5 speed manual transmission level

[Ronnie Harrison]

Hey guys and any ladies. I was wondering what would be the proper transmission level for an 89 LX Accord. I recently rebuild the motor in my LX and had to drain some of the transmission fluid out and I am not sure what level the fluid needs to be.
Any help anyone could give me would be greatly appreciated.

[ChaseR]

Fill it up until you can't put anymore in there...

[Ronnie Harrison]

What do you mean? Fill it up to the axles? How much it too much?

[russiankid]

What he means is keep filling it up until oil starts to pore out of the filler hole. That means the transmission is full.

[Ronnie Harrison]

OK That makes sense to me but where is the filler hole at.

Thanks again for the information

[AZmike]

It's behind and above the right axle output on right side the transmission case. The fill bolt has a 17 mm head but is close to 32 mm in diameter.

[w261w261]

Go to Autozone and get a suction pump with the hose on the end. It has a plunger that you can pull out to suck some oil into the tube, and push it out. Use that to fill up the transmission. There are two qualities of these, get the good one, the one with the clear hose.

[Ronnie Harrison]

So you fill the transmission up past the two trans-axles. Man thats a lot of transmission fluid.

Hey thanks for the information everyone will start working on that next week.

[stat1K]

doesn't the trans use oil not transmission fluid?

[russiankid]

doesn't the trans use oil not transmission fluid?
Yes.

[AccordEpicenter]

its only about 2.5 quarts at the very most. Use honda MTF instead of 10w30 dino oil

[russiankid]

its only about 2.5 quarts at the very most. Use honda MTF instead of 10w30 dino oilI agree with the Honda MTF. I put that in when i changed my axles instead of the regular oil and wow what a difference. Drives smoother.

[cygnus x-1]

Just a note about manual trans fluid. I did some research on this recently. The manuals say to use 10W30 motor oil, but the formulation of motor oil has changed since the late '80s and it doesn't have the same additives it used to. Therefore Honda started making their own MTF for use in their cars. I think it's similar to GL4 only (not GL5) type gear oil. I know Nissan pickups with manual boxes have a similar issue where if you use the newer GL5 type gear oil it eats the brass in the syncros. Or something like that.

C|

[snoopyloopy]

what about synthetic 10w30 motor oils like royal purple or mobil one? do they do any more/less damage than honda mtf?

[g.frost]

Current (SL/SM) motor oils do not have the proper additives for our transmission. I've been using Redline MTL synthetic (Manual Transmission Lube) in all my hondas for many years. It works extremely well esp. in cold weather. Honda MTF works well but it does get beat up in about 20K miles and does not do as well as Redline when cold. The 3G tranny does not seem to be so picky about what's in it(unlike my 05 Civic: shifts like crap on Honda MTF) If you spring for the extra $ for synthetic, get redline MTL, it will work better than a synthetic motor oil, it's made specifically for the application.

[AccordEpicenter]

do not use synthetic motor oil in a gearbox, its much too slick and will not stick to the gears very well and causes them to shift rougher and get noisy, youre much better off with dino oil in this instance. The best tranny oil ive found by far is GM syncromesh Friction Modified, its the absolute best. Just dont use gear oil

[cygnus x-1]

do not use synthetic motor oil in a gearbox, its much too slick and will not stick to the gears very well and causes them to shift rougher and get noisy, youre much better off with dino oil in this instance. The best tranny oil ive found by far is GM syncromesh Friction Modified, its the absolute best. Just dont use gear oil

Interesting. I just found this blurb on Redline's site:

