Hi folks - long time lurker, first time poster. I was hoping you could help me with a (potential) issue. 2012 manual tranny.

Background: I took my Fit in for service around 15k miles to address a minor transmission rattling noise. The tech said he drained the oil which was "jet black" and said that was an indication of premature wear. Two days later he changed what I believe were some internal transmission gears and sent me on my way.

Now 45k miles later I'm almost hitting my 60k drivetrain warranty expiration. I decided to take another sample to make sure everything was fine, and low and behold the oil is almost the same color black. Picture attached.

My question: is manual transmission oil supposed to be this color after 45k miles of service? I'm trying to decide if I need to take it back in for service before my warranty expires.

Thanks in advance!

 

It would be wise to take it to Honda for their comments and have it documented should they chose not to do anything now and you have problems after wty expires.

 

first of all, you went 45k miles with no fluid change. that is a no no

second, my fluid at 30k miles looked mildly dirty compared to the fresh fluid that went in. Im changing my fluid every 20k after that initial 30k

go online and buy a magnetic transmission drain plug. double check thread size, but I think civic ones will fit, as they have a bigger aftermarket and easier to source

EDIT might want to check and see if the breather on top is getting lots of dirt in it. I dont know exactly where it is, you can check an online parts dealership website

 

20K MT transmission oil changes?

What are you running, a Massey Ferguson?

 

The Maintenance Schedule says to do it every 84k Miles or 135k Km, just saying...

 

The stock drain plug is magnetic.

 

I ended up changing the MTF this morning in my garage. The remaining MTF that I drained from the car didn't look as bad as the sample I pulled last night...maybe that was because the car was hot from a round trip to/from the local dealership.

So short of doing an UOA on the sample I still have there may be nothing more to do at the moment. For sure the car shifts a hellava lot smoother which would be expected.

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

 

you fellows and your paranoia about fluid changes. just follow the manufacturer maintenance schedule. no need to prematurely change the fluids unless you track the car (pushing the car beyond normal/street use) or towing something all the time.

 

I hear you. I'm paranoid because of a prior issue with my transmission so I'm sensitive to premature wear on this expensive component.

 

Manual transmission innards don't wear (to the point that there's a problem) unless there's something else going wrong, usually the driver.

Just follow the maintenance schedule and you'll be fine.

 

Results speak for themselves. If the fluid change fixed the problem then it logically implies there was something wrong with the old fluid- at least for this particular car and this particular driver.
But check to see if this is just the initial breakin for the fluid as it heats up for the first time. See if the results are still there after 500miles before concluding.

 

apparently not with his fluid being black as hell.


And incorrect about wear and tear. even using the best fluid available and driving it perfectly, there will eventually be a need to rebuild or replace.

I do understand you did not mean they are indestructible or wear proof, I just think perhaps you have not had the chance to crank out seriously high miles on one vehicle alone.

I am just assuming here. If you have, and had good luck, thats good.

I just dont want the average driver (who doesnt repair their own stuff) to think these cars are bulletproof

 

did you ever have the oil analyzed? best you just get the data and comments from the pro's who understand these lubes. sometimes color in itself doesnt mean the oil has degraded or bad.

 

Mine was to after my first change at 65K miles. I thought to myself why didn't I do this sooner and decided to bump change interval up to 35K or less. But then after only 1-1/2 days all improvements went away and back to normal smooth shifting, just not the short lived ultra silky smooth. I only did mine earlier as I do a lot of towing. Back to MM for me.

_

 

It sounds like grommet's transmission has something wrong with it, which can happen with anything. But picking any random car off the lot, I wouldn't make up an aggressive fluid change schedule on the off chance that its transmission is also faulty.

Anything can happen, but I'll be quite surprised if my car goes to the grave with anything but original transmission innards.