Transmission flush
For the last 20 years or so I have always done a flush by draining the fluid via the line going to the cooler/radiator. At one point I had made my own contraption to pump fluid back into the return line so as to not starve the tranny of fluid - it was a stainless steel fire extinguisher with a schrader valve that allowed me to pressurize it with shop air.
I think I gave the fire extinguisher to someone to fill the hydraulic oil in his truck and I have not used that ever since. I could hook up a funnel to the hood of the vehicle and run a clean piece of transmission line to the return (I have done that in the past), but I mostly just run the engine and let the fluid drain into a container and refill. I usually go through the gears before I drain the fluid out, and I always make sure the engine is warm enough so it does not go into fast idle - both for tranny and power steering flushes.Now, I have done this twice on my own 2003 Element first with Amalie synthetic ATF and shortly after with Honda ATF. I never had a problem and I drove that 2003 Element long distances - over 2K miles round trip a couple of times.
That 4WD Element got totaled when someone rear-ended me and I now have a 2003 EX 2WD and a 2007 EX 2WD. I just love the 2007 with it's extra power and extra gear along with the other additions/refinements. I was going to do the usual flush on it but decided to do a drain and refill instead - I did not have a case of Honda ATF at that moment. I did however add a little TransX to the transmission as I do have the shudder at 30mph. I am going to do another drain and refill soon and eventually will change the filter as well.
Like I said earlier, ordinarily I would have done a flush as usual, but since I like this 2007 model so much, I am going to stick to what is recommended. I am attaching fluid diagrams of the transmission in P and N and was wondering if there is a reader who is well versed with transmissions who could tell us if it is safe to do the DIY flush this way, or will it be starving the tranny of fluid and possibly do a little bit of damage.