts. Use to love driving my car, now I look for every excuse not to drive it.