How To Change Transmission Fluid on Honda Civic

[Bulldizzle01]

@tangnadine.. Lefty loosey righty tighty

[skunklude]

or ATF most be honda as ur car is automatique u can get better

[skunklude]

honda MTF is the best

[billytoilembocker]

@skunklude Honda mtf is manual transmission fluid. The car in the vid is automatic.

[chazaki2]

how long you have to change the Transmission Fluid?

[Location5]

Thanks a ton, I saw the bolt but did not have confidence it was the drain. Great vid, peace.

[tangnadine]

Do you turn clockwise or counter clockwise



[linagee]

Did you even clean off the transmission plug magnet? Arrrrgh.

[linagee]

Using non-genuine fluid? What the....

[MrLoveandlaughter]

Uh.. dude... you're not using Honda ATF - DW1 ! Noooo!

[Dazer562]

This needs a repeat button! 3:34-3:39 LMFAO

[FanBoyVic]

you forgot to mention bout warming the car up before you drain it

[jose17101987]

help me please

[jose17101987]

I have problems with the top of the transmission, not tightened.

can help me, or do not press?

[qwsj]

maxLife is work good? or honda z-1 is better? 

[linagee]

@qwsj Don't mess with alternate fluids on your transmission unless you like very costly repairs. I'm not saying it won't work. I'm saying it might wear differently.

[gotflava1]

I got one question if anyone can answer. How long in between the 3 drain/refill periods? Or must it be done right away?

[SeadGBosnia]

I have a 2005 Honda civic lx auto and recently we had out tranny oil changed but Ive noticed that the transmission is jerking. Does that mean it needs another change or the tranny is slowly dieing? please reply

[BigSchnids]

First of all that is not the proper way to preform a tranmission flush. You still have old fluid in your torque converter & cooler lines. The real way to flush it out is with a transmission machine such as Wynns, tapping into the cooler lines and flushing enough fluid through the system to have it clean 12L. If your flushing it this way i suggest doing this procedure 4-5 times and between drain& fills going through the gears and or going around the block so the old fluid can come out of those c

[planchik]

Question: so you do the first drain, fill it up with new fluid and then you drive? then you drain it again and fill it up with new fluid and drive again? you do that 3 times? all these times you still use the old washer or do you replace a new crush washer each time? thank you for the help.

[gotflava1]

@planchik From what I have read on some Honda forums it should be done atleast three times to really get all the old gunk out. Changing the washer is a personal choice. I dont change mine unless it looks severely damaged or hasnt been changed in a long time but Honda does recommend changing the washer.

[planchik]

@gotflava1 thanks for the info. regarding the washer though, would you change it every time you flush in one fluid change or would you put a new one in only after the last flush (out of the 3)?

[tuanthanhtdt]

Thank you...

[Howiebob57]

I have an 07. My drain bolt has a magnet on it which attracts loose metallic particles from the fluid.  It looks like the bolt in this vid had a magnet also. Very important to wipe the magnet clean!

[jcb1972]

OK, am I the only one who finds it VERY wrong that he did not use Honda brand transmission fluid?

[HannibalRamcharger]

@jcb1972 Yep. I've had good results with the same Valvoline he's using. I see no reason to spend an extra 8 bucks on a product I have yet to find any proof works any better than the Valvoline. In all honestly, the Honda brand is more than likely a repackaged ATF. Same with 'Yota's name brand, and Nissan name brand, etc etc.

[ItzCashew]

@HannibalRamcharger Actually the Honda is specific with what ATF they use. There have been horror stories on honda that use anything but Honda ATF. They released a new ATF too called ATF-DW1. $6 a quart online so it's not to bad. But for a Honda I would stick with Honda ATF, their Auto Tranny are notoriously picky.

[HannibalRamcharger]

@ItzCashew I suppose anything is possible. Then again, their autos also have a nasty habit of blowing up between 70 and 100 thousand miles.

[balammx13]

this very helpful i did not were was the damn bolt

[myhannahdotcom]

Great video! Thanks!!!

[thekoofello]

that's so wrong what he is doing! Read manual you idiot!

