I am going to change the tranny fluid on my 88 honda Accord lxi f/i auto tranny. Should I use the Honda tranny fluid or is it ok to use the dexron 3 fluid.Is there A diffrence or should I just stick to the official Honda fluid. Any info would help Thanks

 

I know for a fact that the manual states Honda transmission fluid only! A lot of people in this forum also recommend that as well! So, stick with the Honda transmission fluid. I hope this helps.

 

save some money and use dexron 3 ,i have been using it for years on the older cars and have never had an issue

 

If and only if; you are going to service the trans every 15-20k miles or so, I'd say the dexron 3 would be okay. The Honda fluid has better cleaning properties and smaller lubrication molecules.
The shift valves in the valve body are very tight fitting steel on steel fit. We're talking thousandth of an inch clearances. Any varnish build up at all, will cause the valves to hang in the bore or not move. That in turn causes slow, low pressure shifts that eats away at the clutch paks.
I'm a firm believer in Honda Z-1 ATF, even fixed a few poor shifting chevy's by flushing out the trans and putting in the Honda stuff.

 

I went ahead and sucked it up and bought the original honda fluid. 39.00 bucks for 4 quarts Ouch!!!
Ran the car for around 5 miles brought it back put it up on stands and drained the tranny.. I took out 2.5 quarts. Tranny fluid was still red.
Put in 3 quarts and it was full. Book calls for 3.2 quarts..Am I missin something?Started it up and took it for A spin and so far it seems to be shiftin A little better but not by much. It has all firm shifts. 1,2,3,4,torque converter lock up. ..Feels like A got A slight shift kit on my Honda. I had one of those on my Chevy silverado and I could bark the tires in second gear..
HAd A honda civic 1990 with the same shifting pattern but I didnt have it long before someone stole it.So I am looking for others who have the same year Honda and has An Auto tranny. So far what I'm getting is that this year of hondas do have slightly harder shifting tranny's
Any info would help..Thanks...

 

Hondas are known for hard shifts. I test drove and acura legend v6 and the shifts felt like you were almost dropping the clutch, slight exageration. Sorry, but its not a shift kit, I've looked and have yet to find one. I also had a 84 Accord and it would hit hard through the gears under some throttle. The harder the shift, the less power wasted in the slushbox.