Maxlife ATF Compatibility

[Carlostrece]

OK. Thanks everyone for all the info and advice. You've given me a lot to consider.

 

[steve c]

Spec sheet says MB 236.17. Good enough for my Nissan 9 speed tranny

 

[Carlostrece]

Here's an update based on info from other forums and Youtube. Many people are using Maxlife Full Syn (FS) ATF, Valvoline EP FS ATF, and Idemitsu Type H Plus ATF for Honda ATF and report smoother shifting than with Honda DW-1 ATF.

The users of those ATF in Honda say they work better than Honda DW-1.

 

[Exhaustgases]

Maxlife is for transmissions that spec dexron. Hondas only do Honda or Idemitsu fluid nothing else.

Check out professor John Kelly with weber college on youtube, and his post on the supposed one size fits all automatic transmission fluids. Basically the label says it is compatible is not true and is a gimick to sell the product. Anyone could do the same with a jug of water.

 

[MolaKule]

Maxlife is for transmissions that spec dexron. Hondas only do Honda or Idemitsu fluid nothing else.

Check out professor John Kelly with weber college on youtube, and his post on the supposed one size fits all automatic transmission fluids. Basically the label says it is compatible is not true and is a gimick to sell the product. Anyone could do the same with a jug of water.

In my view Prof. Kelly is an excellent and affable transmission mechanic, but his lack of knowledge re. the formulations of ATF's shows what he doesn't know.

 

[Exhaustgases]

In my view Prof. Kelly is an excellent and affable transmission mechanic, but his lack of knowledge re. the formulations of ATF's shows what he doesn't know.

But he is correct there is no one size fits all Automatic Transmission fluid. The fluid is part of the basic design of the transmission, it needs the correct friction modifiers for the materials used, the pressures, the shift schedules, the required lubrication, and with CVT's the required coefficient of friction for pulley and belt grip. But then I suppose good chemists can copy those formulations.
The main issue is fluids like Maxlife do not have most transmission manufacuters licensed approval, they say they are compatible, but that is just talk, not approval.
I wonder how many dealers check for incorrect fluid before honoring a warranty? They sure should.

 

[MolaKule]

The main issue is fluids like Maxlife do not have most transmission manufacuters licensed approval, they say they are compatible, but that is just talk, not approval.

They never claim approval, only that the formulation can cover a wide range of transmission designs, as stipulated by the additive supplier.

I wonder how many dealers check for incorrect fluid before honoring a warranty? They sure should.

I doubt dealers want to fork out $700+ for a forensic analysis, which is the only way of proving that MaxLife or any other fluid is present.

 

[4329]

I would like to believe you, that your view of the professor is respectful.

The point is not about approvals but is all about meeting the specifications of so many fluids. Suitable for or recommended is of course not an approval nor is it meeting the specifications.

Perhaps you could provide approved documentation to support your claims that one ATF fluid can meet so many vehicle ATF specifications given that clutch pack, valve body pressures can be different.

I will try to make it simple for you. A manufacturer calls up 5w30 a3b4 or a c3 oil, are you suggesting that the vehicle owner can use any 5w30 oil? Following your logic that would be fine.

This would be an excellent opportunity for you to show leadership in this area and put this ATF issue to bed.

If you do reply please show the same respect I have afforded you.

 

[Glenda W.]

My daughter bought a new 2016 Acura RDX. Soon after the transmission would shudder in lock up. She brought her vehicle to the dealer and a TSB indicated the factory fluid couldn’t handle the heat generated. Updated software was installed as well as a fluid exchange with factory fluid. This fixed the problem for a bit, but it always returned. The dealer had no answer except to change the fluid again. I finally did a complete fluid change myself at around 30k miles with Maxlife and now have over 130k miles, never had the problem again. IMO the Maxlife is a better quality fluid and is probably the most widely fluid used.

 

[kschachn]

I wonder how many dealers check for incorrect fluid before honoring a warranty? They sure should.

So you believe that a fluid such as Maxlife that says it is suitable is the cause of a failure?

 

[JustN89]

I wonder how many dealers check for incorrect fluid before honoring a warranty? They sure should.

Not only do I doubt that they would spend the money to check (the Honda dealer I worked never did), but they would also have to question the products they used. I’d venture to say that most Honda dealers use a bulk ATF for service, unless you specified DW-1, at which point they would charge you extra for the fluid. My Honda dealer used BG ATF which, as I understood it, most Honda dealers in my area were using.

 

[Nessism1]

But he is correct there is no one size fits all Automatic Transmission fluid. The fluid is part of the basic design of the transmission, it needs the correct friction modifiers for the materials used, the pressures, the shift schedules, the required lubrication, and with CVT's the required coefficient of friction for pulley and belt grip. But then I suppose good chemists can copy those formulations.
The main issue is fluids like Maxlife do not have most transmission manufacuters licensed approval, they say they are compatible, but that is just talk, not approval.
I wonder how many dealers check for incorrect fluid before honoring a warranty? They sure should.

This is exactly correct. I've mentioned this before in other threads, where engineers at the OEM I used to work for would perform fully instrumented in-vehicle tests, different driving conditions, temperatures, etc, and they had a laptop so they could tune the TCM logic on the fly. Small changes in line pressures, shift timing, rpm, etc, can have a big impact. All this validation testing done using the OEM fluid.

It could be that the OEM fluid is a perfect match for the generic fluid in question, but not always. It's a gamble. In the case of that Honda discussed just above, that's case in point that the fluids are NOT the same. In that case, it seems that the Honda fluid isn't "as good" in some way. My point is just to highlight that maxfife IS DIFFERENT, and there is no guarantee that the transmission will shift as designed using it.