Anyone Know Who Makes Kia ATF?

[NYEngineer]

My wife has a 2009 Sorrento. After changing the engine oil the other night, I checked the trans oil and found it VERY low. I added a quart of Mobil ATF I had on hand and told her to bring it to my friend's transmission shop in the morning. Instead, she took it to the dealer. The service manager calls us back and says the problem is I added Mobil ATF and the trans needs to be flushed and filled with Kia ATF.
I said no, the problem is the trans is low and there is NO sign of a leak. Do whatever makes you feel good and get the car done.
It did not leak into the radiator through the cooler. I'm sure I will figure out where it went. What I'm getting at here is I know Kia does not manufacture oil. I'm calling [censored] on the service manager's claim that 1 quart of Mobile was "the problem". Any thoughts?

 

[Donald]

Who cares who makes KIA ATF. Does not matter. What matters is does the Mobil ATF meet the Kia specs for the ATF they require.
Now that would be hard for the dealer to tell sitting in his shop without the Mobil 1 container, unless almost no one makes ATF that meets Kia specs.

 

[jcwit]

Sounds like your wife let the cat out of the bag when she took it to the dealer.

 

[stephen9666]

The Hyundai manual trans fluid I bought was made by SK Lubricants in Korea.

SK could make the ATF, too, possibly. Just a guess, though. I've never looked at it in person.

 

[MolaKule]

Something is missing here:

Quote:
The service manager calls us back and says the problem is I added Mobil ATF and the trans needs to be flushed and filled with Kia ATF.


What problem are we discussing here?

Did you check the fluid when hot or cold? What does the OP manual say?

I would say SK as the manf. is a good guess.

 

[PhillyJoe]

Many manuals say in a pinch you can substitute any atf until you get the vehicle serviced and put in the correct. Castrol multi import is approved for Hyundai so I assume the Kia is the same. Kia's are made in Georgia/Alabama? Must be a US product as the factory fill.

 

[user52165]

If you are the original owner, it is under warranty. Suck up your pride and use Hyundai/Kia until 10/100 is up. They can be very tough on warranties if you don't.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: user52165
If you are the original owner, it is under warranty. Suck up your pride and use Hyundai/Kia until 10/100 is up. They can be very tough on warranties if you don't.


Unless you have an assistant attorney general as a girl friend.

 

[askani79705]

Any SP III should be fine (Mitsu,Hyundai,and Kia), I used to put ATF 4 in mine.Pick the cheapest and use it until the warranty expires

 

[bourne]

Originally Posted By: MolaKule
Something is missing here:

Quote:
The service manager calls us back and says the problem is I added Mobil ATF and the trans needs to be flushed and filled with Kia ATF.


What problem are we discussing here?

Did you check the fluid when hot or cold? What does the OP manual say?



+111111111

 

[Errtt]

Michang ATF SP-IV
SK ATF SP-IV
NOCA ATF SP-IV
Hyundai ATF SP-IV

for my 2010 Hyundai --- so looks like whats being mention is the SP

 

[crazyoildude]

if its under warranty be careful Hyundai like most others try their best to wiggle out of warranty work..

 

[NYEngineer]

Thanks, guys. I was just looking to see if Mobil may have made the Kia oil.
This dealership is difficult to deal with and I hate giving them the upper hand.
The trans was warm when I checked it. It was very low.
It's been flushed and filled with Kia oil at the dealer and so far, it's fine. The car's going to sit for a few days while we're away. I'll get back to it when I get back.

 

[EricF]

If you really wanted to be difficult, I'd tell them to prove it.
They made an accusation, they need to be able to back it up.
and not showing the owners manual of some ridiculous article sent by kia.. I mean a true chemical analysis that 1 quart of mobil ATF causes issues.
You can easily goto Mobil and get proof that their ATF exceeds the sp-IV criteria.

 

[TrevorS]

Did you end up paying for the flush and fill or did they do it under warranty?

If the latter, then that's a nice result.

If the former, then you've only got yourself to blame as you authorized the work.

 

[bmwtechguy]

I cannot see how one quart of a quality synthetic fluid could adversely affect that automatic gearbox, even it it does not meet the exact same spec. The M1 is a friction modified fluid like everything else out there. It is probably a 7 cSt fluid rather than the newer 6 cSt fluids for fuel economy. But come on, one quart of fluid? I think they overreacted and wanted to sell some work (ATF flush) to make money since most of the work they're getting is probably low-paying warranty work. Did they ever find out where the fluid went? Does it shift better with the new fluid? Was it still low after you added the quart of M1?