mrlal8

iTrader: (2)

I don't feel any hard shifts

9632tl

Did my partial drain today. Turned out well. I did notice better shifts and less lag between P and R. Althout I am now getting a slight flair from 3rd to 4th, but its getting better. Keep in mind that I have a completely different type of transmission than all of you. First gens were not five-speeds, or transversly mounted.

BostonSilverTypeS

i live in the northeast(MA) and went on roadtrip to Florida after going with straight Redline Lightweight fluid 9quarts total and from 31degrees to 95degrees transmission felt great...ON cold start up you get slight lunge shift but i mean very slight until it warms up and then its all smooth...when crusing I DO NOT FEEL trans shifting unless I'm paying attention for it or looking at the tach...In manual mode cruising when I shift it is very quick and smooth....

don't know how it would feel with automatic trans, but I have used royal purple on my previous car which was manual transmission and it velt Amazing...Royal purple is good in my book!!

Brozee

Lol don't worry about your trans fluid unless it's low m8. It's fine near full or full!

FollowingNFront

Even 1/2 qt past full?

Lazer187

iTrader: (1)

has anyone with a Type S experienced these Thurst Shifts?

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

what do you mean? like a lunge between shifts?

on cold starts, there is a very very slight lunge between gears...but it goes away within a minute or so of driving.

otherwise, shifts are very crisp n smooth. i love the way my car shifts now after the 3x3.

Lazer187

iTrader: (1)

Yes i mean a Lunge between shifts. Has any type-s owner experience this?

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

^well, i'm a type-s owner and i gave you my experience.

no lunge under normal driving.
very very slight lunge on cold starts, goes away within a minute.

greco9885

iTrader: (1)

i HATE being an indecisive person when it comes to certain things, and this topic is one of them....

type f or d4 or amsoil atf or amsoil racing ughhhhhhhhh

mrlal8

iTrader: (2)

How many of u have automatic starters here? This lunge that ppl are experiencing on cold starts...having a remote start should eliminate it right because by the time u get in the car the engine is already warm

I hate cars

Between the amsoil super shift and redline racing I would go with whatever is easier to get. The Redline has a small advantage in base oils but you would probably never see the difference unless you do very long drain intervals. Both should shift the same. Amsoil is almost more convenient because it's very close to factory viscosity. No mixing of the lightweight and regular racing fluid required.

I would do the type f fluid over the d4 any day for wear reduction alone. If you want to try it just to see if you like the shifts, get some cheap type f locally and do a single drain and fill. The worst that can happen is you waste $9 and have to drain it back out.

justinfop

Hey Inaccurate when you said that do a single drain each week mean 3 quart of redline atf after each drain and discard the drain and fill in new redline atf again for about 9 to 10 time?

justinfop

are you guys using synthetic oil atf or racing atf type (f)

ajs800

iTrader: (1)

i ordered 6qts of the redline lightweight and 3qts of the straight racing. Will post my opinion after i do the 3x3 change.

I hate cars

Synthetic vs dino isn't really important. The important thing is that you use a type-f fluid. A synthetic type f like Redline racing or Amsoil Super Shift is just icing on the cake. Use synthetic if you're going to run it very hard for extended periods, if you live in a very hot area or a very cold area.

The combo of a synthetic and type f is great but being a type f is the most important quality.

vietxquangstah

iTrader: (7)

9 to 10 times? or do you mean 9 to 10 quarts? if you're trying to do a 3x3 it would be 3 times... hence the name 3x3.

first drain - drain out ~3qts old trans oil, add the new 3qts of trans fluid
second week - drain out ~3qts of your mixed trans oil, add the new 3 qts again
third week - drain out ~3qts of your mostly new, but still has some old trans oil, and add the last 3 new qts

i'm guessing you didn't read through much of the first few pages, but the answer would be

Hacura

Same experience here...no matter what car I drive, I always drive slowly after a cold start.

BostonSilverTypeS

no lunge issues here, besides that very very slight lunging on cold start up and taking off, other than that all good no issues with roughly 3600miles into running 9quarts of Redline Lightweight only!

go with Redline racing lightweight you will not regret it!!!, your weather is same as mine and I haven't had no signs of problems with about 3600miles

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

samesies. i always put it in SS and shift before 2k rpms until i get out of my neighborhood. by that time, it's warmed up and good to go.

KiWiLiT43

Ok, been lurking this thread for a while, and I am ready for some opinions.

After reading through I have felt pretty confident that switching to Redline will be the best plan of action for me. Just hit 65K, have not done any transmission work since I've owned the car (20K miles or so), so it's safe to assume that I am still running the factory fluid. I have never had any transmission problems, but I have looked at the fluid and it's dirty, and needs to be changed.

