Before I do this drain and fill on my wife’s 2013 Honda fit, is there anyone on here who has used the Castrol universal atf/cvt fluid? I’ve used Valvoline maxlife in the past, just curious about this Castrol offering
Castrol universal atf/cvt
- Thread starter Bettez88
- Start date
Is your Fit a CVT? 
I used Maxlife ATF in my old Nissan AT, and it never shifted properly again. Since then, I only use OEM recommended fluid in AT's. I don't know what fluid is recommended in your Fit, but the safe choice, is the OEM Honda fluid.
I have used it in a Mitsubishi Mirage CVT - worked fine and I consider it equal to Maxlife. I mostly use Maxlife but on occasion I will use the Castrol as well as it is often a few bucks cheaper. Use it with confidence.
Is there a chance the transmission has some issues and maybe was not the fluid? I agree that when in doubt the OEM fluid spec is the better choice - but having used Maxlife in so many different applications in my shop with no issues I will continue to use it where I know it works but there are definitely certain applications where you want a specific OEM fluid spec over universal.
No atfIs your Fit a CVT?
Then it should be ok.
I'm more hesitant to use it in a CVT than I would a regular automatic, so if yours isn't a CVT, then using it is not a problem at all
I used it in my 2019 Nissan Pathfinder's CVT for 30k miles and I've had it in my 2021 Chevy Traverse's 9T65 for about 6k miles. No issues in either application.
I am not saying that I am right or correct about the following… I do mean that seriously.
However The regular ATFs work off a coefficient of friction and CVT operate on a traction coefficient. Being that those are so different in how they work I just don’t feel comfortable using them. Trusting a new additive from Afton that is supposed to “ bridge” that gap between the two very different operating conditions in two different types of transmissions is putting a whole lot of faith in that.
I do believe though that Afton did test that new additive very thoroughly in their testing facility in Ashland Virginia. I do wonder how long of intervals did they test their new additive technology in both regular ATFs and CVTs ? Was it for 50,000 miles, 100,000 miles, 150,000 miles or 200,000 miles ? And did they test it in Honda transmissions ? Toyota transmissions ? Or the Nissan Jatco CVTs ? The Subaru CVTs ?
I hope that anyone who runs these universal transmission fluids has zero issues or problems. And I am interested in hearing from more people who use these fluids for well in excess of 100,000 plus miles to 200,000 plus miles… 30,000 to 50,000 miles is ok but I want much longer time/mileage usage to see how all that turns out.
I just did 2 drain and refills on my 2012 Honda Civic with Idemitsu DW-1 fluid. I know it’s not exactly the same chemistry formulation as Honda DW-1.
But given how these Honda transmissions are I would not use a CVT/ ATF universal fluid in a Honda transmission. That’s just my thought on this. It does not mean I’m correct though.
Now OG Valvoline Maxlife… yeah I would use that. Valvoline EP ATF which specifically says NOT to run in a CVT… I would run that too.
However The regular ATFs work off a coefficient of friction and CVT operate on a traction coefficient. Being that those are so different in how they work I just don’t feel comfortable using them. Trusting a new additive from Afton that is supposed to “ bridge” that gap between the two very different operating conditions in two different types of transmissions is putting a whole lot of faith in that.
I do believe though that Afton did test that new additive very thoroughly in their testing facility in Ashland Virginia. I do wonder how long of intervals did they test their new additive technology in both regular ATFs and CVTs ? Was it for 50,000 miles, 100,000 miles, 150,000 miles or 200,000 miles ? And did they test it in Honda transmissions ? Toyota transmissions ? Or the Nissan Jatco CVTs ? The Subaru CVTs ?
I hope that anyone who runs these universal transmission fluids has zero issues or problems. And I am interested in hearing from more people who use these fluids for well in excess of 100,000 plus miles to 200,000 plus miles… 30,000 to 50,000 miles is ok but I want much longer time/mileage usage to see how all that turns out.
I just did 2 drain and refills on my 2012 Honda Civic with Idemitsu DW-1 fluid. I know it’s not exactly the same chemistry formulation as Honda DW-1.
But given how these Honda transmissions are I would not use a CVT/ ATF universal fluid in a Honda transmission. That’s just my thought on this. It does not mean I’m correct though.
Now OG Valvoline Maxlife… yeah I would use that. Valvoline EP ATF which specifically says NOT to run in a CVT… I would run that too.
Similar threads
- Locked
