B236 Maintenance - need some help with fluid change..

[06 Ridge]

I've only done the rear end, and used the funnel method to fill it. Learned that here, and so glad I found the info. I didn't know about H and A accessories when I bought the fluid locally, so I paid 47.00 for it and the two gaskets. (crush washers).

I ordered my tranny fluid from H and A so I will be getting to the Transmission soon. I got a case and it was cheaper to have them ship it than to buy from my local stealership again. They wanted 350.00 to do the complete fluid changes...Trans, Trans case, and rear diff. If you want to save some money and don't mind doing this yourself, get under there and go for it.

[IanRTL]

Originally Posted by speedlever

Ian, to do it "right" you'll have to replace the reservoir if the filter is clogged.

I haven't done my PS fluid yet... on either vehicle. I don't know if the filter is serviceable or not, but I suspect not since the procedure above mentions the need to replace the reservoir in two separate notes about a clogged filter.

Yeah, that's sort of what I was thinking. Plus, if the reservoir bottle is only around $20, as I've seen in a few other threads, it just sort of makes sense to go ahead and replace it after 107k miles. So, with the method shown above, you're basically running the system dry, filling the reservoir, letting the new fluid go through the system and filling it again as needed?

[speedlever]

Yep, that's what it sounds like to me.

[twowheeled]

I drained/refilled the res twice and the fluid was still dark. I got lazy and left it for another day since I didn't have a turkey baster. You can probably get away with cleaning the res filter though, I would take it off the truck and just fill with water and shake it out in the sink. I doubt your filter is completely clogged as the fluid has to pass through it each time it gets cycled.

The "filter" is just a fine plastic mesh screen.

[IanRTL]

Originally Posted by twowheeled

I drained/refilled the res twice and the fluid was still dark. I got lazy and left it for another day since I didn't have a turkey baster. You can probably get away with cleaning the res filter though, I would take it off the truck and just fill with water and shake it out in the sink. I doubt your filter is completely clogged as the fluid has to pass through it each time it gets cycled.

The "filter" is just a fine plastic mesh screen.

I'll say that I agree with you about cleaning the filter in the reservoir. My old reservoir had some black specs of contamination in it, but it certainly wasn't clogged by any means. I think flushing it out for a bit with some warm water, letting it dry completely and reinstalling it would be just fine. I' can't say for sure if there is any particulate clogging going on that I can't see, but it doesn't look that way. However, for $17, I just went ahead and replaced mine anyways. I'm going to keep the old reservoir, clean it up and pack it away in case I ever need a replacement for any reason.

[ResQman]

I just did all three changes. Really, it wasn't that difficult. Thanks to all those who have posted here earlier as it made a big difference. Get a breaker bar! I couldn't have removed a couple of those without it. BTW... I have just over 200,000 K on it.

[IanRTL]

Most of the bolts call for around 30-35 lb./ft. of torque, but Honda employs an 800lb. gorilla to tighten some of them from the factory. IIRC, the VTM-4 fill bolt and tranny fill bolt were VERY tight. Several other members have reported this as well. One was using a 36" breaker and long extension on the tranny fill bolt before it came loose.