[ItzCashew]

@thekoofello Break drain bolt, drain 3 qts, reinstall drain plug, refill 3 qts back in. How is that wrong? Same way they do it at the dealership, i would know. (Was a honda service manager.)

[HannibalRamcharger]

@ItzCashew I'm with you on this one. Besides dropping the pan to check for debris, especially if the tranny is not behaving correctly, this is exactly how I have always seen trans fluid being changed (and, subsequently, how I've always changed mine). 'Course, you guys are lucky you have a built in drain hole. I drive an '88 Dodge Ramcharger (the civic is my girlfriends), and wasn't that lucky. First time I pulled the pan I drilled and installed a drain hole. ATF is not fun to clean up.

[ItzCashew]

@HannibalRamcharger Not to mention is smells funny after a couple thousand miles. But we can all agree differential fluid smells the worse.

[ItzCashew]

36 ft pounds if the torque setting. If any one wants to do factory torque settings on the drain bolt.

[cgcgundersen]

I love how many times I've heard "torque this, but I just make sure it's nice and tight". If it doesn't matter why does the factory bother doing it in the first place?

[noypits1]

nice video, thanks

[crackermuncher]

actually there is a filter and its about 20$, but good luck there 'smart guy'

[GTAstuntking]

You for got the to empty the torueqconvert oil plug.

[Jx1x3]

Cool beans

[dugsnyder70]

thanx for the video!

I'm wondering how hard its going to be for me to change the fluid on my Civic without the blocks you were using to jack the car up on?

[kameel73]

great job!!



[SecurityHere]

yes outstanding video. This video is very helpful. transmission fluid sitting in the supply line and the coolant radiator not a big deal?

if changing regularly?

well don, first class Video

mcc

[BraveHealth]

Awesome, just awesomely done. :)

[skaterbug5]

this looks likes a 7th gen honda civic (01-03) like mine... and honda's have a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) which require their special ATF Z-1 oil. How is it you decided to use that Valvoline stuff???

[skaterbug5]

@skaterbug5 Sorry, I was misinformed. ONLY the hybrids had CVT transmissions. And the fluid you used was correct, it is a ATF Z-1 subsitute. I just put it in my honda at 79,000 miles... we'll see how well it works...

[kookiemonster230]

nice video

[ALASSS1]

i think you forgot to change your oil filter

[huparcho]

Thanks so much! I spent about 20 minutes looking for the right thing to undo to drain my tranny fluid, and gave up, hoping to find something on Youtube... Your video came right up, and helped me find the plug pretty quickly. Thanks!

[koutesu]

This is so much easier! I used to have a Chevy Malibu and that required removing the transmission pan! Civics are so much easier to take care of.

[AndyRoddick969]

so does changing the Tranny fluid makes your manual car Shift SMOOTHER? if so does Synchromesh help and how do you change it with synchromesh? can anyone explain in detail?

[8thRRFS]

I'm never going to change my ATF.  Jaguar says there's no need to . I've got 106,000miles on the tranny now and it shifts as smoothly now as when I first purchased the vehicle. It's 100 percent synthetic so it's completely immune to thermal degradation. No need to change it....ever.

[My1968Impala]

@8thRRFS The (Manual) transmission in my 2000 Dodge Ram truck is a 5 speed, V-6, currently has 274,000+ miles. I have never changed the trans fluid once. Runs great!

[azrial4421]

Thanx for video, but yea prolly should use the honda tran fluid.

[J2Hoey]

good video, however the fluid in the torque converter isn't removed... gotta get that out asap

[AXHEJAZ]

Awesome man thanks!

[CowWorldProduction]

Your dad's the sh*t! I could share a couple beers with this guy.

[halffaceshow]

Thnx for the post

[DtoWnSux1]

if i have a 03 element i bought. 130k miles, trans fluid never changed. its unsafe to have it flushed,right? BUT is it 100%safe to just drain out the old tran fluid, and put fresh fluid in?

[crackermuncher]

You have no idea of what are you doing, you could kill you transmission that way with out any problems. The old filter is not helping either.

