Maxlife Full Syn ATF - PS-Excellent in -30F temps.

[LeakySeals]

Originally Posted By: crainholio
I had seepage problems with MaxLife ATF after flushing my '09 Subaru Forester power steering with this. Car had 82K miles on it and the factory fluid was dark orange when flushed out. A few thousand miles later, I noticed one of my rack boots was wet and the fluid was red. I cleaned the boot, it was wet again the next month.

I re-flushed with Castrol Transmax High Mileage, re-cleaned the boot, and it has stayed dry since then.

MaxLife is Dexron VI rated according to the label, whereas Transmax isn't. Possibly MaxLife is just a tad too thin for this application.


The Maxlife is on the thin side of Dex VI, The Transmax is on the thick side of Dex III. So it makes sense. My problems are worse, been adding Lucas stop leak. Its sike a sticky syrup. its been helping with no issues in the cold so far.

 

[jrvn]

Originally Posted By: crainholio
Originally Posted By: jrvn
Valvoline max life is a full synthetic fluid maybe its cause synthetics will find leaks easier than dino oils, rule of thumb when using syhthetics is to make sure you have good seals/ gaskets before using. also max life is rated Dexron II & III


Rack boots were dry before the flush. Should I have disassembled my PS rack before the flush to "make sure I had good seals"?
your the only person in the history of the world that has good seals and used Max life now has a leaky rack now

 

[jrvn]

Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Originally Posted By: crainholio
I had seepage problems with MaxLife ATF after flushing my '09 Subaru Forester power steering with this. Car had 82K miles on it and the factory fluid was dark orange when flushed out. A few thousand miles later, I noticed one of my rack boots was wet and the fluid was red. I cleaned the boot, it was wet again the next month.

I re-flushed with Castrol Transmax High Mileage, re-cleaned the boot, and it has stayed dry since then.

MaxLife is Dexron VI rated according to the label, whereas Transmax isn't. Possibly MaxLife is just a tad too thin for this application.


The Maxlife is on the thin side of Dex VI, The Transmax is on the thick side of Dex III. So it makes sense. My problems are worse, been adding Lucas stop leak. Its sike a sticky syrup. its been helping with no issues in the cold so far.
max life ATF is a Full synthetic fluid and will find places in seals that were varnished over by the PS fluid and don't leak until the use of full synthetics are used which will clean off the varnish and then leaks occur, the same principle stands for Full synthetic motor oils they will also find leaks easier than Dinos. that's why they say before using any synthetics make sure that the seals are new or newer car with low miles because leaks will occur using full syn fluids, so its not really unsual to start having leaks in higher mileage vehicles after the use of full syns even if it didn't leak prior

 

[LeakySeals]

Originally Posted By: jrvn
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Originally Posted By: crainholio
I had seepage problems with MaxLife ATF after flushing my '09 Subaru Forester power steering with this. Car had 82K miles on it and the factory fluid was dark orange when flushed out. A few thousand miles later, I noticed one of my rack boots was wet and the fluid was red. I cleaned the boot, it was wet again the next month.

I re-flushed with Castrol Transmax High Mileage, re-cleaned the boot, and it has stayed dry since then.

MaxLife is Dexron VI rated according to the label, whereas Transmax isn't. Possibly MaxLife is just a tad too thin for this application.


The Maxlife is on the thin side of Dex VI, The Transmax is on the thick side of Dex III. So it makes sense. My problems are worse, been adding Lucas stop leak. Its sike a sticky syrup. its been helping with no issues in the cold so far.
max life ATF is a Full synthetic fluid and will find places in seals that were varnished over by the PS fluid and don't leak until the use of full synthetics are used which will clean off the varnish and then leaks occur, the same principle stands for Full synthetic motor oils they will also find leaks easier than Dinos. that's why they say before using any synthetics make sure that the seals are new or newer car with low miles because leaks will occur using full syn fluids, so its not really unsual to start having leaks in higher mileage vehicles after the use of full syns even if it didn't leak prior


Thats all true. Whats also true is over the years Maxlife has become thinner than it used to be. What worked years ago may not necessarily work today

 

[jrvn]

Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Originally Posted By: jrvn
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Originally Posted By: crainholio
I had seepage problems with MaxLife ATF after flushing my '09 Subaru Forester power steering with this. Car had 82K miles on it and the factory fluid was dark orange when flushed out. A few thousand miles later, I noticed one of my rack boots was wet and the fluid was red. I cleaned the boot, it was wet again the next month.

I re-flushed with Castrol Transmax High Mileage, re-cleaned the boot, and it has stayed dry since then.

MaxLife is Dexron VI rated according to the label, whereas Transmax isn't. Possibly MaxLife is just a tad too thin for this application.


