Your trans filter is actually a pan and not an in line filter

 

You do know the 5 speed trannies have in line filters right?

 

I was wondering the same a while back... my AT trans shutters/vibrates around 1500-1800 rpm specifically on the shift from 2nd to 3rd when not appling much throttle.. hiy it hard and it shifts normal.
Was told be several on this and another board to change the trans fluid 3 times.
I looked into a filter and found there is a filter, Honda dealer said its a lifetime filter and did not normally get changed on a fluid change.

Further search I did find a YT video showing where the filter is and how to change it, but it was for an 8th gen.

 

Your trans filter is actually a pan and not an in line filter

I was wondering the same a while back... my AT trans shutters/vibrates around 1500-1800 rpm specifically on the shift from 2nd to 3rd when not appling much throttle.. hiy it hard and it shifts normal.
Was told be several on this and another board to change the trans fluid 3 times.
I looked into a filter and found there is a filter, Honda dealer said its a lifetime filter and did not normally get changed on a fluid change.

Further search I did find a YT video showing where the filter is and how to change it, but it was for an 8th gen.

Interesting....take a look at this:

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/elusive-honda-transmission-filter-c-p.286415/

 

Again this car does not have an in line filter. It is inside the pan. Drop the pan if you want

 

Yep! correct.

 

Before my #1 daughter got knocked off the freeway by a reckless driver pulling a triple axle trailer with farm chemicals on board, I was getting ready to do a CVTF filter change on her 2014 Civic LX.

Yes, she was thankfully not hurt event though her Civic got slammed across I-35, bounced off a guard rail, flew across I-35 again and ended up on the shoulder. Can't believe she didn't have any lasting soft tissue injuries.

So ... deep breath, thinking about how lucky she was to walk from that ... for that CVT, it has a cartridge filter (pic above) under the CVTF heat exchanger (pic below), and a strainer (coarse filter) in the CVT pan.

Now, she has a 2022 HR-V with the same CVT (and the same weird problem of the fill plug popping off unless the rubber vent cap is kept clean.) Same cartridge filter and pan strainer setup, too. Will change both after the third CVTF change.

My son's 2012 Civic EX had the Honda p/n 25430-PLR-003 inline filter buried behind a bunch of components. I added the graphic to show the flow direction based on a post-removal cutaway by an Odyclub forum member.

I bought that inline filter, and just thought "How the heck am I going to get at it?!"

Then, that car got clobbered by an 18-wheeler while my son was stationary, parked, waiting for traffic to pass so he could pull into the roadway.

Yeah, he was okay, too, no injuries.

Note: it's dangerous to be a child of 0dyfamily and drive Honda products near any 3/4-ton (or larger) diesel trucks.

Anyways, he's now driving a 2012 LX, and it has the same filter buried under a lot of stuff.

#2 daughter's 2013 Civic EX has the same inline filter in the same equally difficult location.

I don't believe Honda even recommends changing that inline filter, as I can't find any service requirements in the owner's manual (2012) sitting in front of me. Getting old, getting to not enjoy working on cars, I change ATF (and CVTF) regularly on those vehicles, so I'm thinking of just leaving those inline filters alone.

The pan filter in any 2012-2013 Civics (non-CVT) ... I have zero idea how one would get ahold of that.

OF

 

I'm glad your kids are safe!

 

Can't say I've seen an inline filter on a 9th gen Civic with A/T.
But I do know that inline A/T filter was added to a vehicle that received a Honda reman transmission; at a Honda dealer.
That said much to my surprise I did fine removal/installation instruction in the online Honda service data.

 

For anyone wondering,the 9th gen civics do have inline filters for the 5 speed AT.

Part number and location on illustration straight from the catalog.
Literally just did one a couple months back on a 13 LX

 

Just purchased part 25430-PLR-003 (Transmission Filter) from Amazon (auto trans). Have you ever replaced it? Is it important to replace it?
View attachment 500476

Yes it's important. So yes it needs to be changed every 30-50k

 

I stand corrected. These don’t have a pan. Going on eBay and looking at one apart from the car, it is just an in line filter. lol

 

.. it is just an in line filter. lol

But the darned thing might as well be inside the transmission, because it's real pain to get at it.

I'm glad your kids are safe!

Thanks, many thanks. If they were driving economy cars built in the 1970's, I'm positive they would not have fared as well.

These 21st century Hondas, with their ACE (Advanced Compatibility Engineering) philosophy tied to building the bodyshell and frame for load sharing in a collision have proven to be real life-savers.

OF

 

9th gen Civics did very well in passenger safety in NHTSA crash tests.

This one is more comprehensive. The good stuff begins at 3:10.

 

9th gen Civics did very well in passenger safety in NHTSA crash tests.

@scottyrocks , these videos are definitely revealing; thanks for posting. 9th Gen Civics really do a good job here as far as protecting driver and passengers. Makes me feel better about choosing these vehicles when helping my kids "get into owning a set of wheels."

When my son and daughter got into their respective accidents, I was amazed at how well the unitized body and frame held up in spite of some really excessive crash forces ... and thank God, no injuries.

OF

 

These in line filters are pretty useless. If they clog up with debris, your trans is gone anyways. There’s a reason why the debris got there in the first place

 

Not exactly. Clutch material has to get trapped somewhere....that's the purpose of that exact filter. If the internal screen gets clogged then yes there's a problem.
The inline filter is for the pump to keep it clear of clutch debris and to keep good pressure feeding the system.That's it's purpose. If you're meticulous about tranny fluid changes then it wouldnt be so bad. But not Many people stick to good intervals. But yes that inline filter does need to be changed.

 

I feel like the clutch debris gets picked up by the trans magnet before it even gets a chance to go into the filter. Have you opened one up? I wonder how much debris is in it.

