Transmission Fluid Change (mileage)

[Dan Albrich]

In 2022 my dealer asked me to change the transmission fluid at 37,500 miles. I agreed to do it. I never saw the "3" in maintenance minder. "3" is what you see when transmission fluid change is due. I am a little frustrated as I think they had me do it early and now that's delayed or interfered with the normal "3" for maintenance minder. I have not ever seen it.

I'm at 80K miles now. Just watched it flip to 80K on the dot. Had it in to the dealer for an oil change (had the A1 maintenance minder). They suggested I do the transmission fluid. I declined because my dealer seems to list tons of optional maintenance like its required. Also they implied I'd never done it, until I reminded them of the change at 37500 miles, then acted like "oh, now I see it."

From looking online, I saw youtube video on do it yourself, and the person doing it was at 90K miles their first change out. Another source said every 60-100K miles. Perhaps related Clarity doesn't have a normal transmission (they call it ecvt) but it only engages "engine" drive mode under specific conditions. i.e. so many miles per hour, relative flat grade etc.

So the questions:
- Ideally should one just always wait for the maintenance minder and just do this when the "3" shows up?
- Since I may of done my first one "early" don't really know which increment next one should be. I'm thinking maybe between the next 10-20K miles. Or is it smart enough to just throw the 3 when it needs it next?

For oil changes since maybe 90% of my driving is electric, even when they do them my oil looks clean. All I know is Clarity doesn't always follow generic maintenance timing.

-Dan

PS: The car is driving fine, doesn't make any odd noises and has never appeared to have an issue "shifting." In case curious, I have a 120K / 8 yr Hondcare warranty. I've been doing all required (maintenance minder) maintenance at the same dealer (and its where I bought the car). It seemed simpler to have all the records there in case I encounter a warranty issue. When my HondaCare is expired, I'll likely only use the dealer if necessary. They have not been honest with me on a few occasions.

 

[TC1782]

In 2022 my dealer asked me to change the transmission fluid at 37,500 miles. I agreed to do it. I never saw the "3" in maintenance minder. "3" is what you see when transmission fluid change is due. I am a little frustrated as I think they had me do it early and now that's delayed or interfered with the normal "3" for maintenance minder. I have not ever seen it.

I'm at 80K miles now. Just watched it flip to 80K on the dot. Had it in to the dealer for an oil change (had the A1 maintenance minder). They suggested I do the transmission fluid. I declined because my dealer seems to list tons of optional maintenance like its required. Also they implied I'd never done it, until I reminded them of the change at 37500 miles, then acted like "oh, now I see it."

From looking online, I saw youtube video on do it yourself, and the person doing it was at 90K miles their first change out. Another source said every 60-100K miles. Perhaps related Clarity doesn't have a normal transmission (they call it ecvt) but it only engages "engine" drive mode under specific conditions. i.e. so many miles per hour, relative flat grade etc.

So the questions:
- Ideally should one just always wait for the maintenance minder and just do this when the "3" shows up?
- Since I may of done my first one "early" don't really know which increment next one should be. I'm thinking maybe between the next 10-20K miles. Or is it smart enough to just throw the 3 when it needs it next?

For oil changes since maybe 90% of my driving is electric, even when they do them my oil looks clean. All I know is Clarity doesn't always follow generic maintenance timing.

-Dan

PS: The car is driving fine, doesn't make any odd noises and has never appeared to have an issue "shifting." In case curious, I have a 120K / 8 yr Hondcare warranty. I've been doing all required (maintenance minder) maintenance at the same dealer (and its where I bought the car). It seemed simpler to have all the records there in case I encounter a warranty issue. When my HondaCare is expired, I'll likely only use the dealer if necessary. They have not been honest with me on a few occasions.

Do it when maintenance minder says, it is actually a pretty intelligent thing, it tracks driving conditions and adjusts accordingly. My car told me to do the change at like 75K miles.

 

[MrFixit]

I got an "A37" - (transmission fluid and brake fluid) at 44,000 miles. This was the 2nd time for the brake fluid.
More importantly, it was November of 2024. Since we bought the car in November of 2018, I believer these intervals were time-based rather than mileage. Every 3 years for the brake fluid and every 6 years for the transmission fluid.

The manual has some notes about different intervals for extreme conditions but it is a rare owner who falls into the extreme category. Check your dates... My opinion is to do the brake fluid every 3 years and the transmission fluid every 6 years. This is likely very conservative if you don't drive a lot of miles, but one consideration is that the fluid does degrade over time just sitting there (it absorbs moisture, etc).

 

[Landshark]

In 2022 my dealer asked me to change the transmission fluid at 37,500 miles. I agreed to do it.

