I've been doing a lot of research on ATF (in general) lately, due to my rapid decline in brand trust. People keep asking me if my ATF smells "burnt"...and I've never been able to tell. I'm a bit new to auto transmissions in the last couple years (never had or wanted one until now), and I simply thought ATF was ATF...
After acquiring a 2003 Kia Optima a friend gave it to me) with suggested auto trans problems, I decided to go deeper into these fluids. I checked the fluid on the Kia and it smelled...well, repugnant! Come to find out...Maxlife simply smells strongly when it's new. That smell seems to confuse even some of the experienced car people I know.
This didn't occur to me until I smelled the OEM Toyota T-IV fluid that had 72,000 miles on it. Not only did it NOT smell at all, it was an interesting grey color. After discussing this with a friend who is the senior mechanic at my local Toyota dealership, he said that is exactly what fluid looks like after 72,000 miles and is NOT burnt. It needed changed, but it was normal.
I realized, if it had been burned, I WOULD be able to smell the "burnt" smell on the Toyota fluid, but I thought it might be difficult to smell on the Maxlife.
For the simple reason of wanting to smell it, and I suppose not wanting to risk an aftermarket fluid with unknown characteristics in the Kia (with suspected issues), I went to the Kia dealership and looked at the OEM fluid label. "Manufactuered by Idemitsu". I thought that was interesting...I went to Napa and found a bottle of Idemitsu Type-HK. The Kia/Hyundai ATF.
After comparing the TDS for the Idemitsu, Eneos (made by Nippon Oil - largest Japanese oil company), ZIC (full syntheic), and Maxlife, I found the Maxlife does NOT have the same characteristics as the others. Check out this comparison chart I made from the various TDS's.
I was not able to find the "OEM" TDS for the Idemitsu-made Kia fluid.
After acquiring a 2003 Kia Optima a friend gave it to me) with suggested auto trans problems, I decided to go deeper into these fluids. I checked the fluid on the Kia and it smelled...well, repugnant! Come to find out...Maxlife simply smells strongly when it's new. That smell seems to confuse even some of the experienced car people I know.
This didn't occur to me until I smelled the OEM Toyota T-IV fluid that had 72,000 miles on it. Not only did it NOT smell at all, it was an interesting grey color. After discussing this with a friend who is the senior mechanic at my local Toyota dealership, he said that is exactly what fluid looks like after 72,000 miles and is NOT burnt. It needed changed, but it was normal.
I realized, if it had been burned, I WOULD be able to smell the "burnt" smell on the Toyota fluid, but I thought it might be difficult to smell on the Maxlife.
For the simple reason of wanting to smell it, and I suppose not wanting to risk an aftermarket fluid with unknown characteristics in the Kia (with suspected issues), I went to the Kia dealership and looked at the OEM fluid label. "Manufactuered by Idemitsu". I thought that was interesting...I went to Napa and found a bottle of Idemitsu Type-HK. The Kia/Hyundai ATF.
After comparing the TDS for the Idemitsu, Eneos (made by Nippon Oil - largest Japanese oil company), ZIC (full syntheic), and Maxlife, I found the Maxlife does NOT have the same characteristics as the others. Check out this comparison chart I made from the various TDS's.
I was not able to find the "OEM" TDS for the Idemitsu-made Kia fluid.
