DIY: Changing Manual Transmission Fluid

[Zeuceone]

shouldnt take 2 quarts...

[Andrei'sCivic]

I changed my MTF on my 07 Civic LX when the car had around 3,000 miles on it. I changed it to that new Honda formulation. Its only marginally better. Now my car has over 10,000 miles on it.
I feel like trying Royal Purple.

[Tom1222]

Originally Posted by 06RALLYREDSI

i did mine today on a lift all 2 quarts went in..none came out the overfill drain is this right?? ...and yes it was completely even

Maybe it came out of your drain hole instead

No way to cram 2 quarts in there without it pushing out somewhere

It only holds about 1.75 quarts. Now you do know what a quart is.. Maybe you just put in to pints

[Tom1222]

Originally Posted by Andrei'sCivic

I changed my MTF on my 07 Civic LX when the car had around 3,000 miles on it. I changed it to that new Honda formulation. Its only marginally better. Now my car has over 10,000 miles on it.
I feel like trying Royal Purple.

DON'T!!!! I have tried it and it is worse then the Original Honda crap.

After putting in RP that's when my 2nd gear grind started at high rpms.
I put in the new Honda stuff and it hasn't grinded since.

[06RALLYREDSI]

the over fill is along bolt tright above the drain right?? i out 2 quart bottles of honda MTF in

[GlxyGry06Si]

yes the fill bolt is above the drain bolt and it takes like 1.75 qts. i always pump the 2 quarts in because it can hold it and let the car level the amount out. its not like you are going to keep a lil bit of tranny fluid for a long time. now it does take about 20 minutes for it to stop dripping out the top bolt but the car will level it out for you. just my .02

[Tom1222]

Anyone who put in 2 quarts in their MT gear box either had the car sitting in an angle or just pumped in the 2 quarts and quickly put the fill plug back in. Sure it will let you put in 2 quarts but if the car is level the fluid will leak out very quickly until the proper amount is left.

[GlxyGry06Si]

yeah thats what i am saying. the car will alutomaticly level the fluid out to what ever its supposed to be. just the way i do it its really messy but i know that i get it all in there. well said tom.

[06RALLYREDSI]

ok i put it back on the lift and about a 1/4 MTF came out it was over but all good now

[GlxyGry06Si]

did you replace the fluid or just level it off.

[Tom1222]

Originally Posted by GlxyGry06Si

did you replace the fluid or just level it off.

I think he replaced the fluid and then put it back on the lift and let the overage run out of the fill hole.

[gdrum]

grreat writeup

[DATA02]

Originally Posted by Tom1222

Maybe it came out of your drain hole instead

No way to cram 2 quarts in there without it pushing out somewhere

It only holds about 1.75 quarts. Now you do know what a quart is.. Maybe you just put in to pints

That's what I thought too, but I just talked to the tech and the service manager and they put 2.6 to 2.8 of the MT 08200 fluid in my car at Gwinnett place honda. I called to let them know that it shouldn't take more than two, but they insisted that it does. Now the car seems to feel a little better during sprinted shifting conditions, but not like "butter" you think I should bring it back in. They charged me for for 3 at $5.89 each .

[gdrum]

What about the use of other fluids? Shoudl you flush it before changing the brand of fluid.

[BATANG CITY JAIL]

Originally Posted by gdrum

What about the use of other fluids? Shoudl you flush it before changing the brand of fluid.

you won the question of the day.

[Sevy316]

http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread/1687986

not sure if this is the same set up for the SI, but here are some pix on how to change it since everything has been all text so far

[sbigshot]

Whoa!!! What a difference .... my 3rd gear has smoothed out bigtime!! Amsoil FTW!!!!

Started with 2qts of Amsoil MTF and an inexpensive liquid pump:


Car up on my Dad's modified ramps (the Civics are too low to drive on the ramps without the 2x6 extensions):


Here is what remained after the change (a little was spilled when the transmission filled and it started to overflow from the fill hole):


This is not that hard to do. The plugs loosened up fairly easy. The fill plug/hole is a little awkward to get to and you end up spilling a little oil here and there - these are the only drawbacks to doing this. If you have an Si, you need to do this if you haven't already!!!!

[alancp]

my honda dealer sold me 20mm crush washers today for fill hole and 14mm for drain... humm, ordered amsoil today, hopefully change out next weekend.The parts guy had a hard time finding them on his computer. They said you can reuse them, but i said honda wants you to change them it is on honda's owner link website. later alan

[DumbasSi]

I'm doing mine later today. I'm going to post pics of the old fluid when it's done and measue the amount that comes out..

[DumbasSi]

Just finished. It was pretty easy and I do agree, the fill hole is hard to get to and even harder when it has some oil around it.

The problem I had was that after I filled it back up. I jacked the car back up to put the fill hole bolt back in and the MTF started coming out of the hole. It took me a couple of tries to get it back on. I'm just a bit worried that maybe too much spilled out. I'm getting my oil changed later this week, so I'm going to have them top it up.