Op updated re: Jdm atf-z1 ultra
Op updated re: Jdm atf-z1 ultra
Updated re: changing solenoid switch
One piece of info to add to this. Honda do not make their own oils. In fact no motor vehicle manufacturer does. (20 plus years in the Oil Industry in both manufacturing and marketing taught me this.) Their engineers work with the major oil company's, who have the necessary test labs etc to test how their oils measure up to the task of satisfactorily lubricating the automotive manufacturers equipment and then make changes to the blends as required. The automotive manufacturing company then puts out a tender for supplying lubricants with that auto manufacturers name on the container, for sale though their spare parts outlets. The tender winner then slaps that automotive manufacturers sticker on small containers of those oils that meet that automotive manufacturers specifications. For example, Shell has the Ferrari contract. (world wide)
In Australia, the company that currently has Honda's contract is....Caltex. So when you walk out of your local Honda Dealers spare parts section with either a 500ml, 1 litre or 5 litre container of "Honda Oil", it is in fact one of Caltex's Havoline range.
But does that mean that each and every Honda dealer uses Caltex oils across the board in their workshop?
In regards to what goes into the engine crankcase... No. But when it comes to more specialist applications, like the Auto tranny. Usually Yes.
I know that John Blair Honda in Prahan, Victoria, uses Fuchs oil for engine oil changes and the latest Caltex Havoline Tranny Fluid that meets Honda's ATF DW-1 Specs.
( I wrote the Caltex name down in the service log of my newly aquired Accord Euro, but as I write this, the wife is off driving around in it, so I will post the correct name later when I can get a hold of the car!)
You could probably get the stuff cheaper at your nearest Caltex Lubricants distributor, than buying the stuff with the Honda label on the container.
You can locate them here:
http://www.caltex.com.au/ProductsAnd...nterprise.aspx
Snoop around your nearest dealer and take note of the oil company name on the bulk oil drums they have in their workshop area. Or just ask the service manager directly, like I did.
Bingo: Honda engine oils used to have Havoline/Caltex cap (the star cap) on it
The supermarkets do the same things with their products.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Haanda
I noticed that Dave Potter honda in Adelaide had a Castrol invoice on their table when I went in to ask for spares...
Looked at Caltex's lube guide and it seems they have updated the ATF recommendation to the DW-1 equilvilant on all of their lube guides way before eveyone else so it kinda hints at them having more up to date info from Honda
I just find it a bit strange the engine oil recommendations are so thick 10W-30 or 15W-40 for my 03-08 Euro?!
Have never seen anywhere sell 5L bottles of Caltex oils though
Probabily going to stick to Penrite, it works well for me..... tempted to give their DW-1 alternative (Fully Synthetic LV) a shot despite it not being recommended yet
Caltex oil is Texaco Havoline AKA Chevron
Most of their oils do not meet API SN/SM specs
And doesn't really fill me with confidence
Penrite HPR5 (5w40) is the best!
Seeing that the Caltex parent company is Chevron, one of the world "Big 5" retail petroleum giants (being Shell, BP, Total S.A., Chevron and Exxon) I doubt very much that their modern products DO NOT meet sn/sm specs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jasemas
These are the companies that ARE the API and control the world retail oil market.
Some products are specifically meant for older engines etc, built before the sn spec (introduced in 2010) or sm spec (introduced in 2004) arrived on the scene, so the company's are not going to make all their products to meet those specs. (I also own a 1996 SAAB. No point in using sn or sm spec oil in that car. Ditto for anyone owning a Gen 5 Accord.) Just select the ones that do if your car was built after either of those dates.
The one thing that many do not pick up on is that the tightest refined oil specs laid down, are those of the US military. (Look for the "milspec" rating in any refined product spec sheet. That's what it refers to.)
All other small oil company's have some sort of link to one of these majors. R&D is costly and complex and they rely on information from the sophisticated R&D labs owned by the big 5 company's, that work hand in hand with the the senior engineers of the Development Engineering departments of the major automotive, marine and aerospace manufactures.
(Don't forget Jet Engine Manufacturers such as SNECMA , GE, Pratt and Whitney and Rolls Royce etc!)
For example, Castrol,--- 40% owned by Shell. Pennzoil--- 100% owned by Shell.