I'm at 80K miles now. Just watched it flip to 80K on the dot. Had it in to the dealer for an oil change (had the A1 maintenance minder). They suggested I do the transmission fluid. I declined because my dealer seems to list tons of optional maintenance like its required. Also they implied I'd never done it, until I reminded them of the change at 37500 miles, then acted like "oh, now I see it."

It is helpful to understand the maintenance schedule provided by the manufacturer. It is best to have this knowledge before taking the car in for service.

The earliest recommended interval for changing the transmission fluid is 47,500 miles if it has been driven under certain conditions. Your beloved dealer Shanghai’d you into having it done prematurely and they attempted to do it a second time. Fortunately, you questioned it the second time around. With the Clarity, just wait for the MM to give you instructions or, if you’re tanking it in for the AO1 and you know another maintenance item may pop up in the next month or 1000 miles, have it done a bit early.

The interval for the transmission fluid should have been reset when it was changed at 37,500 which means it shouldn’t appear again for 6 years or until you hit about 125,000 miles.

As far as the oil change interval, I’d recommend doing it every 12 months even if there are zero miles on the engine during that time period. It’s what the manufacturer recommends. If most or all of the miles are on the gas engine the internal will trigger at +/- 7500 miles.

 

[Dan Albrich]

Thanks to each of you for the comments. I trust the feedback I get in this forum much more than the dealer.
The car has been nothing but great, the local dealer leaves much to be desired.

My HondaCare has all of this year, then next year to September. Once outside HondaCare, i'll work with local mechanics that have been reasonable.
(I've been sticking with the dealer for maintenance while the HondaCare-warranty is active.)

 

[gedwin]

My car is calling for “3” for the first time right now, interestingly enough. I’m at 56,000 and, as mentioned by others, also at 6 years (2019 manufacture).

Also, note that if you have an OBDII reader, you can get the days until due for all of the Maintenance Minder items. (So you could use this to check when your car is planning to call for it. )

I imagine the car also uses mileage to decide(?), but in any event days until due is all you can see via OBD. Attaching a screen capture as an example (CarScanmer app using its Apple CarPlay interface.)

Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs

 

[Landshark]

Also, note that if you have an OBDII reader, you can get the days until due for all of the Maintenance Minder items. (So you could use this to check when your car is planning to call for it. )

I imagine the car also uses mileage to decide(?), but in any event days until due is all you can see via OBD.

It uses mileage and days. The anticipated service is displayed in days and the calculation is based on past and expected driving habits. A simple test to demonstrate that would be to let your car sit for 10 days, and the oil and filter would still be due in 10 days, after 10 days had elapsed. Conversely, if you drove 500 miles today rather than 50, the oil and filter might be due tomorrow.

 

[gedwin]

It uses mileage and days. The anticipated service is displayed in days and the calculation is based on past and expected driving habits. A simple test to demonstrate that would be to let your car sit for 10 days, and the oil and filter would still be due in 10 days, after 10 days had elapsed. Conversely, if you drove 500 miles today rather than 50, the oil and filter might be due tomorrow.

This kind of testing would be up my alley. (I like to know how things work just for interest.) But, alas, while your underlying logic is not unreasonable, this is an impractical test for my car because my one-year date is, in fact, in 10 days. So, unless I drive several thousand HV miles before 7/21/25 (which I am not), that days-until-due for the oil ain't going to change.

Sometime in the future, though, I'll test it with the tire rotation item by noting the days-until-due prior to a road trip, and then see how the days change as I put some rapid, significant miles on.

 

[Landshark]

But, alas, while your underlying logic is not unreasonable, this is an impractical test for my car because my one-year date is, in fact, in 10 days.

Not only is it “not unreasonable” I’ve seen it with my very own eyes. A01 service due in 3 weeks, left the car to sit for 5 weeks, 5 weeks later, A01 service due in 3 weeks.

Yes, the days until tire rotation, as well as days until oil/filter change, will be modified after you drive significantly more than is typical. Your oil/filter is going to reset to 365 days. Imagine if you drove 5000 miles in the first 65 days after the oil change, do you believe the MM would indicate 300 days until the next oil change is due?

 

[gedwin]

Oh, I harbor no beliefs about this. My expectation is that the Maintenance Minder must take into account mileage in some manner to represent Honda's defined maintenance schedule; there would be warranty liability implications if it were not that way. My reference for "not unreasonable" was to the proposed test method (i.e., drive more or rest the car to see the MM item due date change one way or the other). This would be a simple test generally but is impractical for the oil item I have coming due shortly. [The year is up in a few days, and so nothing I do can extend the days due, and going the other way, I'd have to drive roughly double the number of HV miles I've driven in the entire past year to see the due date move up before that calendar requirement hits.]