Lots of metal shaving on Tranny drain plug...

[lxblack]

I changed the tranny fluid after 30K miles.

Whoa, there were lots of metal shaving and sludge(?) on my drain plug... Was this expected? Does other people experience this too?

I lifted a rear right wheel with jack and I was able to drain about 3.5-3.8 quarts.

Does anyone know if Honda has a tranny funnel that will fit their little bitty tranny dip stick hole? I had real trouble getting fluid into their little hole... What a major pain. I went to Autozone, but they didn't have any funnel with that small of an opening...

If anyone know where I can buy one, please let me know.

BTW, I also changed the VTM-4 fluid for the second time, but the drain plug didn't have that much metal shaving at all.

[TheWorm]

IMO, 30k is too long for an ATF change on this car. I change mine @ 15k minimum and sometimes @ 7500 if I'm in the mood during an oil change. I actually did a triple drain & fill @ 15k til it looked clean enough for my liking. It was reasonably clean @ the last change (<10k on the fluid) so I did a 1x this time around.

A good amount of of shavings @ the 15k interval and more than I'd like on the 10k interval, despite the decent color.

Hardly encouraging, but it is normal. Normal does not necessarily mean good, mind you. IMO the tranny is the weakest part of the Pilot and MDX.

For filling through the dipstick tube, I use a nipple from the VTM4 fluid pump (not sure if they still sell them, however) that fits the tube well. Others have fashioned their own solutions.

There are a couple of good threads on the MDX site:

Fluid color and one dipstick tube solution: http://www.acuramdx.org/forums/showt...threadid=15169

Pic of plug w/shavings: http://www.acuramdx.org/forums/showt...threadid=18374

[thomasj2]

I'll be changing mine at the next oil change, (15K miles). I have a $5 pump that is made for filling remote locations. Check out any car parts store, (autozone, napa, autopalace, pepboys). Mine will fit 1Q, 2Q and 1 gallon jugs and has a 4 ounce per stroke capacity. I used when the car was new to fill the tranny to the full line, it came from the dealer at the min line.

[radvas]

Whoa, there were lots of metal shaving and sludge(?) on my drain plug... Was this expected?

sounds normal.

Obviously the word "Lots" is fairly qualitative, so without a pic it is hard for us to really know what "a lot" is. But I've seen the magnetic plugs look from anywhere like a thick coating of grey-black metallic goo to something like a tiny troll doll.

The clutches in the tranny are usually made of composite metallic friction surfaces and the superfine metallic stuff on the plug is normal (note that this is a generalization. I have no idea what exactly the pilot's friction surfaces are made of, just making an educated guess).

I'm with the previous poster on the subject of tranny fliud. Change it early and often. 10 fluid changes are still way cheaper than one tranny.

Plus, most shops now have machines that exhange all the fluid (including whats in the converter) all in one shot. The machines make it easy work. This sort oof thing is gravy for shops, so they often have coupon specials for tranny flush jobs. Just do it when your dealer offers the coupon special. If it's earlier than schedule, no big, better more often than needed IMO.

[seadog]

IMO routinely changing transmission fluid (especially using the partial flush method) more frequently than the manufacturer recommends is not a value based preventative maintenance practice.

Now, if the fluid becomes prematurely discolored or smells burnt then I would have the entire system flushed and then the pan pulled to clean it of any debris and too install a new filter.

There is always going to be debris on the plug or in the bottom of the pan as a result of normal internal wear.

So, as long as the transmission fluid in my vehicles looks and smells good it will only get changed as necessary to meet the requirements of any warranties.

[lxblack]

someone mentioned that they'd do it sooner than 30K. I thought I was doing it earlier than the Honda's schedule of 45K for ATF service?

At least I didn't smell any burnt smell and fluid looked o.k. (not bright pink but ... you know...)

[a2Pilot]

Metal shavings are NORMAL??? Wow! I have never changed tranny fluid myself, so I find that really shocking!

[N_Jay]

Originally posted by a2Pilot
Metal shavings are NORMAL??? Wow! I have never changed tranny fluid myself, so I find that really shocking!

Yep, metal parts wear. I know it is shocking!

[a2Pilot]

I just like to think of the parts wearing smoothly, not shaving off chunks of metal......