They either buy their base oils from refinery's owned by the big 5 and blend them themselves, or buy in bulk from the Big 5 and repackage in their own containers. (For example, in Victoria there is a well run, but minor oil company called APCO. All its products are sourced from Mobil.)
The last lubricating Oil Production plant in Australia was at the Shell Refinery in Geelong, Victoria. (It was one of only 2 Shell plants in the world that made the base oils for 100% fully Synthetic Oil, when that type of oil 1st appeared on the scene.) Shell closed that plant and demolished it some years ago and now all Lube Oil base oils sold here, are imported from Singapore and India, with a trickle from Europe and the USA. (Australian Bass Strait crude does not contain any crude oil heavy enough to be refined into base oils for Lube Oil.)
Penrite is a great oil with a very good name. If you feel comfortable using it, then continue to do so.
(BTW. If I was to tell you what the base product was for fully synthetic oil, many of you would shake your heads in disbelief.):eek:
@Jasemas Caltex products do have APIs so I dunno which oils you are referring to http://www.caltex.com.au/FPL%20PDS/H...ium%20Plus.pdf but I can agree that there aren't many products better than Penrite or Nulon for the average user
@Haanda, do you have a source for these ownership examples you just stated? I find it hard to believe that Castrol (a BP brand) can be owned partically by Shell because BP is such a huge company themselves and they own many smaller ones. Buying some new packaged Shell oil recently, I saw that it all comes out of HK now
Quote:
Originally Posted by AndrewRox22
Jasemas is kinda right, the Honda FEO 10w30 is API SL, a 15 year old spec which is quite a bit inferior to SN or SM in terms of protection, You need the FEO ultra to get SM spec (old feo ultra is 5w30, it's now 10w30), which is still an 10 year old spec, SN is the "Latest" so to speak...Quote:
Originally Posted by Haanda
Which just means honda wants you to pay premium price for crap (more or less)
Now the USDM Honda full synthetic 5w20 is API SN.... Which is made by Diametsu (spell?)
In Australia/USA group 3 base oil can be called fully synthetic, thanks to Castrol winning that lawsuit back in 1990's.Quote:
Originally Posted by Haanda
Group 3 is basically highly refined mineral oil....
In Europe however you'll need to be at least group 4 to be called synthetic.
Group 4 = PAO
Group 5 = Ester
NOW back to topic of ATF and Honda auto tranny, honda ATF-Z1 is bascially mineral base oil with a crap load of Zinc, ATF-DW1 is pretty much the same but thinner (except in canada, where they use a synthetic base....), the blend was reported as being not aluminium friendly at all.
No chance in hell im using Mineral base oil in a tranny for 80k km....
Just to clarify ( as Freedopstates, this has gone way off topic ) Many of these majors enter Joint Ventures together. Yes, BP (UK) bought out Castrol some years ago, but during my time in the industry in this country, Castrol (Australia) was a 40/60 Shell/BP partnership, with Shell being the major base oil supplier. Of course, Shell (Australia) is now in fact 100% owned by Dutch/Swiss group "Vitol......" Lots of smoke and mirrors in the Oil game.
What I have been trying to point out though is that after reading through a US Honda forum and a Brit Mercedes forum, in both is a similar misconception that auto manufacturers make their own lube oils and that these are the "be all and end all of oils." Whereas individual dealer workshops actually use whatever brand of bulk oil they can get that meets the required specs, at the cheapest price!! Independent garages do the same thing and Valvoline ( now German owned) are very aggressive in supplying that latter market in this country.
And to endorse Freedops again, mineral oils in a tranny for 80,000 kms or more?.... No way! 20,000 kms has been and is still my limit. :)
A question concerning the Auto Tranny filter in my 2012 Euro.
It took me a while to locate it ( directly under the fuse box in the rear of the engine bay on the passenger side) but it is in a vertical position, not lying horizontal like the photos I have seen of the way it is positioned in earlier models.
Can anyone advise me
1) if the Filter part no, as supplied on page 1 of this thread, applies to my model?
2) What the flow direction is? ("Up" or "Down")
Thanks in advance.
Look at the part diagram here:Quote:
Originally Posted by Haanda
http://www.oemacuraparts.com/auto-pa...pipe-l4-2-scat
It's item 5, and yes the filter part number is the same, as to where it flows... Just use the same place as when u take it out...
Ps those guys in US don't ship overseas, so try ebay instead.