If anyone needs a photo of the shop manual on how to actually change the transmission fluid, let me know, I am happy to snap a photo and post that as well.


PS. I am a small woman, weigh 116 lbs, and it took me longer to jack my Fit up, and place it on stands, than it did to actually change the transmission oil.

I do live where we get winter and snow as well, in the interior area of BC Canada.
Yet despite being in an area of winter season, both the drain and fill plugs came loose easily on my car both times I've changed the fluid.
I purchased my car used, changed it about 3 weeks after buying the car, and again 2 years and 2 months later.
It is a cheap and easy task, not a big dollar item, nor a time consuming one.
I also changed my engine oil and filter at the same time, both times I replaced the transmission fluid.

Engine oil and filter I replace about every 6 months, and every 2 years I replace both the engine and cabin air filters, antifreeze, and check the valve clearance and adjust if needed. My last valve check required 0 adjustments, as all valves were within specs.

I've also done the brakes on all 4 corners myself, another easy job.


Proper, and regular maintenance is key to a happy driving experience for years and years.

I do not understand those who neglect maintenance on anything they own.

The shop manual I purchased cost me $10, and was located from a Craigslist ad that I placed, asking if anyone had a 2008 Fit shop manual for sale. The gentleman who answered my ad was so kind and helpful, has been a Honda Technician for over 35 years, and was now driving an Accord, so no longer needed his Fit manual.
The manual is full of notes that he himself wrote in it, which is super awesome, as who would know more than a Honda Technician, who owned a Fit.

 

Breezer, the section you posted is from the factory shop manual Maintenance section Page 3-8 for the automatic transmission. Above that not in view is a much shorter 2 line message about manual transmission oil check found in Section 13-3 of the manual. The manual says to check manual trans. fluid when Maintenance Minder shows "3". Below is a picture of the manual trans. oil check instructions on that page. Note that paragraph 3 says only change the fluid if it is dirty. They don't specify what qualifies as dirty. When I drained my fluid after approx. 240,000 miles it was not what I'd call dirty. I tared my oil drain pan and weighed the amount of oil that drained (overnight) from the transmission. It was exactly what Honda says is the fill capacity = 1.6 quarts. In other words, no oil had leaked out in the car's 15 year life. I have a digital scale that weighs up to 70 pounds (pounds, ounces and tenths of an ounce). The original oil looked more like motor oil with a few thousand miles on it. Slightly darkened amber. Certainly not brown like coffee. That tells me there was no need to change it even after all those miles but I already had two quarts of new manual tranny fluid and had drained it so I put the new stuff in. A bit of a PIA to cobble up a funnel with a foot or more of vinyl tubing to reach the nearly inaccessible filler hole. My transmission still shifts fine but I can't say I noticed any improvement. My sweet wife learned to drive on a stick shift as did I and we are both very easy on synchros and clutches. Knock on wood, the Fit Sport is still on it's original clutch at a quarter million miles. It passes the clutch slippage test with flying colors. In third gear at about 30mph flooring it bogs the engine and tach doesn't increase very fast with the wimpy 109 HP Fit motor. A slipping clutch will allow the rpm's to climb quickly.

 

 

I'll keep on changing mine every 2 years.

 

You can change it based off mileage instead of years. It's not like a sports transmission like an S2000. Even my S2000s can wait for the 25k mark after many years

 

Keep an eye out for an old interview with the chief engineer of the S2000, the guy who has been credited with creating the car. I couldn't find it on youtube, but it's out there somewhere. The engineer was asked by a room full of S2000 fanboys (of which I am one) what they should do to maintain their car. The engineer's only advice was change the MT fluid.

Oil changes seem to be a touchy subject on this forum. I don't think any forum member's mind has ever been changed.

 

I remember reading an article or a post of that in S2ki. Definitely would want to change for a peace of mind. But I don't think anybody would argue against Honda's recommended service intervals, so as everybody else has said, check the manual.