[eifeldude1]

@crackermuncher there is no filter on this transmission idiot

[TheMajorPena]

exactly how many quarts did you use, i have a 2005 civic l a/t how many quarts should i use

[TheMajorPena]

thanks for this tutorial. besides that tanny oil, which one would u recommend?

[JurassicCock255]

I also would HIGHLY recommend using HONDA transmission fluid.....

and the car nees to be running after u put in 1/3 of the tramission fluid back

[JurassicCock255]

Yo....thats how i got mines off too.....with a cheater...dude BTW ....U add in 1/3 of the fuild....then u crank up the engine...then continue to add .5 quarts......then shift the gears ..to spread the fuild around..then add more fluid ...etc until you're finished

[jazzsax76]

Thanks Dad...

[MrRichierich1990]

i saw another way that gets every bit out of the torque convertor, because if you don't, the old stuff mixes with the new fluid.... just an fyi.

[danwat1234]

@MrRichierich1990 how do u remove all fluid from the tranny? yes I've heard that only one third or so of the fluid gets removed at a time thru the drain bolt ..

[MrRichierich1990]

@danwat1234 theres a special way to remove it al from the torque convertor, or at least most of it. this is a half ass job and they wonder why the trannys on these things go out all the time.

[danwat1234]

@MrRichierich1990 Heh yeah, that's why I'm changin my own tranny fluid in my automatic transmission, every 15K. Its only 3 quarts of fluid, about $21. Good easy insurance

Over on civicforums, I have learned that the 7th gen Civic's transmissions tend to go out, but the earlier generations and later generations are golden.. I have a 6th gen (1999 Civic DX)

[MrRichierich1990]

@danwat1234 i have a 2009 honda fit. check out my vids.

[MrReefurcheefur]

that fluid that came out actually looks damn clean, and i use original honda fluid the other shit makes me wonder sometimes

[vinoncoace]

thanks,good video,now i will finally change my transmission fluid. lol

[isurfu2ube]

That bitch ass bolt was hard to unscrew because it was stuck! So i put some break fluid on the bolt let it eat out all the crap to better unscrew it! Good video though thanks!

[articanetics]

very helpful, thanks

[happyforever1976]

good video , i have used that kind of oil and my car runs like crapp , thats why i only use honda oil , and to get the rest of oil out turn ingine on put on gear and it will relaese the rest of oil

[BigDeluxe79]

You can also use "global" transmission fluid. It meets Honda's Z1 specification. It's about $5 per quart and is available at most auto parts stores. I've been using it in my '01 Civic and '06 Accord. No problems, and smooth shifts.

[ALLOY07MUSTANG]

how many miles till you change it again?

[dubyaaaaa]

Good vid and pretty much all u need to do. drain and drive, then repeat. almost everything I have read about changing the tranny fluid on hondas says not to flush because it can do alot of damage. also, on an 05 civic at least, there is no serviceable tran filter, and to replace it you need to pull the tranny. Just figured i would share what i recently learned.

[jinoiscawkin]

you, or your dad, gives a great way to demonstrate how to change the transmission fluid. Being not a car guy at all, your pops gave me confidence to change it by myself lol

[LeTha1qwe]

thanks for the vid! much appreciated!

[ninjahunterr]

nice background music faggot

[AK1313]

helpful video, i'll be sure to do this in the coming weeks

[odessit745]

Thanks for the tips with a bottle very helpful!!!

[extremebiker2005]

awesome video. i'm about to do it on my civic.

[kfrancis09]

Nice job on the video. I'd recommend checking the dipstick for a snug fit as it tends to rot/shrink with time. 

[krissss1313]

thanks 4 help :D

[flatspinach]

Tip for you: Instead of using a "cheater bar", use 10-12" section of 3/4" copper pipe. Just slide the pipe up over the ratchet handle and VOILA, you now have a ratchet with a 12" handle. That's plenty of leverage to get the job done.

[flatspinach]

I found the video this afternoon, went down to the local Honda dealer and got a new washer and 4 quarts of fluid (they told me to get 4 just in case. I did the change pretty easily in about 15 minutes of so. Saved me a bundle compared to the dealer's $99.95 charge. I didn't measure the fluid removed though.. instead I put in about 2.8 quarts. After running the engine and rolling it to level ground, checked the fluid. I'm about 1/16 in above the top level.. is that a problem?

