DIY Civic Type R Transmission Fluid Change

ez12a

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Changed the transmission fluid to GM Synchromesh FM as it worked great in the past in my old 6MT TL.

Initial impressions: less to no "crunch" when shifting a cold transmission. Slightly dampened feeling when shifting through the gates (like it's thicker fluid).

I never had any issues with grinds in my transmission, only noisy and notchy shifting with the occasional hang-up into 4th gear. The 1 > 2 shift has never been very quick and almost always requires a slight pause in neutral and this has not changed with the fluid swap. It does feel less "crunchy" though.
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chattanoogaR

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Eh, putting GM fluid in a Japanese econobox would never be high on my priority list.

Glad to see you are noticing results though.
 
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ez12a

ez12a

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Yep, worked great in the TL where third gear grind was not uncommon. Never experienced the grind.

People also put ford fluid into miata transmissions so it's nothing new lol
 


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ez12a

ez12a

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Cool, in any case, hope this video is helpful to anyone considering changing the fluid, whichever fluid they choose.

I found many of the video guides dont detail the airbox removal which is 90% of the job, and mostly just talk lol.
 

TheCanadian

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That ford fluid is known in the Miata as Ford's Unicorn Tears. Precisely because it works magic but is very pricey.
 

MarcusgibbS

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I changed mine with amsoil. No negative results. I haven’t tracked yet but have about 30k now. Another alternative to gm. I have in my em1 too, although that generally sits ?
 

YattleMe

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I changed mine with amsoil. No negative results. I haven’t tracked yet but have about 30k now. Another alternative to gm. I have in my em1 too, although that generally sits ?
I'm at 23k miles now and I've been thinking of changing out the oem fluid. Probably going to go with amsoil as well. I'm going to send in a sample of my oem mtf to black stone to see what they say about it.
 


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ez12a

ez12a

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Any other impressions with the new mtf?
YMMV but for me it has been working great, 100+ miles later. Shortly after my test, I also adjusted the freeplay on the pedal and master cylinder, which seemed to provide a marginal improvement over just fluid. With the combined changes, still no grinding (wasn't a problem before), no 4th gear partial engagement, no partial reverse gear engagement has occurred yet. I will update if I notice a deterioration in performance.

There is definitely less "gear" feel/friction/meshing (best i can describe it) when entering through the shift gate, and more just the detent spring lump feel.
 

Dirty_panda

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YMMV but for me it has been working great, 100+ miles later. Shortly after my test, I also adjusted the freeplay on the pedal and master cylinder, which seemed to provide a marginal improvement over just fluid. With the combined changes, still no grinding (wasn't a problem before), no 4th gear partial engagement, no partial reverse gear engagement has occurred yet. I will update if I notice a deterioration in performance.

There is definitely less "gear" feel/friction/meshing (best i can describe it) when entering through the shift gate, and more just the detent spring lump feel.
Nice video!
What did you do to adjust the free play and master cylinder?
 

123sillyboy123

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Eh, putting GM fluid in a Japanese econobox would never be high on my priority list.

Glad to see you are noticing results though.
Gm trans fluid is the best trans fluid for our car... I also put same oil and it almost removed 2nd gear grind entirely.
Last summer I drained it and swap to amsoil trans fluid and the grind comes back same day.
However amsoil trans fluid seems to break down after 1 track day... I don't have grind as much after 1 day on track.
However, gm fluid still better than amsoil for my car.
Just my 2centsm
 

rtypefk8

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Interested to know what others have used
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