2007 Odyssey - Oil and Transmission Fluid Change

Up till now the dealer has performed all the maintenance on mine. I am at 36k now. After finding out they charge $70 to drain and fill the transmission I thought I would do it myself. Evidently that is all that is required...no filter. As it turns out it is pretty easy.

I put mine up on ramps. I needed some wood in front of the ramps to raise the front enough for the approach angle. My drive train was at normal operating temperature before I started the work.

Transmission:
- Loosen the fill screw (very tight from the factory I discovered). It is located below the brake resevoir on the left (says ATF on it). A 17mm socket with some extensions will do the job.
- Remove the drain plug. It is horizontal, 3/8 ratchet square head will work.
- Clean the magnet on the drain plug.
- Let it all drain out, reinstall drain plug with new gasket, remove the fill plug and fill it up. Mine took about 3.6qts

Engine:
- Loosen cap
- Remove drain plug (17mm)
- Let it all drain out
- Remove oil filter, (the oil filter is very easy to get to) I needed to purchase a smaller filter wrench since this filter is pretty narrow. I placed some news paper over the cross member so the oil would not leak all over it.
- Install drain plug with new gasket. Remove fill cap and fill it up. Mine took 4.5qts.

Reset the maintenance minder by turning on the ignition, pressing the trip meter button until the maintenance information is displayed (if not already there), once there hold it for about 10sec until the display flashes, press again while the display is flashing and hold it for about 5sec until the oil reads 100%.

Hope this helps.

Good write up. I just did a trans drain/fill on my 2008 LX at 20Kmi. Mine drained out just under a gallon. I refilled with Valvoline Maxlife (suitable for Honda Z-1 use) @ under $18/gallon. Yes that fill plug was TIGHT. Mine broke free with a nerve wracking *SNAP*. I'll do another drain/fill sometime down the road. The Maxlife seems to subdue some of the trans wierdness my 2008 always seemed to have; Oscillating RPMs in 5th gear, ~40mph, etc..

Joel

I would love to buy this van, how is the engine compartment is it hard to work on?

Also I hate the idea that in the case I have to take engine out dealer must do it since the engine has to come from the bottom and that is impossible to do at home garage.

I would love to buy this van, how is the engine compartment is it hard to work on?

Also I hate the idea that in the case I have to take engine out dealer must do it since the engine has to come from the bottom and that is impossible to do at home garage.

Any newer FWD, subframed vehicle will spec dropping the whole engine/cradle out from under the vehicle. That's pretty common. That doesn't mean it's the only way to get the engine out though. That being said, I don't think I've ever heard of a 3.5L equipped Odyssey needing the engine pulled. For routine maintenance, they are very easy (oil, filters, sparkplugs, coolant, brakes, etc). The most labor intensive item would be a timing belt/water pump changeout, but you're good for ~5yrs/100Kmi+ on those. Transmissions are hit/miss, but they are with lots of minivans.

Joel