As the proud owner of a (new to me) 2007 SE w/32kmi I am thrilled that there is such an informative forum to be a part of for info/advice. As a member of several Honda boards I can attest to the fact that there is some priceless information to be found out in these communities. As a DIYer I've saved thousands of dollars being able to do my own maintenance/repairs with the help of these boards.

That being said, I'm more nervous about owning this vehicle than I used to be. Before I purchased I lurked here and read up on the radiator bypass (which I'll be doing this weekend) but somehow never caught the timing chain issue. I previously owned a 98 Pathfinder and loved it (traded for the Odyssey) and it was basically problem free. I'm hoping for the same here, but as they say, they don't make em like they used to.

Also didn't realize how expensive it's going to be to maintain this thing. I've always tried to use OEM fluids as much as possible (Hondas are sensitive to this) but I priced matic-S ($19/qt) and coolant ($32/gal) at the dealer recently and almost gagged. I've since found (thanks to this forum) matic-S at $9/qt (much more reasonable) because I want to go ahead get the fluids changed out being that its at 30k+mi.

I do have one concern I'd like to get advice on - I noticed (after I got it home) a sticker under the hood that noted BG transmission service was done at 27k mi. I have no experience with BG but am leery of franchises doing work on vehicles rather than dealers and also leery in that I don't know what they did. I assume they most likely did not use OEM ATF.

Anyone have experience with BG trans service and should I be concerned?

Thanks.

nocode wrote:As the proud owner of a (new to me) 2007 SE w/32kmi I am thrilled that there is such an informative forum to be a part of for info/advice. As a member of several Honda boards I can attest to the fact that there is some priceless information to be found out in these communities. As a DIYer I've saved thousands of dollars being able to do my own maintenance/repairs with the help of these boards.

That being said, I'm more nervous about owning this vehicle than I used to be. Before I purchased I lurked here and read up on the radiator bypass (which I'll be doing this weekend) but somehow never caught the timing chain issue. I previously owned a 98 Pathfinder and loved it (traded for the Odyssey) and it was basically problem free. I'm hoping for the same here, but as they say, they don't make em like they used to.

Also didn't realize how expensive it's going to be to maintain this thing. I've always tried to use OEM fluids as much as possible (Hondas are sensitive to this) but I priced matic-S ($19/qt) and coolant ($32/gal) at the dealer recently and almost gagged. I've since found (thanks to this forum) matic-S at $9/qt (much more reasonable) because I want to go ahead get the fluids changed out being that its at 30k+mi.

I do have one concern I'd like to get advice on - I noticed (after I got it home) a sticker under the hood that noted BG transmission service was done at 27k mi. I have no experience with BG but am leery of franchises doing work on vehicles rather than dealers and also leery in that I don't know what they did. I assume they most likely did not use OEM ATF.

Anyone have experience with BG trans service and should I be concerned?

Thanks.

Never heard of BG specifically, but your assumptions seem reasonable. Maybe a phone call to them with the VIN and they could pull that invoice? Then you could see what actually happened.

I'm actually on the fence with regards to the trans fluid. In Canada I can only seem to get Matic-J, and its $12 a liter from the dealer. I can get Castrol Syntrans at work for less than $6 (probably free if nobody's looking).

But I haven't made the plunge yet.

t

BG info here: http://www.bgprod.com/products/transmission.html

You only the see the problems when you look on boards like this. My Jeep should have caught fire, my Ford should have thrown a rod, and my Maxima should have spit CV joints. Our PF has been absolutely trouble free.

My mechanic(an independent) has one of those BG machines. It is gentle enough that they used it on my '79 F150 without using the cleaner and it really did a good job of swapping the old burnt fluid without damaging the ancient seals. They can put any type of fluid in the machine and it swaps it out through the cooler lines. Who knows what fluid they used on yours. They only sell S matic here(no more J matic) and that is the only dealer specific fluid I use.