I bought a Honda. In 1997. I followed their scheduled service religiously. This consisted of watching the maintenance minder. On this model it was based purely on miles, so every 7,500 I was changing the oil (and doing other maintenance according to Honda's schedule). Drove it for 12 years. For 225k miles. Sold it for $3000 to a liquor store to use as a delivery vehicle.

I bought another Honda. in 2009. I'm following the schedule. This one is a bit smarter as it actually is sensitive to how I drive the car.

Jiffy Lube, and many Honda service managers would love you to stop by every 3,000 miles. They make money from selling you service. They don't much care whether it's a new or old car.

See how marketing works?

I started buying new cars in 1978. I always followed the manufacturer service schedule. Had lots of repairs over 32years, but none due to an oil related failure (unless you count a stripped oil plug) or other fluid change issue.

You'd think cars were requiring ring jobs at the same rate as new tires the way you guys are changing oil.

 

The only one I'll change earlier than the MM is the transmission fluid. And that I'll probably send of for analysis to see how it's doing.

 

I pulled a sample of my ATF for analysis, Ill let you know how it comes out. Upon investigation of the ATF filter, it was very plugged up. Perhaps changing this instead of doing a fluid and filter change every say 20k miles may help alleviate that surging from 1st gear at a stop issue. If someone wants to try it and report back that would be cool...but Ive already changed my fluid. You can change with filter with minimal spillage.

 

wow, inline filter, I am impressed, I always wondered why they don't put in an inline filter.

I think I will do 2 drain and fills and I am doing mine at 20k miles.
here is the breakdown of doing back to back drain and fills. (taken from a civic forum)

after the 1st drain-and-fill, 59.667% of the original fluid remains,
after the 2nd drain-and-fill, 24.063% of the original fluid remains,
after the 3rd drain-and-fill, 9.703% of the original fluid remains,
after the 4th drain-and-fill, 3.913% of the original fluid remains.

I still have 1 case of old fluid, between my ridgeline and fit, couple of drain and fills will clean me out.

how difficult is it to replace the inline filter?

 

If you don't trust the manufacturers maint schedule, then do an Used oil analysis.
I change my oil at 30% life.

 

Remove the battery and battery box, and air box, it takes about 5-10 minutes, then you need some pliers to remove the clamps on the filter. Shouldnt take too long. Now if you are having shifting issues, maybe you could change the filter first and report back before you change the fluid.

 

Just a question about the amount of trans fluid to use. I put in what I think is about 3 qts, and the level is just above the low mark of the hot range when I check it at a gas station (which is the most level surface I can find) after driving 60 miles with the engine running, but I see some small bubbles on the dipstick when I check the fluid level. Is this normal, or should I add a couple more ounces?

 

Read the manual on the proper check procudure. If I recall, you obtain normal operating temp, shut off the engine and wait approx 60 seconds. In other words, its very specific. And if it turns out somewhat low, add some, but very little at a time.

 

Thanks for the response. I just reread the instructions and you're right, I am supposed to have the engine off while checking -- I had it running. I'll recheck in a bit. Thanks again!

EDIT: Checked it again, engine off this time, and the level is in the middle, no air bubbles .

 

Just want to throw my two cents worth in here. To those who think flush, stay away from that. It's better to change more often than to flush, which puts strain on delicate parts.

 

I recall a post by a honda mechanic on Del Sol site that they flushed ATs as follows: Disconnect a tranny cooler line, start car, leave in park & let the fluid pump out into a container. I don't recall if they were adding fluid as it pumped out, but eventually they got clean fluid & stopped at that point. As long as the tranny is not engaged, there is no harm to it.

I think that is transmission fluid exchange rather than a flush which uses some sort of a machine that puts the fluid thru the tranny under pressure. Sounds like a more straight forward way to get the vast majority of the old fluid out without multiple drains & fills.

Has anyone tried this or familar with this technic?

 

The different techniques are a trade off between skills/time/equipment costs/wasted fluid.

0) Power flush- this is a discouraged technique.

