2002 Hyundai Sonata trans. service ?'s

[earlyre]

since it's out of warranty,why not. they (Hyundai) can be VERY picky about what fluid is in the trans, and are lightning fast at denying the claim, if it's not their magic juice. I used to have a 2000 sonata, and IIRC, it was only specc'd to be flushed/filter changed every 60k mi.(hence mine was done once, @ 60,000.) though they did have to replace the trans pan gasket @ around 80k.(so i imagine they replaced a good bit of the fluid then too.) day after the dealer replaced a leaky oil pan gasket, the trans pan gasket(which had NEVER leaked), "suddenly developed" one...

 

[thereed]

I have an '02 Sonata with 120,000 miles that I purchased from my wife's uncle. He bought it new and took pretty good care of it. As of right now I'm just trying to get all of the maintenance up to date. It has had at least one trans service, maybe two, so I'm doing a drain and fill via the drain plug. I figure I'm going to get roughly half of the fluid out this way so I plan on doing a few short intervals to flush as much of the old fluid as I can. I was thinking about doing a 5K, 10k, and then going with a 15K fluid change schedule for the life of the vehicle. 30k is the severe service schedule so I figure half of that for a roughly 50% fluid exchange should be sufficient. Do you all think this sounds reasonable? Should I do a few more short intervals? As for the fluid, I'm using Pennzoil multi-vehicle ATF that I picked up for 97 cents a piece. I keep going back to the NEX and clearing them out of there stock. So far I've gotten 28 qts. at that price.

 

[rjacket]

$1 per quart of ATF is great and no wonder you don't mind doing half drain and fills at that price! I had to buy 14 quarts of Mercon V at $5 quart so made sure it was as close to a 100% drain and fill as possible. Your new fluid ratio will go like this Change 1 now: 50% new. 50% "original" old Change 2 at 5k: 75% "new" = 50% new + 25% 5k old. 25% "original" old. Change 3 at 10k: 87.5% "new" = 50% new + 25% 5k old + 12.5% 10k old. 12.5% "original" old Change 4 at 15k: 93.75% "new" = 50% new + 25% 5k old + 12.5% 10k old + 6.75% 15k old. 6.25% "original" old It's not bad, but why not just do 100% now and 100% at 15k?

 

[Eddie]

I think your fluid plug drain & refill plan is a very good one. I also like the Pennzoil MV ATF and that is a great price. I pay ~ $4.99 here at my WalMarts.

 

[Audios]

Why not drop the pan change the filter and clean the magnets? Do it once for 60-80k.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Flushing out old fluid is nice. Dropping the pan once in a while and changing that filter is needed, too. Many people forget that part.

 

[LeakySeals]

Filter or screen like many modern cars have? Find out. If its a screen filter don't bother dropping the pan. Don't play games with tranny fluid. Buy at the dealer, ask for a washer. They will give it to you for free. Drain and fill, drain and fill every other year...you'll get 50-75% each time.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Excuse me? I can't name a "modern car" with an automatic that does not have a filter! Can you?

 

[LeakySeals]

2002 Toyota Camry XLE I4. Filter was nothing more than a metal screen. waste of time opening the pan. Your excused.

 

[thereed]

From what I understand the filter in these transmissions is basically impossible to get at unless your rebuilding the thing. I would just drop the pan and change the filter but when I searched around on a Hyundai forum, I was told it really wasn't possible to change. It really sucks because when I first got the car I found out it used a filter much like an oil filter so I thought I could replace it with ease and they are dirt cheap too. I'll have to get a Chiltons or something along those lines to make sure I can't get to it because I would feel a lot better replacing the filter. For the fluid, if I was under warranty I would probably use dealer fluid, but I'm way out of warranty so I'm going to take advantage of my $.97 Pennzoil that says it "meets the requirements" of SP-III fluid. I was thinking about doing a 5K, 10k, and then going with a 15K fluid change schedule for the life of the vehicle. 30k is the severe service schedule so I figure half of that for a roughly 50% fluid exchange should be sufficient. Do you all think this sounds reasonable? Should I do a few more short intervals?