[kreativesailor]

Very useful video. I'll be doing my oil change soon and this is a good guide for starters. Dont forget it may be neccesary to run your car for a bit just to get the oil warm up so it will drain better when removing the drain bolt.

[shanapeete]

Helpful! Thanks. Gonna check out more of your vids.

[pcysneros]

show how you change the transmition filter

[flyhigh54]

Actually, recommended fluid is hondas ATF z1 fluid, looks like you are using dex 3/mercon, if you were to use the ATF z1, the recommended interval would be 96,000 kms. Plus doing a drain and fill, you only get about 90% of the fluid. Do a power flush to get it all.

[jeddreier]

How much driving did you do between the 3 different flushes? Thanks for the video!

[kapow151]

Tell your dad I said thanks!

[kapow151]

Very handy. thank you, you saved me money by not taking my car to the mechanics!

[KASTAS155]

very good video. i didnt change the washer on my girlfriends honda so now i gotta change it again cause its seeping out. the washers are cheap (91 cents) so id replace them like every other time you change it

[transfer2007]

Way easier than changing the transmission fluid on my 2000 Ford Taurus

[logos2600]

Automatic transmission. What is that music?

[ericambrosecoon]

acutally, the recommended fluid is the honda fluid.

[wack0mole]

You should discuss that the drian plug is a magnent and it collects any fine metal from the tranny. You should inspect it for metal and clean the drain plug. Its common to have some fine black particles on it. Any large chuncks would be bad news.

[d46512]

If you buy the fluid at the Honda parts desk, ask them for a crush washer. They are free.

[spaceBass2019]

easy process made even easier... much better method than taking off the trans fill bolt :D

[counkev]

Great Video the only think that would have been better is if it was the same car as mine.

[Lisztman88]

My 2000 Civic shifts roughly from 1st to 2nd gear. Will the process shown here help this problem?

[musikerongpinoy]

thanks for taking time to do this.. its lots of help. would it be the same with older model civics?

[sario22152]

good job

[nba1341]

Thanks i'm using this video right now to change my friend's hondas fluid!

[PandamonicMind]

Great Video! Definately one of the best How to Do It videos !!!

[djmarcos1970]

i have this same car..question...what about the transmission filter and gasket ?

[bsik72]

@djmarcos1970 This is off the top of my head but replacement of the transmission filter is about 30,000 miles or more.

[letheanh2000]

Thanks for your detail illustration. It is really help.

[jentos51]

I heard that Honda does not recommend flushing the transmission completely. Just draining and filling up every 15,000 miles.

By my actual question was: do I have to jack the car up, or it can be done without it? Sounds like it is possible since the oil needs to be drained only (it's not like changing motor oil when you then have to replace the oil filter)? Thanks

[eliseo530]

thank you very much, i was gonna change it in my car feeling so unsure, about how much oil i would be changin, thanks for sharing i was really needing this oil change

muchas gracias

[hpygolkyone]

Yes......not a good idea to flush a Honda transmission (very, very bad). Drive...then drain....drive...then drain.  I think when "our hero" says "flush".....he means he drives it to circulate the fluid through the system. Excellent video.

[Green0410]

Awesome video. Do you know how to change the transmission filter on the 03 Honda civic EX sedan?

[rayisnumbaone]

@Green0410 It's next to the vtec fluid resouvoir.

[ericrichard7]

I always know that if you do it the way you're doing with your transmission fluid change you're not getting all of the fluid out of your transmission. Some of it is still in the torque converter. I guess if you do it for about two to three time you should be getting all of the old fluid out of your automatic transmission. Great video by the way.

[ginobeya]

yep he forgot to take out the fluid that is still sitting in the infeed supply line and the coolant. Not a good idea!!!!!!!

[virokill132]

great video!

[marglynn]

Cool....

[red666A]

Don't you suppose to check to see if the dipstick fluid at max after filling it up? I have been told honda tranmission fuild always good to use.. Video look o.k

[smithmdw]

Good video.

