Amsoil Torque Drive in a Rav4?

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FWYT

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Hey all-

I recently picked up a 2010 Rav4 base. 2.5L with the four speed auto.

My dad has quite a few gallons of Amsoil Torque Drive tranny fluid ($$$)
taking up shelf space from his F-350 days that I am welcome to.
Yes, I KNOW that fluid is not “recommended” for my Rav4 application (and I’m not really interested in hearing what Toyota recommends because even though I love Toyotas, lots of times manufacturer recommendations are just a CYA) but can I run it?

If not, why not? Is the Torque Drive too viscous for the Rav4’s valve body? Will it cause it to shift goofy? Is there something in the Torque Drive that is incompatible with the clutch fiber or steel plates? If so, what would it be? Is it simply overkill and if so, is that a bad thing?

Kinda looking for first hand experience . . . like you were in Cabo San Lucas in your Ford Escape and
lost all your tranny fluid and you had the choice of filling it with Tequila or some Allison tranny fluid what was in a truck stop. :D
 
kschachn said:
Why don't you ask the manufacturer of the fluid?

But leave out the tequila question, they will think you're not serious.
Click to expand...

I did but of course Amsoil is going to recommend a different fluid. Again, not interested in what the manufacturers say. Want to hear from people that have gone off the maps.
 
Compare the specs of the two fluids side-by-side, see how far off are, especially the viscosity at 100C (close to operating temperature).
AMSOIL recommendation for your transmission. Toyota WS is OTL type in the below chart:

And AMSOIL Torque Drive:

From what I can see Torque Drive it's similar with the older Toyota T-IV fluid that was user previously before the new generation of fuel-efficient, low viscosity transmission fluids like WS. This change happend to all manufacturers.
Will it work? Probably. Slightly higher losses due to higher pressures, maybe slightly higher temperatures... especially because the 4 cyl RAV4 doesn't have a proper transmission cooler, just a small heat exchanger (with engine coolant).
 
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It sounds like you want someone here to give you the okay. It doesn’t work like that. Check the Toyota requirement and see if this stuff meets it.
 
PimTac said:
It sounds like you want someone here to give you the okay. It doesn’t work like that. Check the Toyota requirement and see if this stuff meets it.
Click to expand...
No, not at all. Looking for the actual reasons why it wouldn't work.

"If not, why not? Is the Torque Drive too viscous for the Rav4’s valve body? Will it cause it to shift goofy? Is there something in the Torque Drive that is incompatible with the clutch fiber or steel plates? If so, what would it be? Is it simply overkill and if so, is that a bad thing?

Kinda looking for first hand experience . . . like you were in Cabo San Lucas in your Ford Escape and
lost all your tranny fluid and you had the choice of filling it with Tequila or some Allison tranny fluid what was in a truck stop. :D"
 
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FWYT said:
No, not at all. Looking for the actual reasons why it wouldn't work.

"If not, why not? Is the Torque Drive too viscous for the Rav4’s valve body? Will it cause it to shift goofy? Is there something in the Torque Drive that is incompatible with the clutch fiber or steel plates? If so, what would it be? Is it simply overkill and if so, is that a bad thing?

Kinda looking for first hand experience . . . like you were in Cabo San Lucas in your Ford Escape and
lost all your tranny fluid and you had the choice of filling it with Tequila or some Allison tranny fluid what was in a truck stop. :D"
Click to expand...


Not sure you are serious.

Bye. ⬛️⬛️
 
Why would I not be serious about this? I love tech stuff.

But there is always room for variations. I know guys that run ATF in their motorcycle gearboxes and never have a problem. (Something I don't do, btw.) When I am rebuilding my motorcycle suspension, I use the Honda fluids whether I'm rebuilding KYB or Showa suspension. Of course KYB does not "recommend" using Honda fluid, but the Honda fluid works great. KTM recommends Motorex and I run Maxima in my KTMs with, you guessed, no issues. And so on.
 
It might work, but between the higher viscosity and the different frictional properties, the shift quality may not be what you expect.
 
That torque drive is a high viscosity fluid meant to replace Dex 3/Mercon and Allison TranSynd(TES295) for anything calling for fluids that meet that requirements. Which is why your dad got it for his F-350.

Your RAV4 needs a low-viscosity, friction modified ATF like Toyota WS/Idemitsu TLS-LV or aftermarket fluids meeting the JASO 1A specs like MaxLife.
 
The newer transmission shifted to LV fluids to satisfy the more stringent fuel economy standards. I am not sure what changes were made inside, probably minimal, as in increasing the pump volumetric efficiency, to maintain minimal internal pressures.
That being said, putting older type of fluid will probably make the pump bypass more fluid. Hence higher losses that I was talking about.
Note that the fluid viscosity varies a lot during driving, due to temperature variation. It starts with ambient temperature and ends up at 200F. And the transmission still shifts fine, because of the pressure regulator.
So using a higher viscosity fluid is very much like cooling the transmission with an auxiliary transmission cooler - from viscosity point of view. And like starting the car at a lower ambient temperature.
 
FWYT said:
I did but of course Amsoil is going to recommend a different fluid. Again, not interested in what the manufacturers say. Want to hear from people that have gone off the maps.
Click to expand...
This is a very illuminating statement and pretty much tells you everything you need to know.
 
SoNic67 said:
The newer transmission shifted to LV fluids to satisfy the more stringent fuel economy standards. I am not sure what changes were made inside, probably minimal, as in increasing the pump volumetric efficiency, to maintain minimal internal pressures.
That being said, putting older type of fluid will probably make the pump bypass more fluid. Hence higher losses that I was talking about.
Click to expand...

Excellent! Thank you!
 
kschachn said:
This is a very illuminating statement and pretty much tells you everything you need to know.
Click to expand...
Actually, it's this part that tells you everything you need to know-
"Want to hear from people that have gone off the maps."
 
Not interested in what the manufacturer of your car says, not interested in what the manufacturer of the oil says, and, evidently, not interested in what anyone else has to say either.

Lock time.
 
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