I suppose just follow the manufacturer's recommendations. Fwiw, I did change mine early and noticed that the oil was dark and the magnetic plug completely covered with a thick layer of metal powder. The manual says to change the oil if it is "dirty" when checked at the proper maintenance intervals.

 

After reading many posts on replacement of lubricants whether oil, tranny fluid or differential gear oil, it can never hurt to replace earlier or as per manufacturer's recommendations. To many of us, this is a hobby thing, so do it if it turns your crank!

After reading this post last night and planning to replace my tranny fluid while up on blocks for winter, I noticed that the Honda shop manual says never to start and run the engine while the rear wheels are up on blocks as it may damage the differential. Obviously you do not want the car in gear, free wheeling with no resistance, however with the parking brake on and the wheels kept from turning why can't I idle the car once a month on blocks? Your comments please...

PS You can use motor oil temporarily as tranny fluid, but Honda recommends their MTF as the best. With trannies being replaced I would not use anything else. Don't give anyone an excuse to avoid warranty work.

 

Thanks cdelena and Reverand. Changing gear lube will be one of my New Years resolutions .

 

After driving 10k miles in 4 months, I decided to have my transmission and differential fluid replaced.

The mechanic noticed several things that got his interest.

1) the differential magnetic drain plug had a layer of metal shavings.

2) the differential fill plug used a copper washer instead of the typical aluminum washer.

I just thought I'd pass this information on.

 

Do you recall noticing any metal shavings or particles in the oil or on the drain plug?

 

The lube did not look bad (like the transmission) but there was a fine coating of metal on the magnetic plug. Not having a Torsen before I just wrote it off as normal.

 

Did my differential when I went to Mobil 1 in the engine @ 4000 miles and had metal shavings in mine as well. Very reputable mechanic with lots of Honda experience suggested keeping an eye on it considering Honda's lack of rear wheel drive experience.
JohnA

 

so the rear diff. gear lubricant oil should be replaced every 5 oil changes/15K miles or so if driven hard?

 

How often do you guys change diff fluid?

 

3k for the first change, and then every 15k thereafter.