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Transmission Filter Cut Open After 90K Miles

4.2K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  IvanG  
#1 ·
If anyone is interested in seeing what the inside of Honda's ATF inline filter looks like, here is the one I removed from my '16 Pilot today with 90,000 miles. All in all I thought it looked pretty good. Sorry about the blurriness. All the debris and damaged filter material is my doing from using a hacksaw to cut it open, not usage. When I gave it a close inspection, all I saw was black filter material, nothing else. And certainly no accumulated gunk like you typically wipe off the magnetized filler plug. The bypass valve opened easily.



I've done a few simple ATF drain and refills thru the years, but always wondered in the back of my mind if I should change the filter. I know Honda has no prescribed maintenance interval on this part. The parts guy at the dealer told me the only time they sell these filters is when a tyranny is being overhauled, or a fastidious owner like me :rolleyes: wants to do more than Honda requires. Still I'm glad I did it. It may be my imagination, or just wishful thinking, but the car seemed to drive smoother when I took it for a test drive afterwards. Hardest part was getting access to the bracket bolt that holds the filter in place. Everything else seemed to fairly easy.
 
#2 ·
I had to replace the same one on my 2 CRV's that rusted and started leaking. They had never been changed in many years and about 200k or more. I use Magnefine ones when I changed them. It fits in the stock bracket.
 
#4 ·
Amen to that advice! The filter hold-down bracket on my car had two slots that allow for that fat protruding seam lip (a 1/2 inch above my thumb) on the side of the filter to fit through ... and it will re-hold the filter in one of those two slots with the filter pointing the wrong way. I took a photo with my cell phone before taking the old one off just to sure I didn't reverse the filter when I put the new one on.