What ATF for an old Acura Legend

[DMZ]

My future daughter-in-law has a 1988 Acura Legend, 2.7l V6. She bought it for $800 w/147k miles on the odo. As part of my "keep it alive for a few more years" program, I would like to do a drain and fill on the AT. No owners manual, but I am thinking it took Dex II.

Any opinions on what might work in it?

 

[GSCJR]

Dex3 is all it needs.

 

[DMZ]

That is what I hoping, but I thought there might have been some Honda spec'ed stuff that was supposed to be used.

Off to WM for a couple of jugs of Dex III.

Thanks.

 

[GSCJR]

No problem!

 

[TomYoung]

Fortunately, this car is not subject to the Honda transmission debacle

 

[JavierG]

I have Valvoline MaxLife in mine. It was recommended by folks over at one of the Legend forums.

 

[ram_man]

I would run maxlife or hondas own dluid.dw1 would probably work in that car and it good stuff and it doesnt cost that much.

 

[David1]

Originally Posted By: DMZ
My future daughter-in-law has a 1988 Acura Legend, 2.7l V6. She bought it for $800 w/147k miles on the odo. As part of my "keep it alive for a few more years" program, I would like to do a drain and fill on the AT. No owners manual, but I am thinking it took Dex II.

Any opinions on what might work in it?



Use the Dealer ATF Dw1 for your ACURA...

People who really have had there Hondas / Acuras a long time will tell ya...

Each time a do a Drain and Refull I come close to getting MAXLIFE then I look at that Huge list of other trannys it will work for and think hmmmm would I use that companys tranny fluid in my Honda???

Nope

If you really want to save $ then get Castrol Tranmax for Honda / Acura

but I stress you should get the dealer stuff.

 

[Tanama]

I have a 93-Acura Legend with automatic transmission. Their manual calls for Dexron II. The new Honda DW-1 is not the best ATF choice, not the best shifting performance. Your model does not have an ATF filter/strainer requiring maintenance. The transmissions of first generation Legends suffer from sticky solenoids, but they are easy to service. All Legends suffer from Head Gasket issues, after 20+ years that is somewhat acceptable.
I can attest Castrol Transmax IMV and Valvoline IMV are excellent choices for the Acura transmissions requiring Dexron II. Consider adding a bottle of Lubeguard along with the new ATF. Mine has mostly Valvoline IMV and Lubeguard.

 

[antiqueshell]

Tanama is correct those earlier model Honda/Acura never mentioned in the manual that a Honda specific fluid for ATF was recommended or required. The Castrol Transmax Import Multi Vehicle is the best match for your car, it comes closer to the viscosity and requirements of the original factory fluid than modern DW-1 does.

I'd skip the Lubeguard product though. If the transmission is working well don't fool around, just get a good quality fresh fluid in there.

MOST IMPORTANT!

ONLY DRAIN AND FILL!

Do NOT FLUSH THE UNIT!

 

[Sayjac]

Originally Posted By: DMZ
...Off to WM for a couple of jugs of Dex III

Afaik, Wally no longer makes a Super Tech DexIII. ST Multi Vehicle and Mercon V are the closest you'll find in the ST line up now.

MaxLife should fill the bill quite nicely, running it in two Hondas spec'd for Z-1 now. Beyond that any of the other Multi Vehicle ATF's mentioned as 'recommended for' should also work.

No need to pay stealership price for DW-1 magic sauce in vehicle spec'd for DexII.

 

[Tanama]

I do concur with Antiqueshell, Do Not Flush the Unit. A better choice for full fluid replacement is the radiator ATF return line. About Lubeguard, I am just offering what I've successfully done in my car. That is not a "snake oil", as some transmission rebuilt mechanics have assured.

 

[DMZ]

I got a couple of jugs of Castrol Import Multi-vehicle and I will do a "drain and fill".

The car is in fair to poor condition, but the engine runs very good and there are no issues with the AT. I told the owner that with minimum investment she could get a couple more years out of it. It being used as mostly a commuter.

I am unsure of the timing belt was ever changed, and if it goes, I think that will be that.

 

[Tanama]

Good ATF choice.

 

[Ken2]

Old Honda (including Acura) transmissions are the only case I've seen where Dex-III is not a good substitute for the original Dex-II. Shifting quality suffers. A black bottle of Lubegard helps.

 

[GSCJR]

Dex3 supersedes Dex2. Plenty of it at WM over here.

 

[artificialist]

After replacing the ATF, change the hypoid gear oil. Typically 80w90 goes into the hypoid gear. Less thought goes into the hypoid gear than the automatic transmission.

 

[Tanama]

The differential on a Legend requires about 1.3Qts of GL-5. But probably less than 1 Qt will come out. The ATF, close to 4 qts should come out.

 

[paulo57509]

Originally Posted By: DMZ
My future daughter-in-law has a 1988 Acura Legend, 2.7l V6. She bought it for $800 w/147k miles on the odo. As part of my "keep it alive for a few more years" program, I would like to do a drain and fill on the AT. No owners manual, but I am thinking it took Dex II.

Any opinions on what might work in it?


That car is not even broken in yet. Keep it maintained and it'll last far longer than a few more years. I have 433k on my '87 manual trans coupe. Engine has never been apart.

You are correct with your assumption that Dexron II was spec'ed. Attached is the lubrication page from a 1987 coupe manual.

The tranny solenoids do get sticky from what I've read. They can be cleaned (DIY) should be need arise.

Don't worry about the head gaskets. You'll have more of an issue with the ABS system (if it has it). IMO, head gaskets is more of a 2nd Gen ('91-'95) issue than with 1st Gen Legends.

Please post some pics of the car. Would love to see it.

Link to some DIY's: http://forums.acuralegend.org/g1-diys-t42.html

Lube Page from Factory Service Manual:


BTW, if you ever decide to drain and refill the PS system, make sure you use Honda spec'ed fluid only. Put anything else in there and it'll start leaking like a sieve.

 

[Sayjac]

Originally Posted By: DMZ
My future daughter-in-law has a 1988 Acura Legend, 2.7l V6. She bought it for $800 w/147k miles on the odo. As part of my "keep it alive for a few more years" program, I would like to do a drain and fill on the AT. No owners manual, but I am thinking it took Dex II.

Any opinions on what might work in it?

If you intend to keep the car awhile might not be a bad idea to obtain an owners manual, they appear to be available on ebay for $10-12. Below however is an online service manual (1st)link to G1 models (87-90). If you click through using the 'next' button at top right (second link), rather than just listed headings, it appears to cover any information you might need (eg. pg 1471 contains lube info). Good luck on your keep it alive effort.

Acura Online Service Manual

G1 Acura Owners Manual