 

[SHOZ]

Here's the procedure from Hyundai to flush the trans. AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUIDREPLACEMENT Replace the fluid by the following procedure. 1. Disconnect the hose which connects the transmission and the oil cooler (inside the radiator). 2. Start the engine and let the fluid drain out. Running conditions : N range with engine idling. The engine should be stopped within one minute after it is started. If the fluid has all drained out before then, the engine should be stopped at that point. 3. Remove the drain plug from the bottom of the transmission case to drain the fluid. 4. Install the drain plug via the gasket, and tighten it the specified torque. Tightening torque : 32 Nm 5. Pour the new fluid in through the oil filler tube. Stop pouring if the full volume of fluid cannot be poured in. 6. Repeat the procedure in step (2). Check the old fluid for contamination. If it has been contaminated, repeat the steps (5) and (6). 7. Pour the new fluid in through the oil filler tube. 8. Reconnect the hose which was disconnected in step (1) above, and firmly replace the oil level gauge. (In case of this "replace", this means after wiping off any dirt around the oil level gauge, insert it into the filler tube.) 9. Start the engine and run it at idle for 1-2 minutes. 10. Move the select lever through all positions, and then move it to the N position. 11. Drive the vehicle until the fluid temperature rises to the normal temperature (70-80°C), and then check the fluid level again. The fluid level must be at the HOT Mark. 12. Firmly insert the oil level gauge into the oil filler tube. http://hmaservice.com/

 

[LeakySeals]

Don't see the urgency to get all the fluid out at once but that's up to you. Beware of universal transmission fluids. Unlike motor oil the weight matters, too thin or thick can be a disaster. Been there, done that why I warned you. Maybe you won't have a problem but the risks are high. Good luck.

 

[thereed]

Thanks for all of you post everyone! SHOZ: I really appreciate you finding the Hyundai procedure for me. It makes me feel better about not replacing the filter considering they don't mention it in their procedure. I don't plan on disconnecting any of the trans lines though. With just pulling the plug, I got 5.3 qts of the 8.3 qt total capacity. LeakySeals: I appreciate your concern. I know universal fluids are good for some and not good for others. If I see any unusual trans functions I'll drop the fluid with a quickness. I heard of people having no problems with the maxlife ATF and the castrol import ATF, infact most say it improved the trans shifting. I would of considered the factory fluid, but I'm about 2 hours from any dealership I could get it from and didn't want to order it. Plus I got my pennzoil for next to nothing and it said it was compatible so I figured it was worth a try. Thank you.

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted By: thereed

From what I understand the filter in these transmissions is basically impossible to get at unless your rebuilding the thing. I would just drop the pan and change the filter but when I searched around on a Hyundai forum, I was told it really wasn't possible to change. It really sucks because when I first got the car I found out it used a filter much like an oil filter so I thought I could replace it with ease and they are dirt cheap too. I'll have to get a Chiltons or something along those lines to make sure I can't get to it because I would feel a lot better replacing the filter.

well i really don't know specifics of the 2002 model, and if you stated it, i must have missed what engine/trans it has, but.... on my old 2000 sonata, with the 2.4l 4cyl, and the 4speed auto(no OD), there certainly was a spin on filter, remotely mounted viewable from the top side of the engine. all you had to do was look down to the left of the airbox...clear down on/by the subframe. ( It was either blue/or black), Autozone lists THIS Duralast filter for $8.99, Rock Auto lists a wix #51064 for $8.40 further reading of the duralast description finds this: "External spin-on filter (If equipped). Internal filter non-serviceable, requires disassembly of transmission housing."

 

[artificialist]

If that ATF you have says SP-III on it, why not change it frequently? However, I still recommend dropping the pan and filter, because I always find some garbage sticking to the transmission pan and magnet. However, if it doesn't say SP-III, use something else.

 

[thereed]

I just found the Technical Service Bulletin stating that Hyundai deleted the external trans filter in 2001. They replaced it with an internal filter that only needs to be serviced during a complete transaxle overhaul.From what I understand, there is really no way to get at this thing unless you separate the trans from the engine, and even then you'll probably have to do some work to get at it. The fluid says its suitable for use in vehicles requiring SP-III so as long as I don't notice any problems I'll use it all up.

 

[Wilhelm_D]

Originally Posted By: thereed

From what I understand the filter in these transmissions is basically impossible to get at unless your rebuilding the thing. I would just drop the pan and change the filter but when I searched around on a Hyundai forum, I was told it really wasn't possible to change. ....

Unlike some other automatics, the Hyundai and the Mitsubishi transmissions don't have a filter accessible through removing a pan. Some of the earlier ones had a screw-on filter, but getting at it without dropping the transmission is pretty near impossible. Hyundai Automatic The filter inside the transmission can only be replaced by partial disassembly of the transmission.

 

[SteveSRT8]

^^^another "lifetime" product!

 

[thereed]

I was thinking about adding an external trans filter. I'm not sure if I'm going with an inline one like a magnefine or a remote one, what do you all think? Also, when the filter that's internal clogs, it should just go into bypass, shouldn't it? The factory filter looks just like an oil filter so I figured it would operate in a similar manner.

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: LeakySeals

2002 Toyota Camry XLE I4. Filter was nothing more than a metal screen. waste of time opening the pan. Your excused.

I still like dropping the pan, just to see how everything is in there if nothing else. And clean or replace the screen/filter.