2011 Kia Optima trans fluid service decision

[Endo600]

My daily driver is a 2011 Kia Optima. I have owned this car since new. It runs great and has not experienced any of the engine issues most kias are known for.

At 60k miles I had the transmission fluid changed at the kia dealership. ( i am not sure if they did a flush or a drain and fill).

While I have kept up on oil changes I really haven't maintained the transmission.

So now I am at 222K miles. I have started to notice it takes a little longer to shift. Its not a big change and anyone else probably wouldn't notice its so minuscule, but since I have logged all those miles I am used to its normal behavior. Since it is so slight, there is only a tiny bit of slippage noticed since it doesn't have time to rev higher between changes.

So basically I have 160k on the fluid that's in it.

Should I try a drain and fill to see if that helps? or a drain and fill plus try some "miracle" in a bottle (brands?) ?, or just try one of the miracles in bottle by itself?

Any other options I should have on the table?

I have read that removing old fluid that contains some of the "grit" from the clutch packs could actually do more damage than good. So I really don't know what to do. I know if the trans is on its way out that nothing I do will change that, but if there is anything I can do to prolong its remaining life span than I would like to give it a shot.

As mentioned this has been a pretty solid vehicle and I would even consider swapping transmissions if this one goes bad but I'd like to delay the process as long as possible. I'm getting ready to change jobs so me swapping transmissions would not be possible for several months.

 

[Kira]

160k on the fluid? Do a drain & fill.
Go 10 oz. shy on the refill to allow a bottle of LubeGard (red bottle).

ps What fluid does your unit take?

 

[Cujet]

I don't subscribe to the urban legend that a fluid change is somehow the cause of transmission failure. What is far more likely is that a malfunctioning transmission gets a fluid change in an attempt at 'fixing' a true mechanical problem.

The world is full of people with limited technical understanding. Some of them contribute to this urban legend.

Here is what I know, mechanical parts wear out from use. Poor maintenance, low quality components and severe service can contribute to early failures. There are even those who believe oil changes result in more rapid wear and have questionable data to back up their claims.

FWIW, I was a young tech, involved in HTS (high thermal stability) Mobil Jet 254 oil and SHC 100 grease testing for Mobil Oil's flight department. They used a scanning electron microscope to measure wear. We did use oil analysis results to ensure there were no impending problems but the results were not indicative of wear rates. They measured actual wear on specific components through actually taking things apart and inspecting them.

 

[Cujet]

NOTE: Today's digitally controlled transmissions can be programed to work around known mechanical problems or shortcomings. Sometimes a reset of the TCM (trans control module) or other programming is required to make an older transmission adapt to it's current wear state. Ford is notorious for this, even going so far as to intentionally skip a malfunctioning gear, hoping the driver won't notice.

 

[Endo600]

160k on the fluid? Do a drain & fill.
Go 10 oz. shy on the refill to allow a bottle of LubeGard (red bottle).

ps What fluid does your unit take?

SP-IV

 

[RF Overlord]

^^^what Cujet said...all of it.^^^

Also, ^^^what Kira said^^^.

 

[cb450sc]

I owned a 2011 Optima for ten years. I had the transmission fluid changed at 150,000 km. The car did not give me any trouble and I had the fluid changed as regular maintenance. I traded it in for a Kia K5

 

[dubber09]

Just do a drain and fill, imho no additives are needed. MaxLife works great in those transmissions.

 

[KrisZ]

A drain and fill shouldn’t hurt but also don’t expect it will cure your symptom, or if it does it won’t return. The damage may have been done already.

 

[kschachn]

I don't subscribe to the urban legend that a fluid change is somehow the cause of transmission failure. What is far more likely is that a malfunctioning transmission gets a fluid change in an attempt at 'fixing' a true mechanical problem.

The world is full of people with limited technical understanding. Some of them contribute to this urban legend.

Here is what I know, mechanical parts wear out from use. Poor maintenance, low quality components and severe service can contribute to early failures. There are even those who believe oil changes result in more rapid wear and have questionable data to back up their claims.

