Honda Car Forum

I just bought a used 2006 Honda Accord Ex Coupe l4 with Auto. Trans.It has 40500 miles on it. The Owner's Manual says to change the automatic transmission fluid initially at 60,000 miles for severe use, and every 30,000 thereafter. I don't drive that way, mostly just short trips to the local store and back, so when should the tranny fluid be changed under normal use? Also, is there a tranny fluid filter to be changed at the same time?How many miles between engine oil and filter changes are recommended?This is my first Honda. I used to be a GM car buyer.Thank You In Advance,Dave

Transmission fluid doesn't wear out or get dirty under normal conditions. If you tow something heavy or got stuck and abused the tranny, and the fluid looks or smells burned, then change it. I have owned automatics of various makes for 40 years and never changed transmission fluid on any of them and only once had a transmission problem and that was on a 79 Chrysler with only 30,000 miles. My 06 Toyota has a band on the transmission dip stick stating that under normal conditions the fluid does not need to be changed. Honda is just appeasing its dealers so they can get the service work. Oil and filter changes make sense at 5000 miles unless you do a lot of short trip driving where the engine seldom gets fully warmed up. Then do them at 3000 miles.

Honda is correct, fluid should be replaced at 60k unless you drive under severe conditions, which includes short trips where the petroleum-based fluid doesn't heat up sufficiently to rid it of water and other contaminants.change it now and every 30k miles after that and don't listen to old school folks who never changed their atf- every manufacturer has recommendations on service intervals and you should follow them - it's cheaper than a transmission.and make sure you use honda atf, it's manufacturer-specific.

congrads on the honda they are very dependable cars. ok i recomend that you sevice the transmission at 60 k and dont just change the filter and the 5 qrts go to a shop that has a machine to flush all the fluid. which is about 12 qrts and a filter, this is the best thing you can have done and make sure they use the correct fluid hondas are very picky when it comes to their fluids. as for the engine oil 3 months or 3 thousand miles. good luck and take care of your new ride

I just hit 80k miles and am going to change the trans fluid for the first time. Make sure you spend the extra money and buy the official Honda Trans fluid for your car. Don't buy a substitute at the auto store. Honda's are extremely sensitive to the trans fluid formulation.As far as engine oil, I try to change the oil and filter every 3000 miles. A couple of times I didn't get around to it until 4 or 5000 miles - no big deal. The brand isn't that important in this case, just be sure to use the correct viscosity oil. Most of the newer Hondas require 5W-10 or 20. Check the sticker under the hood.If you do reasonable maintenance like this and drive sensibly, most Hondas will last for several hundred thousand miles. However, Hondas are very fragile and do not hold up well at all under abusive circumstances.

Short trips are considered severe use.

I always service mine around 50k just to be safe! but if the manual say 60k then do it!