I'm such a f***ing dumbass

[pow]

Normally I never work on the Odyssey, but it needed an oil change and transmission fluid change, so instead of getting raped at the dealership, I thought I'd do it myself.

So last night, I extracted the oil through the dipstick with my Mityvac evacuator. Then I poured in fresh oil thorugh the fill cap. This morning I drove it a while to get the ATF warmed up.

I drained the ATF through the drain plug, and refilled it with a funnel into the ATF dipstick. I drove it around the block.

But then I noticed some bad noises and gear slippage. I opened the owner's manual again, and lo and behold, what I thought was the engine oil dipstick was the ATF dipstick, and what I thought was the ATF dipstick was the engine oil dipstick.

So now I'm 7 quarts low on ATF and have 9.5 quarts of engine oil AND 2 quarts of ATF in the crankcase. $h!.

Hopefully there isn't long-term damage and Honda doesn't view C&G.

Edited December 24, 2006 by empowah

[Nick]

:rotflmao:

Sorry man...that sucks.

So, I got kind of confused near the end...basically, you put oil in the tranny and ATF in the engine? Or did you just accidentally miss the tranny all together and put all the fluids in the engine? ANd your tranny uses 7 quarts of ATF? That seems kind of high...

When you took out the fluids didn't you notice the difference in fluids? Generally ATF is red and oil (old oil anyway) is black.

How long were you driving on it? I can't imagine the ATF hurt the engine too much, especially if you had plenty of oil in there...Just drain it and you should be good to go. If you're really worried, look up this stuff called Seafoam. They make several different applications which can be used to clean your engine from the inside. Here's the website...they have stuff for the tranny too...

http://www.seafoamsales.com/

I'd be most worried about the tranny, but if you weren't driving on it long then it's probably fine.

Edited December 24, 2006 by Nick

[capriceman]

yeah that was dumb. Don't you change the oil filter when you change the oil? so instead of the extractor why wouldn't you use the drain plug on the oil pan?

i reccomend putting some lucas transmission oil in the trans.

[pow]

yeah that was dumb. Don't you change the oil filter when you change the oil? so instead of the extractor why wouldn't you use the drain plug on the oil pan?

i reccomend putting some lucas transmission oil in the trans.

I didn't want to jack up the car. The oil filter was in the wheelwell and the ATF drain was nearby, too.

[pow]

:rotflmao:

Sorry man...that sucks.

So, I got kind of confused near the end...basically, you put oil in the tranny and ATF in the engine? Or did you just accidentally miss the tranny all together and put all the fluids in the engine? ANd your tranny uses 7 quarts of ATF? That seems kind of high...

When you took out the fluids didn't you notice the difference in fluids? Generally ATF is red and oil (old oil anyway) is black.

How long were you driving on it? I can't imagine the ATF hurt the engine too much, especially if you had plenty of oil in there...Just drain it and you should be good to go. If you're really worried, look up this stuff called Seafoam. They make several different applications which can be used to clean your engine from the inside. Here's the website...they have stuff for the tranny too...

http://www.seafoamsales.com/

I'd be most worried about the tranny, but if you weren't driving on it long then it's probably fine.

I didn't put any oil in the tranny, but I drained it twice (extracted 4 qts ATF, thinking it was oil; then drained 3 qts ATF) without replenishing it. There should be ~5 qts left (out of 12).

I put ~2 qt. ATF in the engine (through the dipstick), thinking I was refilling the ATF I drained earlier.

[balthazar]

Yeah- I would never (and it's never recommended to my knowledge) to change the fluid without changing the filter- no reason not to- it's cheap insurance.

I would, without question & ASAP, drop the pan on the trans, let it drain/drip for a good while, and change the filter/fluid. Then I'd do it again in another 100 miles- the converter & passages are going to hold a bunch of the old mix, wha with 9.5 qrts of engine oil in there. I would not want to subject my trans to operating temps with engine oil in there.

What's a R&R on a minivan trans cost?

I too am surprised a honda transmission holds 12 qrts- I don't believe it. That's as much as a DynaFlow Buick and more than my Alison 1000 (I just changed my fluid filter last weekend: 7.4 qrts). Is this verified?

[AxelTheRed]

Freaking OUCH, dude.

[pow]

Assuming you didn't let the van get too hot, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Honda transmissions are pretty tough and it doesn't sound like you put much in the engine. Buy some cheap oil, run it through the engine for a few days, then change it again and you should be fine.

Nah, Honda V6 transmissions suck. On an Ody forum poll, the failure rate was 33%. The car has 31K miles, and if the tranny clunked out now, it wouldn't be too unusual.

[pow]

Yeah- I would never (and it's never recommended to my knowledge) to change the fluid without changing the filter- no reason not to- it's cheap insurance.

I would, without question & ASAP, drop the pan on the trans, let it drain/drip for a good while, and change the filter/fluid. Then I'd do it again in another 100 miles- the converter & passages are going to hold a bunch of the old mix, wha with 9.5 qrts of engine oil in there. I would not want to subject my trans to operating temps with engine oil in there.

What's a R&R on a minivan trans cost?

I too am surprised a honda transmission holds 12 qrts- I don't believe it. That's as much as a DynaFlow Buick and more than my Alison 1000 (I just changed my fluid filter last weekend: 7.4 qrts). Is this verified?

No, it's even worse. The *engine* is the one with 9.5 qts of oil. I checked the tranny capacity again, and you're right, it only holds 8 qts. That means there's only about ~1 qt. of fluid in there.

What I'm worried about is the excess oil (capacity is 4.6 qt) damaging the catalytic converter and the lack of lubrication in the tranny destructing itself.

Tomorrow morning I'm draining the oil FROM THE ENGINE and filling up the TRANSMISSION with ATF. It should be interesting what happens.

Edited December 24, 2006 by empowah

[regfootball]

jeeses and folks get their shorts in a bind when jiffy lube doesn't fill the washer fluid.

that's ok, we all know this isn't going to affect in way shape or form how emp fills out his report to consumer reports. it will still be glowing across the board.

[Camino LS6]

Not good, not good at all.

Took some cojones to post about it though, I'm trying hard not to crucify you for this. :AH-HA_wink:

You should do several fluid and filter changes in rapid succession for both the trans and the engine.

Good luck.

[CARBIZ]

I admire those of you who have the balls to do your own maintenance in this day and age. For me, I've seen too many horror stories like this and the ensuing ruckus in Service over warranty repairs. I take it, Empowah, that you are relatively experienced at this, and even you can make this rather simple mistake!

I used to work on my '67 Polara myself, but that was then and this is now. Besides the fact that my maintenance is FREE at the dealership as part of our demo package, I haven't had the time or patience for years before that to do my own oil changes, let alone tranny fluid, etc. I hope no serious harm was done- and I am resisting all tempation to make any parting shots about Honda's tranny problems.

[regfootball]

the oil can only help that honda cheese grater, er, tranny.

[Sixty8panther]

Sorry to hear about your troubles...

Your first mistake was buying a Honda.

[Intrepidation]

Oops! Hope that doesn't rape you car too hard. Good luck with it!

[Drew Dowdell]

I hear Honda has a secret extended warranty program on the tranny anyway.

[pow]

I drained the oil and filled up the tranny... drove about 50 miles today and it seems fine.