[Sorman26]

First of all, it's an outstanding video by the way. This video is very helpful as a matter in fact. I do have a question though. What about the transmission fluid that's sitting in the infeed supply line and the coolant radiator? Will it be necessary to try to get them out as well? Or is it not a big deal?

[emilyproductions2345]

@Sorman26 I'm not draining out the fluid completely so I flush 3 different times to get the fluid all out with driving in between.

[Green0410]

@emilyproductions2345

The old fluid isn't completely out by 3 Drain and Refills though.

[fanuvgod1]

@emilyproductions2345 how long do you wait in between the 3 flushes?

[floydmayweather2929]

@emilyproductions2345 yup thats rite

[ACTAHA4eva]

thanks! pretty useful vid

[exoticlotus]

good stuff thanks for the post

[parajeeper]

You don't change all of the fluid doing it that way. There is still some in the tranny that doesnt come out. Great video though!!!

[badbaby18]

veryyy helpful..... thanks

[asindhidude]

i just did mine, and i noticed that the old fluid smells like fish. is that the way it;'s supposed to be?

[emilyproductions2345]

no. it usually smells burnt? That's weird...

[sammie3519]

yuuuupp mk ill tell my pops lolz

[emilyproductions2345]

lol!!!!

[jbatra]

Very useful... thanks for the video ..

[emilyproductions2345]

Yourwelcome!

[vmartinez71]

why wouldn't you let it drain all the way instead of plugging it up while its still draining?

[gwalia4]

Please only use honda fluid in honda trannies. Honda has a z1 spec and using other fluids will reduce life. I would also double check the fluid level after driving couple of miles. Bottle idea is not exact because some fluid is still in the drain pan and it does not account for any burned fluid. However you can get away with it because it should be within tolerance. Please comeback and check fluid after few miles.

[diulaylomochohai]

hows the shift w/ those maxlife in your honda? i would be very wary of using non-atfz1 in honda transmissions

[sheetsok]

doing fine...no problems...

[RalphdaCuban]

The torque converter was full of bad oil that was not drained.

[gwalia4]

@RalphdaCuban NO drain bolt on honda torque converters. It is only drain and fill. NO drain on torque converter and filter is in the tranny. NO pan to drop.

[RalphdaCuban]

1/3 of the fluid is in the converter!

What Ido in a automatic trans application is after the fluid is drained and replaced I disconnect the return line from the radiator, then start the car and let it drain when you see clear fluid that means all the old fluid has been flushed out of the converter and radiator. Then refil as needed the car will run about 10-30 sec to get all the old fluid out. Its a cheap alternative for someone who dosent want to spend $200 at a dealer to get a flush done.

[sheetsok]

@RalphdaCuban

Good idea, I have not tried this. I agree that there is fluid still in the converter when I drained from the drain plug. I did however, flush and filled 3 times ( test drives in between).

[sheetsok]

I flushed and filled 3 times in an effort to replace all the old fluid..

[franckmai]

Thanks for the tips with a bottle very helpful.

[Importme25]

I recommend using OEM honda ATF and a new washer also and 3 quarts is enough on most hondas.

[okonaoko11]

u should only use honda atf fluid

[frostysmores]

I believe your Civic has an auto tranny, because there is a dipstick? I have a 5spd manual tranny, on my Honda, and wonder how different the procedure is?

[okonaoko11]

@frostysmores on a 5 speed its simple just drein it then fill it up and your done just make sure the level is good

[alexgtlm]

hi, i have a 2005 honda civic ex coupe, automatic transmission, i think i need to change the tranny fluid, but i dont know exactly how much fluid it needs.. i can see in the video it's a half galloon but do you know the exact quantity???

[emilyproductions2345]

3 quarts each time you drain. I flushed it 3 times to make sure I got all the fluid out.

[tweiss1122]

there s no filter that needs changing?

[emilyproductions2345]

ya no filter change.

[ShinGakuma]

i bet you are glad for that, my car (1998 Hyundai Tiburon) has no drain plug, but it has a filter for it. Mechanical Obsolescence much huh?

[MrBoris1986]

this video is very helpful,thank you so much