Before finding this thread I have found countless posts about how the factory Z-1 fluid is a weak point for Honda, and that Redline D4 is a better fluid for longer transmission life and more precise shifting. After reading through this thread I am still up in the air as to using D4 or Type F. Like I mentioned before I've never had any problems, so I am wondering if D4 (as it's more similar to Z-1) would be the better choice?

Either way, that's not my biggest concern at this point. I feel comfortable doing this change myself (with the help of some excellent walk through in the garage). But since I don't have a good way to jack the car up while keeping it level, and in the essence of saving time, I have contacted a local shop about doing this for me. I have very bad experiences with my local Acura dealership; so on the recommendations of some friends/enthusiasts I contacted a local Honda specialty shop. I have never had work done at this place before, but it comes highly recommended, and I couldn't find one single bad comment about these guys anywhere on the web. Anyway, I emailed the owner about what I was doing, and this is the response I got: "My experience has been that people who put non-Honda fluid in their transmissions, end up replacing the gearbox. Honda fluid is the only fluid I use and strongly recommend you reconsider using an aftermarket fluid. In case you're wondering, I've been a Honda specialist since 1974 and have owned my own Honda specialty business for over 25 years." So this guy seems to think that D4 is a bad idea (didn't mention Type F at all).

Reading through this thread I can tell you guys have done tons of research on this topic, and probably have a lot more experience in what could/does go wrong with these transmissions. Is this guy totally off base? If so, how can I (politely) show him that he is wrong; and offer a good explanation as to why?

hleapha

I'm sure the guy has no idea about Redline ATF's in an '04-'08 Acura TL. He is making two groups of transmission oils: Honda Z1 and All others.

I don't blame him for his ignorance but he simply doesn't understand the issues with the Z1 and the positive effects of the Redline Type F fluids on the Acura setup. I wouldn't recommend the Redline Type F on any other Honda vehicle without some in-depth analysis to the likes of which have been provided for the 3G TL. Z1 allows the transmission to self destruct and the Type F Redline minimizes that. It is that simple.

I would just D.I.Y. I wouldn't worry so much about the car being perfectly level. You still do a 3x3 and get enough out. I wouldn't care to mess with a old timer blow hard that thinks you know jack squat. Just DIY and that way you can make sure it is done right. You can see the benefits for yourself.

I hate cars

That's exactly what I do.

FollowingNFront

Fixed

KiWiLiT43

Anyone else got any thoughts/opinions?

jhumbo

iTrader: (1)

I agree with hleapha's sentiments. I think the owner has seen issues in Honda transmissions with fluids other than the OEM fluid and so he is scared to use anything else. He feels like Honda transmissions are touchy and he is too scared to try anything other than OEM. His thoughts are not specific to the Acura 3rd gen TL transmission and he does not have the knowledge shared in this thread, so due to fear, he sticks with what he knows.

Da Answer

I've been running Racing ATF for over a month after the 3x3 and at this point everything is fine, shifts are not harsh.

But I noticed when I was on Z1 the shifts from 2-3 and 3-4 were quicker, meaning my car would change gears at around 2500 to 2800rpm after being on the same gear for a couple of seconds (lets say, 5 or 7 seconds) but on the Racing ATF it shifts at around 3000 to 3300rpm after being on that same gear for 5-7 seconds.

So it is indeed a little slower probably because the Racing ATF is thicker.

I still have another 3 quarts of the Racing ATF to do another drain and fill.

What should I do at this point, switch to the Lightweight Racing because its thinner? If so, at what rate, pour in 3 quarts of the lightweight at a change or..? Advice would be greatly appreciated.

I hate cars

I'm officially out of this thread. All of the facts and opinions and reviews are out there, if you can't make a decision as to what to use by now, just stick with Z1.

Lazer187

iTrader: (1)

lol, I don't blame you. if they cant figure it out by now they need help with comprehension. I'm just checking this thread to see feedback as time goes on & the miles adding up.

FollowingNFront

You are a trooper for being as helpful as you have been throughout this thread, and I for one am glad you have helped me like you have.

koshia

I took the dive and did the initial change... I did run into a problem though, I drained roughly 3quarts (1/8 - 1/4 shy) because dealer overfilled, then took out too much the last time -- luckily my tranny didn't burn up.

In any case, my father in law helped and it was very quick; however, when we refilled... we checked the fluid and it didn't seem like it had enough.. ended up adding close to another quart of fluid. I'm hoping this is alright, been driving it ~200 miles, shifts are a lot smoother -- but the lunge shifts do happen.

