Changed the diff and tranny fluid in my 00 S about 6000 miles ago (Honda MTF and 75w90 Mobil 1) and was considering doing it again while I'm doing the oil again this week and I was wondering if that might be a bit too frequent/unecessary. The car is autocrossed about 2-3 times a month and might be used for a few HPDE's coming up later this year.

Also was wondering if anyone has a write up on how to change/bleed the brakes. I searched and the clutch fluid change seems helpful, I was wondering if there's something similar for the brakes. I'd like to get the necessary fluids changed before autocross this weekend. Thanks in advance for all your replies.

 

Given the bolded statement, no, I don't think this is too frequent/unnecessary. If it was only a street driven car, then yes, it would be. A tracked car is different. The diff fluid would take the worst beating. The tranny? I think you would be the best judge by how it's shifting. That'll be your first sign. With the diff fluid, you can't really tell untill you dump the old and look at the stuff on the drain plug.

 

Thanks,

The diff fluid was pretty nasty last time but I don't think it had been changed for about 10K miles.

Anyone have an idea on where to find a brake fluid change writeup?

 

To the best of my knowledge, there is no brake fluid change write up.
Do it like the clutch. Just know that with this car, you begin with the front left caliper and work your way around the car clockwise.

 

Honda says 30,000 miles, so I would say that autocrossing alone would not drop it down to 6,000. Long sustained periods of abuse at HPDE's would most likely warrant a change though. I'd check with the Go Fast guys.

I just did my brake fluid, but did not take any pics to include in a possible DIY. For the time being, if you have any questions, feel free to PM. Otherwise, I will try and get together a DIY for the board. FYI, I'd look into putting ATE or Motul brake fluid in there if you haven't looked into it already!

 

This may be so for the tranny fluid, however, check the book on the diff fluid. I believe it says something like "annually" or 15K? I wouldn't worry about the tranny fluid too much, either, but the diff fluid is a whole other animal.

 

I also autoX mine about four times a month and I am doing the tranny at 22K (because I was on the road at 20K) and the diff at 10K.

 

Thanks, I think I'm going to do the diff fluid since that seems to need a change more frequently and hold off on the tranny. As for the brakes I think I'm just going with the valvoline DOT4 stuff, it's cheap and easy to find since i'm doing it this week and don't have time to get some shipped.

As for the brakes do you just suck out most of the old fluid, fill up some fresh fluid and have the helper pump the brakes, open the valve, close the valve and repeat occasionally topping off the fluid? Any special precautions for the S?

 

You've pretty much got it. Like I said, there is a Clutch fluid change written up in the FAQs at the top of UTH. The procedure for brakes is almost the same EXCEPT for the fact that the brake pedal must be held down (as opposed to the clutch pedal, which is NOT spring loaded when bleeding). Other than the sequence as I mentioned earlier, if you use a "2-person" method, the valve is opened before pushing down on the pedal and is kept down till the valve is closed. Then let the pedal up.
Open - down ........... close - up ............... open - down, etc. till clear fluid comes out. Keep reservoir topped up so you don't suck in air. Might be useful to take off all wheels (jackstands) as it can be tough to get the hose onto the bleed screw otherwise.

 

When I changed the fluid, I used a DOWN-OPEN-CLOSE-UP sequence. This way, positive pressure was always put on the system, ensuring that no air was sucked back into the system. In fact, I pumped the brakes before each DOWN to get a good amount of pressure built up. This agrees with the reasoning behind not letting the brake pedal bottom out on the DOWN stroke (ie no positive pressure is being applied to the fluid). Maybe we are both right though