DIY Manual Transmission Fluid Change and Are They Different By Model Year?

MattyNice

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Just changed mine with Honda fluid as at 25k and huge difference. Seems new fluid in and of itself helps a lot. I just went with the Honda brand. Driven Honda’s for 25 years now and it’s the one fluid I’ve also noted they say to only use theirs. Anyway, may do it at 15-20k next time as felt it getting kind of abrasive well before the 25k mark.
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dave00str

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I've used Amsoil in several Mazda trans and saw marginal improvements, but tried redline on my Accord and now Civic...I like it better.
Still love their Amsoil 0w-30 motor oil, but I prefer Redline in the tranny.
 

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Just changed mine with Honda fluid as at 25k and huge difference. Seems new fluid in and of itself helps a lot. I just went with the Honda brand. Driven Honda’s for 25 years now and it’s the one fluid I’ve also noted they say to only use theirs. Anyway, may do it at 15-20k next time as felt it getting kind of abrasive well before the 25k mark.
A lot of manufacturers pull this game with transmission fluids for some reason. Toyota has their WS fluid, and they as well as others play with exotic viscosities to try to narrow the market and/or eke a little bit of fuel economy here and there.
As long as the bottle says it meets the Honda standard you're fine.

That said, I just drove around town after doing the AMSOil at almost 5K on the dot... Yeah, it's slightly better but nothing night and day. People talk like unicorn farts are going to come blasting out of your exhaust and you will nut every single shift you make... :lol:
I can try redline next time and if that doesn't sufficiently rustle my jimmies probably just go back to genuine Honda. :dunno:
 

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Also, has anyone tried and pour in the 2.3 quart in the trans rather than just 2 qt?
 


mis3

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I had mine changed 2 weeks ago with Amsoil MTF and the guy put in 2.2 quarts. Before the fluid change, I talked to 2 reputable garages. They both said it should take a bit more than 2 quarts and I should bring in 3 bottles of Amsoil.

Is there any way to measure the MTF level like a dipstick or something?

As for Amsoil MTF, there is an improvement but no night-and-day difference. I drove maybe 400 miles with the new MTF, maybe I have to put in more miles.
 

MattyNice

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A lot of manufacturers pull this game with transmission fluids for some reason. Toyota has their WS fluid, and they as well as others play with exotic viscosities to try to narrow the market and/or eke a little bit of fuel economy here and there.
As long as the bottle says it meets the Honda standard you're fine.

That said, I just drove around town after doing the AMSOil at almost 5K on the dot... Yeah, it's slightly better but nothing night and day. People talk like unicorn farts are going to come blasting out of your exhaust and you will nut every single shift you make... :lol:
I can try redline next time and if that doesn't sufficiently rustle my jimmies probably just go back to genuine Honda. :dunno:
Haha! Unicorn farts! I would have tried one of the other brands but was too lazy to order it and needed to change it and I’ve never really had much issue with the shifting smoothness myself. But like I was saying, just new Honda mtf made a very obvious difference.
 

MattyNice

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I had mine changed 2 weeks ago with Amsoil MTF and the guy put in 2.2 quarts. Before the fluid change, I talked to 2 reputable garages. They both said it should take a bit more than 2 quarts and I should bring in 3 bottles of Amsoil.

Is there any way to measure the MTF level like a dipstick or something?

As for Amsoil MTF, there is an improvement but no night-and-day difference. I drove maybe 400 miles with the new MTF, maybe I have to put in more miles.
There’s no way to measure it like a dipstick or something. They use an overflow hole. So you remove the bolt and fill until it starts coming out the hole. When it stops you plug everything back up. I just drained it and poured 2 quarts in. I always just think there is some margins there and 1/4 over or under likely is t going to hurt anything.

Edit: the manual says 2 quarts for the 1.5l so I’m not sure where they are getting that higher amount from. Maybe they have changed a few or something and found it didn’t come out the overflow hole until 2.2 or something.
 