Waiting for another week/another 300 miles before I do the next flush. Does anybody know if its okay to mix a little more Lightweight on the second refill and go back to the normal ratio on the final flush/refill?

Inaccurate

Yes. You can switch back and forth between Lightweight and Racing.

practice89

iTrader: (1)

how many miles do you guys recommend until the next change?

KiWiLiT43

Thanks for your, and everyone else, research on this. You guys have been a wealth of knowledge.

Lazer187

iTrader: (1)

^^^ Ditto

Yes it is appreciated

jpleedy

I'm bracing myself for impact, here... I've been putting together a list of things I want to do this spring/summer on my TL. I have 75K miles and am planning to do my 105K service early for a number of reasons.

On my parts list are the two sensors that I have read about replacing, among many other things. But, then I got into this thread. I read every word of the first 9 pages and realized it would take me several more hours to get to the end, which I can't do now, but will this weekend.

But here's the thing... I have never changed my transmission fluid. I am normally very good with cars. I have built and installed entire engines into expensive, high performance cars, and I bleed motor oil. But, somehow, this has slipped through the cracks.

It's a nice day out today (my garage is less of a place for cars and more of a place for tools and various projects). I'm thinking it may make sense for me to do a 3x3 ASAMFP, like tonight, with some M1 off the shelf. I mean, the objective side of me says "order the redline shit today, if you've made it 75K, you'll make it another 50 miles." But the emotional side of me says, "how did this happen? Fix it NOW."

IHC, Inaccurate, what would you guys do? Go trade cars with your wife (she has the TL today), stop by AutoZone, and get some new stuff in there? Or wait possibly a week and move forward with the switch to Type F?

My other concern, based on what I did read in the first 9 pages, is changing too quickly. I read something about seals and stuff... I don't want to blow this thing up because I replaced the fluid too quickly.

Should I just do a single drain and fill for now? Then do the other 2 over the next couple of weeks?

jpleedy

Oh, one data point for you guys who know this car far better than I do. I did check the ATF last time I changed my engine oil (1500 miles ago) and it was not alarming or anything. It still had its reddish/pink tint to it, but looked "older" - had some grayness to it, compared to the ATF in my '09 Pilot with 22K on it (TL is an '06 w/ 75K). Level was OK, checked it following protocol in book.

jhumbo

iTrader: (1)

Don't worry about the 75k. If you're not having any trans issues yet, just change out your fluid now and you should be good to go for a long time. I was in your boat at 90k and hadn't changed the fluid yet. I then did two drain and fills about a month apart and have done a single drain and fill about every 15k since then. (I also changed out the sensors at 110k) I'm now approaching 150k and my trans stills runs a lot better than it did back at 90k before any of the maintenance. I no longer worry about my trans.

BostonSilverTypeS

what he basically said. The guy might have seen alot of transmissions go bad with aftermarket fluids, but I bet none of them been with Redline, mostly like some shit fluid someone picked up at local parts store and decided to add to their trans fluid without any research....He may have owned his shop for 25yrs, but hey times have changed drastically cars are alot diffirent then what they were 25yrs ago and so are the fluids and their advancement in breaking barriers and solving alot of issues...Z1 is outdated and that is why even Acura themselves will be doing away with them if not already as some dealers have already stopped using the Z1 stuff. I know that all the newer TL's don't use the Z1 no more and that right there should be a clue that you need that shit out ASAMP!!!

IHC and InAccurate spent the time and research and have explanained this enough, there should be no fear into changing into Redline Type F fluid....And DIY is the way to go, not only you save money but you will learn more things about the car that drives you where you want to go...


I think you meant to say it holds in that gear longer before shifting, when it actually shifts it will shift quicker than with Z1....But maybe I could be wrong, The Z1 is thicker than Redline TypeF, I believe only D4 is the equivelant of the Z1. I would say use Redline lightweight next time as I am only running the Lightweight TypeF in there and my Trans shifts amazing, as stated before im about 3600miles or so in and no issues...will be doing another D/R as soon as my oil service is due in about month or so!

good luck!!

Da Answer

^ @ BostonSilverTypeS

Thank you for your suggestion, I mean thats all I wanted before I got all those negative comments lol.

But anyway, is the z1 actually thicker than the Racing ATF? I thought it was the other way around. I figured because of that it was the reason why the shift would hold longer on the racing. Somewhere on the thread I believe someone stated in order to get close to stock viscosity one needed to mix 2 quarts of the racing and 1 of the lightweight, so that must mean the racing alone is thicker I guess.

I will try all lightweight on my next drain in fill figuring it does not harm the transmission as the other members stated.

Thanks again.