ATF for 2007 Hyundai Sonata 2.4 SPIII

[stenerson]

My wife was given a 2007 Sonata 2.4 with 115miles by some very nice elderly friends. He insisted she take it as a gift (He bought a new toyota).
It's very clean since they recently moved to our area from Nevada.
Anyhow, it runs great, I love this little sedan.
Tranny fluid looks dark at the dip stick.
I'm thinking of doing a drain and fill, driving for a couple of weeks and doing another. Dealer wants 7 bucks a quart, is that my best bet? Or is any brand that claims compatible with SPIII okay (like Valvoline Maxlife).
I did a search and found a thread or two dealing with this but threads were a couple of years old and I figure there may be more options now.

 

[dave1251]

Contact the resident Amsoil rep for a good deal on suitable fluid or use Maxlife.

 

[tnt31]

I previously had a 2010 Hyundai Accent that called for SPIII.

I used Valvoline Import Multi Vehicle and Eneos SP in it and both seemed to work well. I think I purchased the Valvoline IMV from Walmart or AAP and the Eneos SP from NAPA.

 

[stenerson]

Originally Posted By: dave1251
Contact the resident Amsoil rep for a good deal on suitable fluid or use Maxlife.


Thanks for the reply. It's about 16 bucks for a gallon jug at Walmart, very good price if safe to use on this vehicle.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I'm not sure when they got rid of it, but if it's the Mitsubishi transmission it may have an undocumented external transmission filter you could change.

 

[Ga129]

I have a 2006 Kia optima, requires the same fluid specs. I just did a 4 quart replacement with Maxlife about a year ago to buy me some time even though the fluid looked ok for the most part (used a hand pump to get fluid from tranny pan through dipstick tube and just replaced fluid afterwards). I'm about to drop the pan and change the actual transmission filter this weekend and am going to use Castrol this next time ( http://www.autozone.com/motor-oil-and-tr...atf/255525_0_0/ ) The specifications are very similar, but I just didn't like the way it has been driving since I put the Maxlife in there. Of course to each his own.

 

[stenerson]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
I'm not sure when they got rid of it, but if it's the Mitsubishi transmission it may have an undocumented external transmission filter you could change.


I'm pretty sure this model has no replaceable filter.

 

[Ga129]

Yeah after 2005/2006 Kia and Hyundai started getting rid of the trans filters. They had two variants, a spin on filter right behind the dipstick, and the internal kind inside the transmission pan. If you search part stores for a transmission filter, it will usually tell you if there is a replacement available. Mine is the internal kind. Your 2007 might not have one. Easiest way to check is look for one for sale or drop the trans pan, assuming you didn't see a spin off kind in the engine bay.

 

[Rodraid]

Castrol Transmax multi-import meets the specs and is on sale right now at Advance Auto Parts for $4.00/quart. Drain and fill will require 3.5-4 quarts. I think the sale ends Sept. 30th

Rod

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Maxlife!

 

[stenerson]

Originally Posted By: Ga129
Yeah after 2005/2006 Kia and Hyundai started getting rid of the trans filters. They had two variants, a spin on filter right behind the dipstick, and the internal kind inside the transmission pan. If you search part stores for a transmission filter, it will usually tell you if there is a replacement available. Mine is the internal kind. Your 2007 might not have one. Easiest way to check is look for one for sale or drop the trans pan, assuming you didn't see a spin off kind in the engine bay.


This has one of those side mounted pans that looks like a bear to remove. There's probably some kind of screen filter in there. I don't have repair manual yet.

 

[donnyj08]

Originally Posted By: stenerson
Originally Posted By: dave1251
Contact the resident Amsoil rep for a good deal on suitable fluid or use Maxlife.


Thanks for the reply. It's about 16 bucks for a gallon jug at Walmart, very good price if safe to use on this vehicle.


Also advance auto or a carquest store will have a Global full synthetic ATF that meets the spec. I used it in my girls 07 Rio and it worked well. I paid 4$ a qt on commercial account.

 

[JC1]

Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Maxlife!


+2 on maxlife. Not sure about your drain plug, but on my Buddies older Elantra, the drain plug was like a Honda and had a magnetic tip. Remove the plug, clean it and reinsert. It's probably a wise idea to use a new metal crush washer.

 

[stchman]

Valvoline MaxLife DEX/MERC ATF meets the Hyundai SP-III spec.

 

[mrdctaylor]

I have a 2003 Santa Fe that calls for SPIII. I've used nothing but SPIII, doing a drain/fill only every 30K miles. It has almost 200K miles on it now and still shifts perfectly. I'm not saying that aftermarket ATF won't work fine. But I never had a comfort level with it and found the SPIII to be perfectly fine. I can attest to the fact that it works for the long haul.

 

[berniedd]

I have a 2007 Kia that specifies SP III. I've always used Castrol TransMax MultiVehicle ATF (conventional fluid) or Mag1 MultiVehicle fully synthetic ATF. No transmission problems in the 5 years I've owned and serviced that car.

 

[artificialist]

In the repair shops I worked in, we used Maxlife in SP-III applications. It was never a problem.