Amsoil(ATF) trans fluid???

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: daman
Boy that Magnefine for your oil filter is a little pricy,how
long does it last?? the the one for the trans ain't to bad,just
don't like the idea of cutting my lines to install it..


Also most cars have a short section of rubber lines going to the cooler that connect to metal lines going to the tranny. If that is the case, you disconnect one rubber hose going to the line, and connect that to the filter and then get a short section of rubber hose and connect that to the filter and metal line.

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: daman
Boy that Magnefine for your oil filter is a little pricy,how
long does it last?? the the one for the trans ain't to bad,just
don't like the idea of cutting my lines to install it..


The Magnefine is $15 I think. Is that pricey for a filter that will go 30K miles and help to keep your tranny running fine?

I believe I read 30K is the suggested interval, but I could be wrong.

That is only a little more than the Amsoil Ea filter for your engine.

no not that one,i'm talking the other one for your motor oiL
the $40 one!!!

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: daman
Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: daman
Boy that Magnefine for your oil filter is a little pricy,how
long does it last?? the the one for the trans ain't to bad,just
don't like the idea of cutting my lines to install it..


The Magnefine is $15 I think. Is that pricey for a filter that will go 30K miles and help to keep your tranny running fine?

I believe I read 30K is the suggested interval, but I could be wrong.

That is only a little more than the Amsoil Ea filter for your engine.

no not that one,i'm talking the other one for your motor oiL
the $40 one!!!


Ok, I saw that on their website. Unsure if it was actually a prefilter, or put a magnetic field on your oil to filter it better. Have not seen any info on how long it lasts, but at $40 it should last the life of the car.

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: daman
Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: daman
Boy that Magnefine for your oil filter is a little pricy,how
long does it last?? the the one for the trans ain't to bad,just
don't like the idea of cutting my lines to install it..


The Magnefine is $15 I think. Is that pricey for a filter that will go 30K miles and help to keep your tranny running fine?

I believe I read 30K is the suggested interval, but I could be wrong.

That is only a little more than the Amsoil Ea filter for your engine.

no not that one,i'm talking the other one for your motor oiL
the $40 one!!!


Ok, I saw that on their website. Unsure if it was actually a prefilter, or put a magnetic field on your oil to filter it better. Have not seen any info on how long it lasts, but at $40 it should last the life of the car.

yea you would think it would last a wile for sure..lol

 

[Steve S]

Originally Posted By: hi-miler
Originally Posted By: Pablo
Sure there is no reason why it shouldn't go 100K in normal service. I have drained quite a few cars with factory fill at 100K. Never have I analyzed the fluid, but it was still functioning. (ugly and smelly, yes)

Again if you are doing a true full flush, you will be fine.


My mechanic friend says it's bad medicine to change out dino ATF with high miles on it and replace it with synthetic. Believes it's a precurser to a tranny failure. He's a good mechanic and honest to a fault, but he's also a proponent of 3k oil changes. What's been your experience Pablo? What's your info to back up what your practices are?
Transmissions seem to be short on any extra quality.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: hi-miler


My mechanic friend says it's bad medicine to change out dino ATF with high miles on it and replace it with synthetic. Believes it's a precurser to a tranny failure. He's a good mechanic and honest to a fault, but he's also a proponent of 3k oil changes. What's been your experience Pablo? What's your info to back up what your practices are?


Historically, with the poorer ATFs, (say, pre DexIIIH and equivalent fluid), when ATs went too long without fluid changes, when they were changed, a LOT of junk would clean out and start plugging things up, etc. Soon thereafter, ATs would start running poorly or "break".

This is not abnormal from back in the day.

In normal service, since the late 1990s, GM has allowed 100k AT service intervals on many platforms. Things have gotten better and longer-lived, in normal service.

So to me, the whole bad to change fluid on hi-mile ATs was the same whether it was changed out with dino or syn ATF. The best recommendations for a LONG time was to do a number of fluid only flushes first, then a filter and fluid change, then another not long after, if the AT was not well-maintained.

Given the overall concept that syn base fluids solve and breakup deposits in the engine, they can do the same in an AT. Doesnt mean that syn is worse than dino in poorly-maintained transmissions.

In reality, there is no excuse for a poorly maintained transmission. And if youre only doing light service on an AT specced to go 100k, I see no good reason it cant do that.

That said, for something as sensitive as an AT, Id surely flush out the fluid before doing a replacement service on a 100k specced AT, regardless of if I was putting dino or syn for the second time.

JMH

 

[HondaMan]

I just had a T Tec done on a GM A4S270R ... 178,000 miles on the original fluid.

I'd like to hit 250,000 on the car .... if the tranny dies in less than 10k, I'll revive this thread .....

I did not go with Amsoil for the T Tec, but I would bet any amount of money that Amsoil ATF is capable of 100k service.

There is an 01 Mazda in our driveway that is being loaned to us, it has 81k miles... no service has been done to the AT what so ever. It has an OE DEX III fill.

So again, in both these examples, basic OE fluid lasting well .... Amsoil ATF would do just as good if not better.

 

[ThirdeYe]

My old '98 Altima had the original ATF in it at 128k miles when I sold it and it shifted perfectly fine.

 

[bmwtechguy]

daman said, "if anyone's taken this oil out this far could you post up so i know how your experience went,or what was the mileage you took it to????

I changed out the ATF on my sister's Aerostar at 100k miles-first service. These trannies (A4LD) tend to be hard on fluid. We did a complete flush with Amsoil ATF at that time. She drives very spirited- read pedal to the metal everywhere she goes. Came with a respectable aux cooler in front of the radiator from the factory. Looking back, I wish we had done a complete flush first with some cheaper Dex/Merc. After 50k miles, we did another complete flush due to the fluid did not look/smell all that new anymore, and we figured it would be cheaper than a new trans. We sampled that fluid and it was considered good for continued use, but we had already changed it. Recently we flushed it out/changed filter again with new fluid and it looked really good inside, magnet not very dirty- no leaks, either. It now has 240k miles on original unit, and still shifts like a new one. My friend who rebuilds these says he rarely sees them go past 150k, probably mostly units that have never been serviced.

One more for you: My 91 Caprice with 700R4 was serviced the first time at 130k miles with a complete flush of WM super tech DexIII. We then took a 2000 mile trip and when we got back, I did another complete flush with Amsoil ATF this time and another filter change. I also added a large (Long-manufactured) aux cooler in front of the ac condenser. I have not touched this fluid since then and it now has more than 110k miles on same fluid/filter. The only thing I want to do is add aux filtration to the cooler line from the trans. This unit still shifts and behaves very well. And BTW, the fluid still looks and smells like new Amsoil ATF out of the bottle. I have towed our boat and other heavy trailers through the mountains, etc. So, all told I am very impressed with the Amsoil ATF and will continue to use it in my vehicles.

 

[daman]

Thanks bmwtechguy!!!

 

[bmwtechguy]

If you want to extend auto trans life, use high quality fluid, add additional cooling, especially in hot climate or towing/mountains, then add additional filtering in cooler line. I have had good success with this, especially when the trans is designed and built correctly from the factory. Some factory or design defects cannot be helped much, leading to a shorter life regardless of maintenance or upgrades in cooling, filtration, or fluid quality.