Honda Car Forum

i have a 1995 honda prelude s model..















its a 5 speed manual transmission















a mechanic told me to bring him transmission fluid but my friends are saying you dont use trans. fluid in manual cars...















so, do i need to use trans fluid in it or not??

Only use Honda MTF(manual transmission fluid) or GM syncromesh.

a lot of honda kids will say this because theres no dipstick to check it. absolutely false though because some transmissions have a lot of olders dont. i learned about this on my 94 civic vx iv been working on































look on your transmission/ manual(book manual) if you have one and on your transmission you should have a few different bolts on it.































if you pop the hood and look down at your trans you should see the bolt. sometimes its easier to access if you take off your passenger side wheel and take a peek































for mine anyways looking under the hood of the car down into the engine bay you should see a large bolt coming out of the side transmission. usually its differently colored. when you see it you will know it i will supply pics































that bolt is your fill bolt. place an oil catch pan underneath and work at the bolt. might have to work at it pretty hard i got mine using all my body weight and kicking both legs against the garage wall. almost died but i got it loose.















if fluid starts coming out cap "a little bit" like slightly dripping cap it right away. cuz yur fine on fluid















if none comes out stick your finger straight in there(thats what she said) and see if you can feel any fluid.if not you need to get a long hose and a funnel and slowly pour HONDA MTF from your dealership in there RIGHT until it starts to overfil and drip into the pan on the ground















if a whole bunch of fluid starts coming out then you have to much































on the bottom of the side of the trans theres a bolt you can put your socket into and remove it. this is your drain bolt to drain the fluid out.































replace the washers as well if theres a lot of leakage































its like oil pretty much if it looks realllly nasty change it. wouldnt hurt to change it anyways though

What other kind of fluid would you put in a transmission but transmission fluid? Rootbeer and marshmellows mixed with cherries and butterfly kisses? wtf..































There is a difference between manual transmission fluid and Automatic transmission fluid.. but.. they are both transmission fluid..































are you going to trust some kid who doesn't know dick about cars, or a mechanic that's probably old enough to be his dad and does it for a living? obviously the kid.

Yes, it uses Honda Manual Transmission Lubricant (MTL). Manual transmissions, and a growing number of automatic transmissions, do not have dipsticks but the fluid is there all the same.































In olden days 30W motor oil was often used to replace Honda MTL and it seemed to work okay. A little over a decade ago a new API rating, SM, came out with requirements for reduced phosphates to protect the catalytic converter. More recently the SN spec came out with even more tightly limited phosphates. This has restricted the ZDDP level to the point oil meeting the SM or SN specs do not provide adequate lubrication for the gear faces (and probably for the synchros) - see the first source for the story on that.































Anyway, make a trip to the local Honda dealer and get however much MTL the mechanic needs.































www.macysgarage.com

Yes it does use transmission fluid.































ALL transmissions use it. Without fluid, there is no lubrication to help you switch gears.































In autoparts stores































Transmission Fluids are mostly sold for automatics since most cars in America are automatics. Look for the words "GEAR OIL" in auto parts store. Gear oil is transmission fluid for manual transmission cars.































You can find out which one you need by asking anyone at Pepboys or Autozone or Advanced Autoparts for help. They have it in their computer database and sometimes they put books right by the transmission and gear oil that tell you which one you need for your car.































Automatic cars need trans oil changed often, like every 20,000-30,000 miles.















But with manual transmission cars, oil lasts much longer. I replace my trans oil every 90,000 miles according to the owners manual.

i think the mechanic means manual transmission fluid















there are two types















auto transmission fluid















manual transmission fluid















if mechanic only said transmission fluid then he is not wrong on his statement















your friends are wrong