Flush ATF at 40k?
 

Just wondering if I should - bringing it in for an oil change tomorrow and figured I probably should change the ATF - its at 40k and hasn't been c hanged before on an 04 Civic.

Should I do it or wait longer? They want $70 for the flush from Monro Muffler&Brake....figured I'd get it done there because I have a $12 oil change coupon for there as well.

Thanks,
-Ming

drain and fill it asap. a friend of mines had the same 04 civic vp AT and he changed it at 45k, the oil didnt come out nicely. its a simple drain and fill, no flushing. honda auto transmissions will fail if flushed

er, they will?

I thought its like drain and fill 3x...isnt that the same as flush?

Most kwik-E-lubes like to sell flushes rather than pan drop fluid and filter changes for one reason only... liability... if they flush it through the cooler lines or fittings, they can claim they have done NO mechanical work on the transmission and therefore are not liable for it failing....

when does the manufacture recommend to change the atf??

Can't remember the miles, but it says that or every 3 years.

Maybe I should just wait until the summer and learn how to just do the pan drop?

I mean..if I don't spend the 70 on the ATF flush, then...new snowboard! :)

So I guess I'll hold out a bit and sometime in the spring my friends dad can show me how to go about doing this....hm.

i must agree w/ civic94...drop the pan and change the fluid, YESTERDAY! get a haynes manual, a knowlegeable friend, or ask a tech. by any means DO IT.

i do not know hondas, but it is not difficult w/ the cars that i've serviced. it's just a little messy and somewhat time consuming.

good luck!

yea clean out the magnet prolyl goign to be ALOT of litle burrs and filings on it since its the first change (all the burrs and flakes from the gears breaking in)

I don't know about '04s, but '88-'00 Civic transmissions don't have pans. Just a drain plug and dipstick hole to refill.
In my '91 trans, the filter is just a mesh screen. You have to remove the main chunk of the transmission case (which requires removing a clutch pack and such) to get to the magnet, and then go even further, removing the main and counter-shafts and disassembling the valve bodies to get to the filter screen.
In all likelyhood, you just need to remove the drain bolt (if it's round with a square hole in the middle, just plug a 3/8" ratchet into it as if it were a socket), drain the fluid, reinstall the bolt and refill via the dipstick hole. Check your owners manual for the drain/refill volume.

Here's the deal.... will Monro use the proper fluid? Will they remove the plug and allow the junk to drain out?

I'd just get authentic Honda fluid and change it per the manual.

Gene

Skip the flush...put get the fluid drained and get at the filter, where ever it is. Double check with a Honda specific site maybe...but 9.5 times out of 10...there's no reason you shouldn't be putting 'regular' synthetic ATF back in it.
WallyWorld carries Mobil1 ATF....good stuff.

The 0.5 times out of 10 are chrysler A-604 4 speeds, you really want factory ATF+4 in those.

Myself I've sworn off ATF since I discovered UTF ;)

I usually buy a couple quarts of ATF and do a quick drain and fill every 7.5k when I change the regular oil.

Only at 100k or so will i actually drop the pan and replace the filter. The filter is really just a screen to keep the big stuff out of the valve body, the small particulates that a normal oil filter cleans out stays in the fluid in an automatic transmission.

I wouldn't call 40k old, but I too have heard of old auto tranny's dying after a flush. FWIW

heh dont need to change it THAT often, prolly comes back out red...coulda lasted 3X as long (around 30k)

"Flush killed my transmission" stories are probably mostly of the same type as "synthetic killed my engine" i.e. a horribly badly maintained POS gets serviced at long last and the new stuff breaks off caked on deposits that were gonna throttle and kill it in a few more months anyway.

Yeah, that's the way I understand it happens.

Yeah, at least up until:
I've cluelessly triggered one of these failures on a friend's VW. While I can't say for sure what would have happened had I left it alone, it wasn't displaying any symptoms when I changed the fluid and filter.

When it comes to transmissions, the more the better. As expensive as modern trannies are, it's cheap at the price. I've heard the rule of thumb at most of the boards I post at to be every 30k miles - more often if you feel like it.

the 2001-2005 civics automatic transmission don't have pans to drop. PLus the filters are meant to be changed. You would have to drop the whole transmission and split the trans block to get at the filter.

The best thing to do that really the easiest is get honda ATF-Z fluid that is specific to the civic transmission. drain the fluid trough the drain blot which fits a 1/2" or 3/8" drive ratchet (I forget which). Replace the fluid and drive for a bit 50-100 miles. Try to cycles through all the gears multiple times. Repeat this another two times and you should have 98% fresh ATF fluid in the transmission.

If you're so inclined you can through one of those transmission flushed in the mix before doing the first drain. However being that there is only 40K on you car you shouldn't need it.

Given Honda's issues with automatics from then I would at least change the fluid now if it hasn't been done since new, maybe flush (or do it the cheap way and change it yourself a couple times)

ATF is good for a while, I changed mine if it started to smell burnt.

For the 96-00 Civics, AT fluid change is at 72 months/90k miles, or 24 mo/30k severe.