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There’s no way to measure it like a dipstick or something. They use an overflow hole. So you remove the bolt and fill until it starts coming out the hole. When it stops you plug everything back up. I just drained it and poured 2 quarts in. I always just think there is some margins there and 1/4 over or under likely is t going to hurt anything.

Edit: the manual says 2 quarts for the 1.5l so I’m not sure where they are getting that higher amount from. Maybe they have changed a few or something and found it didn’t come out the overflow hole until 2.2 or something.

You use a measuring cup and convert it using google to get the 2.3quarts
 

mis3

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Maybe it is like engine oil, it would take time for the old fluid to drain out. This is probably one of the variables.

There must be some degree of tolerance of fluid level; plus or minus 0.2 quart should be fine.
 
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You use a measuring cup and convert it using google to get the 2.3quarts
The owner's manual says 2.0 US Quarts or 1.9 Liters. No conversion necessary, you buy 2 US quarts from AMSOil, which are 1 US Quart each.

Not that overfilling by .3 is gonna make a difference, but be ready if you decide to pop your check plug out someday, you're gonna get moistened by gear oil. :p

EDIT: I see what's happening here. People are looking at Type R capacity and putting it in their Si. Remember it's 2 different transmissions.


Maybe it is like engine oil, it would take time for the old fluid to drain out. This is probably one of the variables.

There must be some degree of tolerance of fluid level; plus or minus 0.2 quart should be fine.
There absolutely is room for error, probably way more than you'd think. Gear oil smells so gnarly because it's full of friction modifiers and additives that make it "sticky" and coat gears thoroughly.

What washer needs to be replaced? Drain, fill, check bolt?

6202B645-4944-4881-8C3A-46AB0B155F6A.png
There is no fill washer, the drain washer should be replaced, and the check bolt *should* technically be replaced but since it is such a low torque fastener you can probably get through an ungodly number of torque cycles when you're running 9 ft/lbs.
 

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Haha! Unicorn farts! I would have tried one of the other brands but was too lazy to order it and needed to change it and I’ve never really had much issue with the shifting smoothness myself. But like I was saying, just new Honda mtf made a very obvious difference.
Yeah maybe I can get an extended drain interval with the AMSOil, but at this point I don't consider it in any way a "must have."

And I never really had much of an issue with the shifting smoothness either. Clutch too, apart from not having a lot of feedback and being kind of soft I have no problem chirping the tires without slipping the clutch. To me the most annoying part of driving "fast" has got to be at partial tip in it seems like the ECU likes to dance between wastegate and/or throttle profiles so you get this odd behavior where boost just caps off at 18 PSI or so instead of continuing to build.
 

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Yes I was referring to type R having 2.3 quarts in transmission.
It also does state the the fill and drain for the transmission have crush washers, in addition to the “check bolt” which also has a washer according to the guide I posted above
 

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After getting some more miles in I am gonna walk back what I said about the AMSOil not doing much. It took a little bit of time to "work in" I guess, but I do notice that there's a slightly smoother engagement to the syncros. A little less noise, a little more positive notching into gear. Still nothing earth shattering, but worth coming back to mention I do feel something.

Transmission is 100% stock otherwise, only planned mod is a PRL clutch line I will install soon to hopefully firm up the pedal a bit. I have no complaints with the stock shift and clutch action save for the clutch pedal which could be a bit more stiffer/communicative. Not even the delay valve bothers me, as I am used to clutches that you can't just sidestep, and the Si is very easy to chirp the tires into 2nd and 3rd with a quick shift and no drama, I have some doubts the delay valve is even actuating.
 
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Hi All. Did anyone who did this swap find that their shifter feeling got worse after the swap? I recently swapped in 2.3L of Amsoil MTF into my Type R, and while shifting initially felt a little smoother, within a few days the shifter began to feel like it had more friction. My odd-numbered gears now have a similar crunch to the even-numbered ones when shifting at anything other than low RPM's - this was not the case on the Honda MTF.
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