Anyone have experience with Valvoline MaxLife Power Steering Fluid in a GM car? Quiet noisy PS pump?
Maxlife Power Steering Fluid
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I just use regular Prestone psf in my Buick and it's always quiet but for some reason I want to try maxlife too. I probably would avoid the one with stop leak in it unless you needed it. They have Maxlife and Maxlife plus stopleak at my local Meijer.
I use John Deere Hygard in the suburban and Prstone In my silverado. Both are very smooth and quiet. I just turkey baster'd out half a quart from my truck and replaced with new, I had some layin around. I like the Prestone Stuff, I use the stop leak too, thats just what i keep ending up with
The power steering pump in the ever faithful "Bluesmobile" (1993 Ford Taurus GL) was whining like a kid at a candy counter last summer. Flushed with "Seafoam Trans tune" which made the whine louder. Did a repeat flush and fill with Maxlife. It took about two months, but now you can hardly hear it at all.
I have never seen a plain Valvoline MaxLife Power Steering Fluid, only one that says it has stop leak additives.
I have used regular Valvoline conventional PSF, and it works well. Maxlife without stop leaks would probably be even better than Valvoline conventional. Both would be better than the lousy PSF that most GM trucks use as a factory fill.
As far as quieting the pump, I am not sure. Sometimes you can quiet a noisy pump with a fluid change, other times you have to replace the pump with a quality rebuilt unit.
I have used regular Valvoline conventional PSF, and it works well. Maxlife without stop leaks would probably be even better than Valvoline conventional. Both would be better than the lousy PSF that most GM trucks use as a factory fill.
As far as quieting the pump, I am not sure. Sometimes you can quiet a noisy pump with a fluid change, other times you have to replace the pump with a quality rebuilt unit.
I have used with very good success (in more than I can count) GM power steering units...
Genuine Honda Power Steering Fluid to stop noisy units/pumps etc. It's one of the best P/S fluids for units that require power steering fluid(not ATF as the P/S fluid).
Genuine Honda Power Steering Fluid to stop noisy units/pumps etc. It's one of the best P/S fluids for units that require power steering fluid(not ATF as the P/S fluid).
Originally Posted By: artificialist
I have never seen a plain Valvoline MaxLife Power Steering Fluid, only one that says it has stop leak additives.
I think you're right. I must have been mistaken about seeing the Valvoline MaxLife Power Steering Fluid without stop leak. The only pics on the Web show it with stop leak only.
I have never seen a plain Valvoline MaxLife Power Steering Fluid, only one that says it has stop leak additives.
I think you're right. I must have been mistaken about seeing the Valvoline MaxLife Power Steering Fluid without stop leak. The only pics on the Web show it with stop leak only.
Originally Posted By: artificialist
I have never seen a plain Valvoline MaxLife Power Steering Fluid, only one that says it has stop leak additives.
Same here, but, Ashland seems to send more of their total/complete product line to the midwest for some reason (they can get the thin, GL-4 Valvoline manual transmission fluid there-I have NEVER even seen a pic of the bottle in my life!).
So, maybe it DOES exist somewhere sans stop leak??
I have never seen a plain Valvoline MaxLife Power Steering Fluid, only one that says it has stop leak additives.
Same here, but, Ashland seems to send more of their total/complete product line to the midwest for some reason (they can get the thin, GL-4 Valvoline manual transmission fluid there-I have NEVER even seen a pic of the bottle in my life!).
So, maybe it DOES exist somewhere sans stop leak??
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: artificialist
I have never seen a plain Valvoline MaxLife Power Steering Fluid, only one that says it has stop leak additives.
Same here, but, Ashland seems to send more of their total/complete product line to the midwest for some reason (they can get the thin, GL-4 Valvoline manual transmission fluid there-I have NEVER even seen a pic of the bottle in my life!).
So, maybe it DOES exist somewhere sans stop leak??
Check out the Valvoline Europe website, it has a much wider range of products then any of the US can get. Seems like a bad deal considering Ashland's home turf is in the USA.
Over there in Europe they have all manner of manual trans gear oil including several flavors of GL-4 only fluid which they refuse to make widely available in the USA, heck you can't even order it on line as far as I can tell.
I will say that Shell and Castrol are just as lacking with product range in the US, but they are not based here. Still I don't get why one of the BIGGEST automotive fluid aftermarkets is right here in the USA.
I wish Shell would simply start using there own branding here in the USA and drop the Pennzoil brand, it would most likely make it easier to market their larger product range in the USA.
Where is Spirax in the USA??? Looking for S4G, S3, S6GXME?
Not in the USA! You only can find a tiny selection through specific distributors, where in Europe you can buy any of the dozen or more transmission fluids right off the parts store shelf easily.
Originally Posted By: artificialist
I have never seen a plain Valvoline MaxLife Power Steering Fluid, only one that says it has stop leak additives.
Same here, but, Ashland seems to send more of their total/complete product line to the midwest for some reason (they can get the thin, GL-4 Valvoline manual transmission fluid there-I have NEVER even seen a pic of the bottle in my life!).
