Pilot Transmission oil By hoser..

I change the oil in my Pilot trans after every big ride ( after burning 25-30 gallons of gas) I know gears are
hard on oil and parts from Honda are not cheap so changing it often seems like a good idea to me, when 
I change the oil I use a clean drain pan so I can see exactly what the oil coming out contains, the oil always 
is darker than new oil but does not look real bad, there is always a metallic hue to the oil but I never find any
metal fragments, I save the oil in a bottle since I know the oil is not worn out use it in my oil cans for oiling 
things around the shop, I also keep it for future reference, if I had a bunch of bearing fail I would be looking 
at the past oil changes to help evaluate why they were short lived.



I let this oil set on the shelf undisturbed for about 2 years then carefully opened and pored the 
oil out into another container so I could see what had settled out in the oil.

Below you can see the black gook that settled at the bottom.


I sprayed carb cleaner in the bottom of the oil bottle and stirred it up good using a clean
magnet to see if any metal could be found, no metal stuck to the magnet so I poured it into
a clean paper towel to take a closer look.

The residue left behind looks like clutch material off of the torque limiter clutch pack, 
I inspected these clutches a few years ago and they were in the factory spec, after 13 
years of hard use I think I will order a new set of fiber clutch plates and replace them at 
the end of the 2002 season, they probably still have a lot of life in them I but rather replace
them now while Honda still is making them and save the old clutches for spares.

22201-HE0-000 Disk, Clutch Friction  $6.52 each from Service Honda 3 required. Part # 3
21198-HE0-000 Gasket, R. Reduction Cover $3.82  from Service Honda Part #1 in picture
below.
Inspection of the steel plates and springs will also be done when the fiber plates are replaced,
more parts may have to be replaced but I will not know until the clutch pack is apart.

                                                         
I stick to my theories on changing the trans oil often to keep the inside of the trans
free of the clutch and metals materials that are normally worn away as the trans is used, it 
also lowers the moisture content of the inside of the transmission, I still want to get another
10 years out of my Pilot...

10-7-02