Transmission Oil Change

Transmission oil change intervalls

The owners and service manual recommends the following intervalls:

Normal driving conditions: Every 144.000km / 90.000miles or 6 year (which ever comes first)
Harsh driving conditions: Every 48.000km / 30.000miles or 6 months (which ever comes first)

The service manual states the following definition:

Less than 8km (5 miles) per trip on non-freezing weather conditions.
Less than 16km (10m miles) per trip on freering temperatures.
In hot weather climates with temperatures above 32°C/90°F.
Extensive idling or long preiods of stop-and-go driving (e.g. as taxi or commercial deliver vehicle).
Driving on mountainous roads.
On muddy, dusty, or de-iced roads.

Additionally definition from other S2000 owners:

Sport and fast paced driving with a lot of VTEC engagment.
Long preiods of driving at 150km/h (93 mph) or above.
Racetrack driving (most people recommend to change the oil after each racetrack visit).

2L / 2qts transmission oil (or a little more if you would like to "flush" the transmission)
New crush washer for the oil drain bolt (Honda #91409-14000)
New crush washer for the oil filling bolt (Honda #91409-20000)
17mm socket
Ratchet
Torque wrench (40Nm / 29 lb-ft and 44Nm / 33 lb-ft)
Oil catch pan
Floor jack + 4 jack stands
A lube pump since it is hard to fill the transmission without it

Before your start it might be a good idea to drive the car for a while to increase the temperature of the oil in the transmission.
Put the car in the first gear and set the parking brake.
Jack up the car on the front by using the central jacking point near the engine.
There are two front-jacking-points on each side. Place one jack stand on each side at the jacking-point that is the furthest away from the front wheel.
Lower and remove your floor jack and continue jacking up the rear by using the jacking point on the differential.
Place your jack stands on the left and right side jacking points at the rear of the car.

The transmission is located behind the engine and has two bolts (drain and filling) on the drivers side.
The lower bolt is the drain bolt while the upper one is the filling bolt.
Place your oil catch pan below the transmission drain bolt .
Remove the transmission oil drain bolt with a 17mm socket from the transmission.
The transmission oil will now drain from the transmission and you might need to re-adjust your oil catch pan.

Once all the oil has be drained I like to fill fresh oil into the transmission to "rinse or flush" the transmission with the new oil.
Wait until no oil (either old or new from "rinsing") comes out of the transmission.

Fill the new oil filter about half full with fresh engine oil.
Use your finger to to apply fresh engine oil to the gasket of the new oil filter.
Screw the new oil filter on the engine until the gasket touches the engine.
Now either use a filter socket and a torque wrench to tighten to filter to 24Nm / 18 lb-ft or do 7/8 of a full turn of the filter.
Replace the old crush washer from the engine oil drain bolt.
Usually the crush washer will have to sides, one that has a rounded edge and one that has a sharper edge. The sharp edge should face the oil pan.
Hand tighten the engine oil drain bolt. Then use your 17mm socket and a torque wrench and tighten it to 40Nm / 29 lb-ft.
You can now fill the rest of you new oil into the engine.
Start the engine and let it idle for a few seconds.
After 10 minutes check the oil level according to: Engine_oil#Reading_the_oil_level_dipstick_correctly