So, maybe it DOES exist somewhere sans stop leak??
Check out the Valvoline Europe website, it has a much wider range of products then any of the US can get. Seems like a bad deal considering Ashland's home turf is in the USA.
Over there in Europe they have all manner of manual trans gear oil including several flavors of GL-4 only fluid which they refuse to make widely available in the USA, heck you can't even order it on line as far as I can tell.
I will say that Shell and Castrol are just as lacking with product range in the US, but they are not based here. Still I don't get why one of the BIGGEST automotive fluid aftermarkets is right here in the USA.
I wish Shell would simply start using there own branding here in the USA and drop the Pennzoil brand, it would most likely make it easier to market their larger product range in the USA.
Where is Spirax in the USA??? Looking for S4G, S3, S6GXME?
Not in the USA! You only can find a tiny selection through specific distributors, where in Europe you can buy any of the dozen or more transmission fluids right off the parts store shelf easily.
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: artificialist
I have never seen a plain Valvoline MaxLife Power Steering Fluid, only one that says it has stop leak additives.
Same here, but, Ashland seems to send more of their total/complete product line to the midwest for some reason (they can get the thin, GL-4 Valvoline manual transmission fluid there-I have NEVER even seen a pic of the bottle in my life!).
So, maybe it DOES exist somewhere sans stop leak??
Check out the Valvoline Europe website, it has a much wider range of products then any of the US can get. Seems like a bad deal considering Ashland's home turf is in the USA.
Over there in Europe they have all manner of manual trans gear oil including several flavors of GL-4 only fluid which they refuse to make widely available in the USA, heck you can't even order it on line as far as I can tell.
I will say that Shell and Castrol are just as lacking with product range in the US, but they are not based here. Still I don't get why one of the BIGGEST automotive fluid aftermarkets is right here in the USA.
I wish Shell would simply start using there own branding here in the USA and drop the Pennzoil brand, it would most likely make it easier to market their larger product range in the USA.
Where is Spirax in the USA??? Looking for S4G, S3, S6GXME?
Not in the USA! You only can find a tiny selection through specific distributors, where in Europe you can buy any of the dozen or more transmission fluids right off the parts store shelf easily.
There is a huge reason why you don't see many of those oils in the USA. Very few people drive cars with manual transmissions. Keep in mind that sometimes someone living in Europe will post to this forum, saying that getting the right ATF is difficult.
It would make sense that Valvoline would have a bigger variety of products in the midwest because it is based in Ashland, Kentucky.
I have seen some youtube videos of Valvoline Europe, and I saw some stuff that should also be in the USA, such as their diesel EGR cleaning spray.
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: artificialist
I have never seen a plain Valvoline MaxLife Power Steering Fluid, only one that says it has stop leak additives.
Same here, but, Ashland seems to send more of their total/complete product line to the midwest for some reason (they can get the thin, GL-4 Valvoline manual transmission fluid there-I have NEVER even seen a pic of the bottle in my life!).
So, maybe it DOES exist somewhere sans stop leak??
Check out the Valvoline Europe website, it has a much wider range of products then any of the US can get. Seems like a bad deal considering Ashland's home turf is in the USA.
Over there in Europe they have all manner of manual trans gear oil including several flavors of GL-4 only fluid which they refuse to make widely available in the USA, heck you can't even order it on line as far as I can tell.
I will say that Shell and Castrol are just as lacking with product range in the US, but they are not based here. Still I don't get why one of the BIGGEST automotive fluid aftermarkets is right here in the USA.
I wish Shell would simply start using there own branding here in the USA and drop the Pennzoil brand, it would most likely make it easier to market their larger product range in the USA.
Where is Spirax in the USA??? Looking for S4G, S3, S6GXME?
Not in the USA! You only can find a tiny selection through specific distributors, where in Europe you can buy any of the dozen or more transmission fluids right off the parts store shelf easily.
There is a huge reason why you don't see many of those oils in the USA. Very few people drive cars with manual transmissions. Keep in mind that sometimes someone living in Europe will post to this forum, saying that getting the right ATF is difficult.
It would make sense that Valvoline would have a bigger variety of products in the midwest because it is based in Ashland, Kentucky.
I have seen some youtube videos of Valvoline Europe, and I saw some stuff that should also be in the USA, such as their diesel EGR cleaning spray.
Hard to believe that since Shell and Castrol still import a fair number of their products to the US that they could slip in a small amount of those products I mentioned without costing them anything extra and it would be a positive marketing move.
Originally Posted By: artificialist
I have never seen a plain Valvoline MaxLife Power Steering Fluid, only one that says it has stop leak additives.
Correct.
Ashland Refining Power Steering Fluids
The products that do NOT contain stop leak are sold under the Valvoline and Pyroil brand names.
I have never seen a plain Valvoline MaxLife Power Steering Fluid, only one that says it has stop leak additives.
Correct.
Ashland Refining Power Steering Fluids
The products that do NOT contain stop leak are sold under the Valvoline and Pyroil brand names.
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