The Maxlife is on the thin side of Dex VI, The Transmax is on the thick side of Dex III. So it makes sense. My problems are worse, been adding Lucas stop leak. Its sike a sticky syrup. its been helping with no issues in the cold so far.
max life ATF is a Full synthetic fluid and will find places in seals that were varnished over by the PS fluid and don't leak until the use of full synthetics are used which will clean off the varnish and then leaks occur, the same principle stands for Full synthetic motor oils they will also find leaks easier than Dinos. that's why they say before using any synthetics make sure that the seals are new or newer car with low miles because leaks will occur using full syn fluids, so its not really unsual to start having leaks in higher mileage vehicles after the use of full syns even if it didn't leak prior


Thats all true. Whats also true is over the years Maxlife has become thinner than it used to be. What worked years ago may not necessarily work today
not sure if its thinner than it used to be how did you come up with that analogy?

 

[crainholio]

Originally Posted By: jrvn
not sure if its thinner than it used to be how did you come up with that analogy?


Translation: Leave MaxLife alone!!

 

[jrvn]

Originally Posted By: crainholio
Originally Posted By: jrvn
not sure if its thinner than it used to be how did you come up with that analogy?


Translation: Leave MaxLife alone!!

 

[crainholio]

Just to add some objective data to this discussion, I've pulled product data sheets and relevant data points below. Transmax High Mileage is indeed thicker than MaxLife at both key temperatures, and has a higher VI score. 5.91 versus 8.0 at 100degC is a significant jump, which may account for Transmax not leaking in my old Subaru PS rack whereas MaxLife leaked.

1.) Valvoline MaxLife ATF:
http://content.valvoline.com/pdf/maxlife_atf.pdf

Viscosity at 100degC: 5.91
Viscosity at 40degC: 28.82
Viscosity Index: 156

2.) Castrol Transmax High Mileage:
http://msdspds.castrol.com/bpglis/FusionPDS.nsf/Files/D65DF769EEAF92768025805600724B2B/$File/BPXE-AFE8TS.pdf

Viscosity at 100degC: 8
Viscosity at 40degC: 36.6
Viscosity Index: 200

3.) Castrol Transmax DEX/MERC:
http://msdspds.castrol.com/bpglis/FusionPDS.nsf/Files/3055B5A1721C889080257B750035989A/$File/BPXE-9846SG.pdf

Viscosity at 100degC: 7.2
Viscosity at 40degC: 32
Viscosity Index: 200

 

[jrvn]

Originally Posted By: crainholio
Just to add some objective data to this discussion, I've pulled product data sheets and relevant data points below. Transmax High Mileage is indeed thicker than MaxLife at both key temperatures, and has a higher VI score. 5.91 versus 8.0 at 100degC is a significant jump, which may account for Transmax not leaking in my old Subaru PS rack whereas MaxLife leaked.

1.) Valvoline MaxLife ATF:
http://content.valvoline.com/pdf/maxlife_atf.pdf

Viscosity at 100degC: 5.91
Viscosity at 40degC: 28.82
Viscosity Index: 156

2.) Castrol Transmax High Mileage:
http://msdspds.castrol.com/bpglis/FusionPDS.nsf/Files/D65DF769EEAF92768025805600724B2B/$File/BPXE-AFE8TS.pdf

Viscosity at 100degC: 8
Viscosity at 40degC: 36.6
Viscosity Index: 200

3.) Castrol Transmax DEX/MERC:
http://msdspds.castrol.com/bpglis/FusionPDS.nsf/Files/3055B5A1721C889080257B750035989A/$File/BPXE-9846SG.pdf

Viscosity at 100degC: 7.2
Viscosity at 40degC: 32
Viscosity Index: 200
too bad you didn't have this info when you used the Max life

 

[crainholio]

Originally Posted By: jrvn
too bad you didn't have this info when you used the Max life


Not sure it would have changed my decision to use it, as MaxLife has done very well in my prior uses.

I'd be interested to know if the current formulation I used is, in fact, a thinner hot viscosity than prior versions. I don't recall seeing Dexron VI on the label back in 2007-08 timeframe when I used it in my Toyota transmission and pwr steering.

Here's a post I found when googling 'valvoline maxlife 2008 CST' which shows a significant change in the 40degC viscosity...the guy didn't post the 100degC numbers:

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2091793-Caution!-Valvoline-Max-life-ATF-is-NO-LONGER-APPROVED-for-BMW-Applications
Quote:

PDF highlights are:
1 Viscosity changes at 40*C from 36.3 mm/s in 2008 to 28.7 mm/s in 2012 (lower the value the lighter the fluid)
2 Dropped BMW Approval and ZF-TE ML in 2012 spec sheet
3 Semi-synthetic 2008 to Full Synthetic in 2012

 

[jayg]

Originally Posted By: LeakySeals


Thats all true. Whats also true is over the years Maxlife has become thinner than it used to be. What worked years ago may not necessarily work today



The fact that it is so thin makes it perfect for extreme cold applications though. These past few weeks have been great with it in my PS on the Cruiser. No more idling for 10 minutes to let the power steering thaw out.

 

[crainholio]

Originally Posted By: jayg

The fact that it is so thin makes it perfect for extreme cold applications though. These past few weeks have been great with it in my PS on the Cruiser. No more idling for 10 minutes to let the power steering thaw out.


Solid point in your case (Alaska). A nice thin synthetic would be my choice as well.