Tranny Fluid Price

[Roger]

I just paid $7.31/qt for tranny fluid at the dealer. Is there any place else to get Honda tranny fluid cheaper? $7.31 just seems too high!!

[N_Jay]

You can try some other dealers, and you can try Acura dealers, but I don't think there is any fluid that claims compatibility except AMSoil (and I am not a big AMSoil fan)

[whizmo]

Mail order it's a little cheaper, but not by a whole lot and you have to make a big enough order to defray the shipping costs:

http://www.handa-accessories.com/pilmaint06.html

For a dealer price, yours is pretty good.

For this particular application, I'd stick with the Honda stuff.

- Mark

[Roger]

Originally posted by whizmo
Mail order it's a little cheaper, but not by a whole lot and you have to make a big enough order to defray the shipping costs:

http://www.handa-accessories.com/pilmaint06.html

For a dealer price, yours is pretty good.

For this particular application, I'd stick with the Honda stuff.

- Mark

I've always used Honda ATF for many years now but man, $7.31 is pretty steep. I change it every 15K (tranny oil is the ONLY fluid I "short" change") which for the Pilot means around every 2 years so it isn't going to break me, but jeeeze!

K, I'll stop whinning now

[ctobio]

Originally posted by Roger


I've always used Honda ATF for many years now but man, $7.31 is pretty steep.

I changed the manual gearbox oil in my VW- $25 a liter, and it takes 2.5 liters.

The power steering fluid is about $25 a liter as well.

These Hondas are cheap!

[mfisher1967]

With a Preferred Customer membership the Amsoil ATF costs about $7 per quart and it is a much better fluid. If you want to stick with the Honda Z1 ATF, your only real lower cost option is to buy in quantity from someone like H and A.

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by mfisher1967
. . .Amsoil ATF . . .is a much better fluid.

Based on?

[ctobio]

Originally posted by N_Jay

Based on?

Marketing?

[Eat3r]

You can also buy ACDelco ATF-Z1 at any Saturn dealership. The '04-'07 VUE uses the same Engine/Trans as the Pilots. I don't know what the price is because dealership prices vary around the country but it is another option to look into. It could possibly be cheaper than your local Honda dealer.

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by Eat3r
You can also buy ACDelco ATF-Z1 at any Saturn dealership. The '04-'07 VUE uses the same Engine/Trans as the Pilots. I don't know what the price is because dealership prices vary around the country but it is another option to look into. It could possibly be cheaper than your local Honda dealer.

Great idea.

So obvious, but no one has mentioned it before!

[mfisher1967]

The Amsoil ATF quieted down the transmission in my wife's 2006 LX. Shift quality is about the same, perhaps slightly better. The fluid also stays bright red between drains, which is in stark contrast to the dark reddish brown color that the Honda Z1 ATF takes on after ~20,000 miles.

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by mfisher1967
The Amsoil ATF quieted down the transmission in my wife's 2006 LX. Shift quality is about the same, perhaps slightly better. The fluid also stays bright red between drains, which is in stark contrast to the dark reddish brown color that the Honda Z1 ATF takes on after ~20,000 miles.

How many miles did you have on Hinda fluid and how many so far on AMSOil?

[Roger]

Mods,

If this turns into an oil vs. oil thread please delete it. It was started to whine about tranny fluid price, nothing more.

Thanks

[normkol]

Bernardiparts.com charges $4.95/qt. That's as low as I've seen.

[mfisher1967]

I performed the first drain/fill using the Honda Z1 ATF at 27,000 miles. I figured that I was getting an early drain, but the fluid had already turned fairly dark. Dark fluid in and of itself is not a good indicator of how well any given ATF is holding up, but it is one indicator.

I then decided to perform an ATF drain/fill every other engine oil change. This appeared to be cheap protection for a transmission that costs several thousand dollars. My wife and I typically drive vehicles until the wheels fall off, so this made sense to me.

I use Amsoil engine oil and have been impressed with it based on Used Oil Analysis results. I am not an Amsoil fan boy, as I have also used Mobil One 5W-20 and Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20 with good results. For these reasons, it made sense to try the Amsoil ATF.

By 37,000 miles the transmission sounded a bit ragged during the 1st gear to 2nd gear shift before it had warmed up. It was almost as though the shift was taking place too late and the engine RPM's were too high when the shift did take place. I was not happy with the way it sounded.

I performed the first drain/fill with Amsoil ATF at 37,500 miles. The Amsoil ATF immediately corrected the delayed 1st gear to 2nd gear shift issue. I also felt that the shift quality was slightly better with the mix of Honda Z1 and Amsoil ATF. Keep in mind that the 2WD transmission holds about 9 quarts and one drain/fill is just slightly over 4 quarts.

Bottom line, the Honda Z1 ATF is fine, but I would perform a drain/fill about every 15,000 to 20,000 miles. The 30,000 mile drain interval seems too long in my opinion. Using a 30,000 mile drain/fill, 5 of the 9 total quarts in the system will end up having to last 60,000 miles. This is just too many miles for any fluid in my humble opinion.

I like the Amsoil ATF, but the Honda Z1 ATF will do just as well if more frequent drain/fills are performed. No, I am not an Amsoil dealer!