FWIW, I was a young tech, involved in HTS (high thermal stability) Mobil Jet 254 oil and SHC 100 grease testing for Mobil Oil's flight department. They used a scanning electron microscope to measure wear. We did use oil analysis results to ensure there were no impending problems but the results were not indicative of wear rates. They measured actual wear on specific components through actually taking things apart and inspecting them.

Always "I have heard" or "I have read" or "someone said" or "a mechanic once said".

Any "grit" in the fluid if present is detrimental and never held clutch packs together.

 

[daves66nova]

My 2011 Kia Optima has 190,xxx miles and I got it at 135,xxx. I just did a change. I didn't feel any difference as in slipping or so. I don't know if previous owner ever changed fluid.

 

[dubber09]

My 2011 Kia Optima has 190,xxx miles and I got it at 135,xxx. I just did a change. I didn't feel any difference as in slipping or so. I don't know if previous owner ever changed fluid.

If you did drain and fill then you replaced only ~50% of the ATF volume, so there is old fluid in there still, not that it's a bad thing.
ATF color and smell can give you 'guesstimate' on how much use it had. Drain and fill every 30k miles is more than sufficient esp with synth MaxLife ATF.

 

[Vegoose]

My son has a 2011 Optima that we bought around 90k miles. I’ve done 2 drain and refills with Maxlife and it shifts smoothly, no slippage or delays. I don’t see the need for any additional additives. I’m curious - are you still on the original motor mounts? They were completely shot on our car at 90k. Changing them made a huge difference in NVH.

 

[THORROMIG]

My son has a 2011 Optima that we bought around 90k miles. I’ve done 2 drain and refills with Maxlife and it shifts smoothly, no slippage or delays. I don’t see the need for any additional additives. I’m curious - are you still on the original motor mounts? They were completely shot on our car at 90k. Changing them made a huge difference in NVH.

LubeGard Red used as 1 ounce per quart has "never" hindered a vehicle I have put it in. Only helped older transmission is my personal experience.

 

[Urshurak776]

In all the Hyundai and Kia vehicles I have owned, they all got a drain and fill with Maxlife between 60K-75K. Then again at 100K. Every 30K after that. Seems to work just fine. My 2012 Santa FE had 268K on it when it got totaled. Car ran like a top.

My sons Santa Fe just hit 60K. I'll do a drain and fill before summer.

To OP, just do a drain and fill. Maybe do another one next oil change after that.

 

[BSeward]

I did a drain and fill on my 2011 Soul at 75,000 miles. Realizing that only a percentage of the fluid actually exits through the drain plug, I repeated the procedure 3 times over the next thousand miles. That should have given me a 90% or more total replacement. The transmission was working great until the car hit 141,000 miles, when a broken timing belt sent it to an early grave. (Yes, I replaced the original belt, and idler, and water pump at around the same time. I was going to order a new belt kit, but the Gates belt I had installed decided to not play nice. My 2019 Soul I bought a couple weeks ago ha a Timing Chain.

 

[yowps3]

The H/K 6-speed auto is a very solid unit. Have one in my 2014 Forte Turbo and it's a very smooth operator.

What i really like about it is when shifting into D or R is virtually seamless, the RPMs don't even drop one bit. Gives it a quality feel, as most other cars have that slight shudder and RPM drop.

 

[live_to_hunt]

We have a 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe. I do a drain and fill with Maxlife. I do have a scan tool with transmission temp so I get to I think 122 degrees I have it written down in the garage. Any how it’s been working well I do it every two years it’s cheap and not hard to do.

 

[Fordiesel69]

Chrysler has a 3 speed non lockup automatic transmission pair with the 3.0L V6 mitsubishi engine used in their caravans / voyagers, and quite a few front wheel drive cars.

Back in this era, if you had changed overdue fluid (say after 100k) the new fluid would wash the debris off the casing, and deposit into the valve body channels and within 500 miles of doing the change, the transmission would start to slip and burn up the clutches.

There are a few other transmissions that this happens with as well. The good news is with modern valve bodys, this issues does not present itself any longer.