Transmission fluid capacity—actual experience, please

R

Rob_v1

Member
I see that Honda advertises 2.23 qt for a fluid change, and I believe 3.5 qt for a new transmission. Following draining the old fluid, it’s taken over 3 quarts, and isn’t full yet. What’s going on? Anyone else have a similar experience?
 
How are you determining that it's not full? There's no dipstick and I don't think it fills enough to run out of the fill port. There's an overfill hole for the Clarity, it's below the fill port. Fluid running out of that indicates it's full.

Perhaps you have just put too much in [without openning the overflow hole]?
 
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Although I don't have actual experience yet, I will offer some images to help clarify the location of the drain and check holes:
It is a little hard to get the proper perspective from your photo for me to judge whether you have the correct bolt.

One thing that may have helped with your confidence would have been to measure the amount of fluid that drained out.
I don't always think to do that, and you probably didn't either.

Odds are good that you have the right refill hole and you just need to add a little more.
Please let us know what you find in the end.

upload_2023-7-21_7-27-51.webp
upload_2023-7-21_7-28-0.webp

upload_2023-7-21_7-28-10.webp
 
There's a rubber fill plug in addition to the "filler plug hole". I think you may be filling it from that rubber fill plug and expecting it to run out, but the filler that @MrFixit is highlighting from the maintenance manual is in between the level of the drain plug and rubber fill plug. That plug should be overflowing, not the rubber one. If so, if you remove that one the excess should run out.

 
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Rob,

Let’s cut to the chase. Would it kill you to answer a question? You were asked how you were measuring the level and you responded with a question about a bolt.

It really sounds like you don’t know what you’re doing and have gotten yourself into a pickle. Someone here might be able to help you if you’d be willing to tell us what you’ve done so far and how you’re attempting to complete this project. Without that information you’re just wasting our time.

Sometimes this forum seems to be more of a detective training program than an automotive forum.
 
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As a constructive matter, I tend to trust the manual on this*, and even if your fluid level was low [but not totally empty] before you drained it, if you drain it on a level surface it should retain the [3.15L-2.11L] = 1.04L of undrainable residual fluid.

Thus i'd clean the drain basin well, drain it, and refill with 2.11L of either the fluid you drained [not preferred], or [if you are willing to pay for another 2+ bottles, which i would do because contamination is REALLY bad] new fluid.

Also, note that all bets are off WRT what's retained or when it will run out of the fill hole if you didn't drain it on a level surface, so I wouldn't use ramps like the video does if you are relying on the manual and not the amount removed.

* former aircraft mechanic, so I'm usually trusting the manual
 
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Thanks for the mostly constructive replies. Even after looking at the images extracted from the manual, it’s not obvious to me where the correct fill point is. Blindly following youtube videos, I used the upper port, which of course provides no clues about reaching the specified level. Mrfixit, you are absolutely right that precisely measuring on the input side would have saved the day. Didn’t happen. And of course draining excess fluid without the vehicle being level wouldn’t be good.
So I’m looking at a drain and refill, probably with new fluid.
 
Rob_v1 said:
Fill point located; excess fluid drained with vehicle level. All is well.
Click to expand...
It seems that locating the fill / check hole can be a little tricky even with the diagrams.
Having been through the experience, is there a way that you can describe the location in a way that is completely unambiguous for the benefit of others?
 
Rob_v1 said:
Fill point located; excess fluid drained with vehicle level. All is well.
Click to expand...

Did you discover during this endeavor, that one of the caps/plugs was rubber/plastic and the other two were metal?

As far as the “constructive” digs, does anyone feel that it is constructive for a person to not answer a question when asked? And, if they don’t know the answer, as appears to have been the case here, that they attempt to gain the necessary information in order to answer the question for the benefit of the conversation?
 
I changed the transmission fluid today at ~50k

I removed ~2.2 qts of transmission fluid and replaced with 2.2 qts of Honda OEM.

As previously stated...there are several good videos out there for those so inclined.

As an aside...I also changed the oil. A sample was pulled and will be sent to Blackstone labs for analysis. I will post results of the analysis.

Good Luck
 
@MrFixit

Appeared black at first glance but it is actually very dark red...nothing close to new fluid which is to be expected to some degree. No grit or foreign material noticed.

Actual miles is 47500...transposed the 7 for a 9...lol
 
Clarity_Newbie said:
As an aside...I also changed the oil. A sample was pulled and will be sent to Blackstone labs for analysis. I will post results of the analysis.
Click to expand...

What amount of time lapsed between oil changes?
Approximately how many miles we’re driven using the ICE during that time period?
 
Landshark said:
What amount of time lapsed between oil changes?
Approximately how many miles we’re driven using the ICE during that time period?
Click to expand...

At the 20,000 mile oil change I put a oil filter on spec'd for up to 20k usage. I also sent a sample off at that time for analysis.

That was 27,500 miles ago. ~12,500 miles on ICE during that period. Time does not affect a quality synthetic filter nearly as much as usage (ie) mileage. Oil was changed once during that time period. I use an extended performance synthetic oil.

The filter will be cut open and examined. The second analysis numbers will provide insight to the various wear numbers as compared to the first set.

What would be beneficial is to compare my analysis numbers with someone else who has an analysis done around the same mileage so wear numbers can be compared especially if they followed Honda ridiculous oil change regime recommended for the Clarity to "maintain warranty".

Hope this helps.
 
Clarity_Newbie said:
What would be beneficial is to compare my analysis numbers with someone else who has an analysis done around the same mileage so wear numbers can be compared especially if they followed Honda ridiculous oil change regime recommended for the Clarity to "maintain warranty".

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

I was actually just looking for answers to a couple of simple questions. Regardless of the filter you’ve decided to use, I’d still like to know the time interval between oil changes and the approximate number of ICE driven miles during that time period.

Personally, I see no reason to incur the cost of fluid analysis on a vehicle where a DIY oil change costs less than the analysis. Now, on our motorhome, where an oil and filter change costs several hundred dollars, analysis is worth the cost if we haven’t reached the 15,000 mile interval in a 12 month period.

On the Clarity, and now the Jeep 4xe, our driving habits are such that an oil and filter change occurs at 12 month intervals, since neither vehicle will have more than a couple thousand miles on the ICE after that time period. Knowing the condition of the oil at that time has no value to me. Jeep provides 3 oil changes at no cost, and I just pay the Honda dealer once a year.

What do you find so ridiculous about the oil change regimen on the Clarity?
 
@Landshark

3 years 1 filter, 1 oil change...12.5k miles ICE

Will compare analysis from 20k odo (6k ICE) with this analysis.

Numbers look good...I will go to 4 years 1 filter and 1 oil change mid-way.

Numbers look questionable...I reevaluate.

Its not about the money...its about the necessity (or lack of) to change oil given all the advancements in technology and science.

Hope this helps.
 
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