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coolant and ATF to 100K? really??

7K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  Ez1 
#1 ·
Hi,

Just wondering if any members here are really going to run their coolant and ATF to 100,000 miles?? If you plan on keeping the car long term, say 12+ years and 200,000 miles, would it not be wise to change BOTH out every 30,000 miles?
 
#3 ·
I am 2/3rds the way there with no worries. I don't have ATF though, my car has a manual transmission.
 
#4 ·
Here is where I go off reservation with regard to maintenance minder and service manual recommendations.

Regardless of mileage:
Replace brake fluid every 2 to 3 years. (IMO this is very important if you plan on keeping the car more than 5 years.)
Replace transmission fluid every 2 years.
Replace Coolant every 3 years.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I think changing these every 30K miles is a bit much, unless you are really abusing the car. It's your car and your choice.

I'm probably a bad example, but I've never changed brake fluid in any car I've owned and I've owned the last eight for over 10 years and 100K each with no issues at all. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, just I've never done it. I've been hearing of this over the last few months, for the first time.

ATF is a different story. Prior to synthetic ATF, I changed it every 30K miles. Now it's different for me. The '03 P5 has had Amsoil ATF in it for the last 60K miles and it's still pink and doesn't smell at all burnt. The trans still shifts like new. I plan on following the manual for Black Betty for now.

I changed coolant in the '97 Civic EX when I had the timing belt done at 90K. The '03 P5 was changed when the thermostat went bad at 80K.
 
#7 ·
I checked with Honda corporate offices customer service and was advised that the ATF does not need to be changed until the MM indicates the need. They further opined that this would occur sometime after 100,000 miles and certainly not at 30,000 miles. Also, they do NOT recommend flushing the AT, rather drain and refill 3 times cycling the transmission between refills. This takes about 15 Qts. to accomplish. So leave the AT alone.
 
#8 ·
At least you can check the ATF on the Civic. The automatic on the Cruze is a "sealed for life" unit. The only way to check the fluid is to remove a fill plug and stick your finger in it. Then the plug needs to be replaced with a new one to seal it properly.
 
#9 ·
Although they have greatly improved reliability over the last few years, Hondas history of automatic transmission "issues" tends to cause some of us to recommend fluid services every 30k, or even more often.

Teeps, can you comment on this:
On coolant, the maintenance minder has tended to pop the #5 reminder around 100k or so (IIRC) on most of the fleet.
However, the Type2 coolant states on the bottle that it is good for 5 years/60,000 miles. Do subsequent minder events for coolant service become 60k after the first notification at 100k?

05 Civic was the last year they mentioned coolant service based on time and miles in the owners manual: At 120,000miles (192,000 km) or 10 years, then every 60,000miles (96,000 km) or 5 years.
AFAIK, this still applies to all Hondas now, even though it is not stated specifically in the owners manuals anymore.



Side note: Hondas servers are painfully slow when it comes to downloading. Any idea why?

The only way to check the fluid is to remove a fill plug and stick your finger in it.
Guess how you check the new CVT in the 14 Civics......
 
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