 

A magnet only picks up ferrous material.
A clutch has more than just ferrous material in its makeup structure.

 

Still, how much is that actually caught in the filter?

 

It should all be caught. You can look up the cut away many guys have done on the 8th gens same tranny. Same filter. Updated fluid. But there's "sediment" to can clearly see gets trapped. Either way its for the hydraulic pump and it's there for a reason. I would say every 100k at worst. Every 30/60 at best.
Not my car don't care. But the op asked,and I gave him the correct info.
Remember......you said it had a pan to drop and remove from there.... Hate to be obvious but that was wrong and yes you retracted. But let's be real ,he didn't ask for anyone's opinions on why Honda put it there. No need to get a carried away wether we feel like it or not.
It's a serviceable part. They sell it. He bought it. Time to change it. Simple as that.

 

damn really you went old school with SK

Yup. S-K, like Proto, Armstrong and UTICA, you can still find perfect examples in new shape on eBay, all for far less cost than anything else out there.

Specialty pliers aren't in everyone's budget that drives a civic.

Are you for real? They're totally in budget if you know how to look and win on eBay, and it doesn't require a whole lot of time or moxie to do that. It's almost impossible to counterfeit these old school high-quality tool items, too. My "labeled as used" S-K torque wrenches arrived in new-from-the-factory packaging.

One of my rollaways is filled with this stuff, all purchased on-the-cheap, piecemeal.

BTW, you can be 650 lbs. and still get the job done with these specialty pliers, LOL ... they use a remote cable-actuated trigger to close the jaws, which means you just place it on the clamp with one hand, set, and squeeze the remote handgrip, then slide the constant tension clamp off from where it sits. Man, I love 5h1t that makes life tons easier.

Have you opened one up? I wonder how much debris is in it.

Have yet to open one up from a Civic, but I've opened up the spin-on version of this filter that sat on two different Odysseys (a pair of 5-speeds.) I compared the pleated filter elements I removed "post mortem" to images of a dissected Civic filter posted by a Civic owner. The pleated element is almost identical in shape and construction down to the bypass valve, just sits in a different can for the Gen 2 Odyssey 3-shaft 5-speed A/T.

Like the guy who dissected the Civic filter for us (I saved the images for reference), I basically found a thin, thin, thin layer of black toothpaste. Based on the flow path in the Helm manual for these Honda transmissions, the magnetic plug "sees" the ATF first, and then the sump filter gets next dibs on capturing contaminants. There are three fluid circuits after that (heat exchanger/cooler w filter [if no heat exchange fluid circuit, then filter only], fluid power circuits to linear solenoid-activated valves, and TC with TCC PR valving).

I feel like the clutch debris gets picked up by the trans magnet before it even gets a chance to go into the filter.

Super correct. I'll have to re-check my e-copy of the 9th Gen Helm manual, but these Hondamatic-styled A/T's share common hard architecture. I'm 99.9% 100% sure that this is correct. Magnet on plug gets first chance to capture contaminants, sump filter in transmission captures contaminants, in-line filter on top sits in one of the three remaining fluid pathways after the ATF pump ... in short, that little in-line filter is "last in line" and gets possibly only about 1/3 of the total fluid volume after the ATF pump.

OF

 

Yup. S-K, like Proto, Armstrong and UTICA, you can still find perfect examples in new shape on eBay, all for far less cost than anything else out there.

Are you for real? They're totally in budget if you know how to look and win on eBay, and it doesn't require a whole lot of time or moxie to do that. It's almost impossible to counterfeit these old school high-quality tool items, too. My "labeled as used" S-K torque wrenches arrived in new-from-the-factory packaging.

One of my rollaways is filled with this stuff, all purchased on-the-cheap, piecemeal.

BTW, you can be 650 lbs. and still get the job done with these specialty pliers, LOL ... they use a remote cable-actuated trigger to close the jaws, which means you just place it on the clamp with one hand, set, and squeeze the remote handgrip, then slide the constant tension clamp off from where it sits. Man, I love 5h1t that makes life tons easier.

Have yet to open one up from a Civic, but I've opened up the spin-on version of this filter that sat on two different Odysseys (a pair of 5-speeds.) I compared the pleated filter elements I removed "post mortem" to images of a dissected Civic filter posted by a Civic owner. The pleated element is almost identical in shape and construction down to the bypass valve, just sits in a different can for the Gen 2 Odyssey 3-shaft 5-speed A/T.

Like the guy who dissected the Civic filter for us (I saved the images for reference), I basically found a thin, thin, thin layer of black toothpaste. Based on the flow path in the Helm manual for these Honda transmissions, the magnetic plug "sees" the ATF first, and then the sump filter gets next dibs on capturing contaminants. There are three fluid circuits after that (heat exchanger/cooler w filter [if no heat exchange fluid circuit, then filter only], fluid power circuits to linear solenoid-activated valves, and TC with TCC PR valving).

Super correct. I'll have to re-check my e-copy of the 9th Gen Helm manual, but these Hondamatic-styled A/T's share common hard architecture. I'm 99.9% 100% sure that this is correct. Magnet on plug gets first chance to capture contaminants, sump filter in transmission captures contaminants, in-line filter on top sits in one of the three remaining fluid pathways after the ATF pump ... in short, that little in-line filter is "last in line" and gets possibly only about 1/3 of the total fluid volume after the ATF pump.

OF

Yes,but you, yourself,know what to look for... Chances are if you're on a forum asking for stuff 7/10 times you're not aware of certain specialty pliers.
Where as anyone can run to any home Depot lowes etc and buy a 3 pack or 2 pack for under $25 bucks for some basic pliers that makes the job doable.
That's what I'm saying.