1) Using a t-tech type fluid exchanger machine (which is not under pressure, but uses the car's pump to exchange the fluid).
Pro: will exhange all the fluid with less mess.
Con: costs to use a t-tec machine+skill involved to use it.

2) disconnect a transmission cooler line
Pro: exchanges most of the fluid, without need for expensive machine.
Con: Skill to disconnect such lines is higher than (3), potential mess, potential for screwup, procedure takes longer than (3).

3) drain and fill
Pro: Easy, hard to mess up. Procedure can be DIY with very little skill required. Procedure is relatively fast.
Con: Only portion of fluid is exchanged per procedure (but procedure can be repeated) which can result in wasted fluid.

Many would say (3) is "good enough" especially since you can DIY. If you fluid is so bad that you really need all of it out, you could argue that you've neglected the fluid too long anyway, and should gently replace it partially over some time anyway.

 

At my honda dealership , they told me that I shouldn't flush any Honda trans ,that I should drain and filled

 

Just changed Auto Trans Fluid in my 2011 Fit. Draining and refilling only changes a percentage of total fluid volume. Pictures on this thread are excellent. Mine is a 2011 so it had DW1 in it. My car has 32K. Level car and pull square drive drain plug coded blue. My drain plug was clean and old fluid appeared just as clean as the new fluid! I elected to fill through the dipstick tube and 2.75 qts. of new DW1 achieved perfect level. Will change again at next oil change. Car shifted fairly smoothly before fluid change, but I would say that it improved slightly.

 

The newer fluid Honda started using, DW1, is definitely better and holds up better. I still change the fluid on my fit every 30k miles tough.

 

I've read that color change, smell change, and metalic particles, in the oil is normal. Normal, with a lot of wear going on! Where do you think the metal flakes is coming from? Hopefully just the clutches wearing out.

It's hard to understand why anyone would add new oil to old.

I would change the filter when changing all the fluid.

Pull the plug and drain. Replace plug.
Remove filter, and run a plastic hose from the inlet tube, that goes to the filter, and put the end in a bucket.
Put a funnel in the trans fill tube, and fill to full level.
Have someone start the car, and as the dirty fluid gets pumped into the bucket, refill at the same rate, until you get the right amount of old fluid out.
Install a new filter, and you have all new fluid and a new filter, for most likely, less $ than draining 3 qts, driving 3 qts, etc until you have almost clean fluid!

 

I don't know if DW1 is any more durable. It is lower viscosity just like the engine oil designed to squeeze every mpg possible out of a gallon of gas. As far as adding clean fluid to used fluid, I agree, in a perfect world it would be best to go with all new fluid. But.... I am happy with what I found. My drain plug was clean, my fluid looked as new. If future changes produce similar results I am confident filter will be good for at least 100k. And the procedure is simple actually quicker than oil change, so I am willing to change more frequently.

 

You should feel real lucky your fluid is so clean. I've read a lot of posts of Fit having smelly, discolored fluid, with metal particles. People claim this is normal. Maybee dealers tell owners this is normal, to avoid rebuilding under warranty. I know, when I was a mechanic at a dealership, (not Honda) and a customers fluid was discolored or smelly, we recommended a service (changing all the fluid, and filter) More than 9 out of 10 transmissions I rebuilt, had dirty, smelly fluid. When the clutches and bands slip in a transmission, they create more heat in the fluid and wear out the clutches and bands faster. This results in burned (discolored and smelly) fluid, and metalic particles in the fluid.
Sounds like yours is one of the few (imho) that will last, a long time.

How many miles are on your Fit?

 

Recently went to the dealer for an oil change and tire rotation. Dealer wanted to sell me 30,000 mile service. Said no to paying some serious dollars, but decided to have them do a trans fluid change. Was $69.99, so thought that was reasonable and confirmed with Steve244 that was a reasonable price for dealer to do it. I have to say, my dealer's service department is great. Have almost 32,000 miles on my 2012 Fit. Drive it extensively over the metro area in Atlanta. Most likely overkill, but some piece of mind I guess. Seems to be shifting smoother, but that may be placebo. What the heck, I may just end up doing it every 30,000 miles or so.

 

Lol. The improved shifting was in your head.