Red Line Oil's MTL and MT-90 are designed to provide excellent protection and improved shiftability for manual transmissions and transaxles, having cured the problem of hard shifting in thousands of transmissions with shifting troubles. How? They have the appropriate coefficient of friction for most manual transmission synchronizers (many gear oils, engine oils, and ATFs are too slippery for proper synchro engagement). And, the wide viscosity of MTL and MT-90 allow proper shifting over the entire temperature range which the transmission will experience. The synthetic base oils used have a very high viscosity index which provides relatively constant viscosity as temperature changes. MTL is a low 70W at very low temperatures and a high 80W, nearly an 85W, at elevated temperatures, providing adequate viscosity to prevent wear and deaden gear noise. MT-90 is a thicker 75W90 version of MTL. The shear stability and oxidation stability of these products are excellent, thus the physical characteristics of Red Line MTL and MT-90 will change little with use.
http://www.redlineoil.com/products_gearlubricants.asp?categoryID=7

Sounds like Redline is the way to go then. Might try it after I get some miles on the Honda MTF.
I just refilled my box after a rebuild; took just over 2 quarts.

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[g.frost]

Running in a newly rebuilt tranny with Honda MTF is a good idea: dump the breakin wear early. The problem with Honda MTF is it does not hold up for long. It shears down to lower viscosity by 10K miles. Do a search at 'bob is the oil guy' for more info (http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/ubbthreads.php) they have tested Honda MTF after 10K and 20K runs. Redline Synthetic MTL holds up much longer. (30K+ miles) Yes, it is not a good idea to use synthetic (or any) motor oil in your tranny!

[SRK]

Hi I am new to this forum, and set up... I'm seeking a solution for my Honda Accord Aerodeck 2.0 LSi 1995, when starting from cold there is no noise coming from gearbox/differential but once warmed up, there is knocking sound, not sure if it is differential? Any suggestions? Many thanks SRK

[derolph]

All the talk here about not using regular motor oil when the manual says to use it has me a bit perplexed. I changed the transmission oil last summer in both my 88 LX-i and my 91 Accord and put 10W-30 motor oil in them, as the manual recommends. I'm not aware of any issues with either car; I haven't noticed any unusual noise or shifting behavior. But, I'll keep mind comments here about changes in oil additives since these cars were made and perhaps change again sooner than I otherwise would have, and put an MTF in them the next time.

[HON-DUH]

.

[2oodoor]

I think you may be talking about differential additive friction modifier? GM pn 1052358

[Dr_Snooz]

Hi I am new to this forum, and set up... I'm seeking a solution for my Honda Accord Aerodeck 2.0 LSi 1995, when starting from cold there is no noise coming from gearbox/differential but once warmed up, there is knocking sound, not sure if it is differential? Any suggestions? Many thanks SRK

Vid of noise?

[AccordB20A]

and what engine/box does it have^^

[Oldblueaccord]

All the talk here about not using regular motor oil when the manual says to use it has me a bit perplexed. I changed the transmission oil last summer in both my 88 LX-i and my 91 Accord and put 10W-30 motor oil in them, as the manual recommends. I'm not aware of any issues with either car; I haven't noticed any unusual noise or shifting behavior. But, I'll keep mind comments here about changes in oil additives since these cars were made and perhaps change again sooner than I otherwise would have, and put an MTF in them the next time.

Well i daily drive my accord 60 miles a day for work 4 to 6 days a week. I been using 10w30 mobil 1 no problems no greem goo no purple jelly. I think it will go one more day but who knows. If it blows withn325k ill blame Obama i guess.


Wp

[ChaseR]

Running in a newly rebuilt tranny with Honda MTF is a good idea: dump the breakin wear early. The problem with Honda MTF is it does not hold up for long. It shears down to lower viscosity by 10K miles. Do a search at 'bob is the oil guy' for more info (http://theoildrop.server101.com/forums/ubbthreads.php) they have tested Honda MTF after 10K and 20K runs. Redline Synthetic MTL holds up much longer. (30K+ miles) Yes, it is not a good idea to use synthetic (or any) motor oil in your tranny!


This is the TOTAL and 100% truth... I swear at 11,000 miles the Transmission in my 07 Si gets notchy as hell, doesn't want to engage and pops out....