Royal Purple ATF

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Just wanted to hear any first hand experiences with Royal Purple ATF. We all know what the consensus of Royal Purple motor oils are on this board but not much about their ATF.
I bought a 2009 Acura TL and have 15 quarts of this ATF in stock. I am not too thrilled with the transmission on this car. The car weighs close to 4000lbs and the gear shifts are not uniform and the 3rd to 4th gear takes much higher rpms to shift. As we all know honda transmissions have had their share of problems and even though I only have 350 miles so far on the odometer I want to change it out to Royal Purple as I am not too fond of the Z1 ATF.
 
Cant speak of their ATF but, I have their Syncromax in my 07 Mustang GT manual trans and it is the best it has ever shifted.
 
All Royal Purple products are good products.

Another VERY good ATF to consider would be Schaeffer's.
 
RP ATF is working well in my Saturn ION.

I'm sure it would be good for your Acura, but I don't believe it will solve the weaknesses of transmission in your car.
 
If you change your ATF with non-Honda fluid, you will void your warranty. Also, Hondas have been known to perform erratically and often with abnormal wear rates with non-Honda ATF.
 
Be very careful using non-Honda fluids in Honda transmissions. The warranty issue is very important because it you have a failure, you are SOL with the wrong fluid in it, even if it's due to something else. At the very least, you'll have an uphill struggle on your hands.

I look at it from the standpoint that Honda transmissions are a "different animal" in the way they work and they use a fluid that's considerably different than any other. That's not to say others don't work (there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that Amsoil works well), it's just that you need to be careful. I think you should spend an evening reading all the stuff on Honda transmissions in this forum, and the oil analysis forum, on BITOG to educate yourself on this topic first. What follows is a VOA I did on RP Max ATF and a UOA on the Z-1 Honda fluid from my '00 Accord after it had run 18K miles. While new oil would not have the wear metals in it, the basic additive values are pretty close to new. All values PPM. Note the difference in viscosity for one thing and the Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorous and Zinc.

Element........RP Max......Z-1 UOA 18K

Al.............0...........21
Fe.............1...........38
Cu.............0...........15
Pb.............0...........3
Mo.............1...........1
K..............0...........2
B..............244.........228
Si.............5...........6
Na.............7...........5
Ca.............126.........335
Mg.............2...........172
P..............605.........60
Zn.............7...........291
Ba.............0...........1

Visc @ 100.....7.26........5.55
Flash..........420.........365
ISO Code.......16/15/12....15/15/12
 
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Originally Posted By: berniedd
If you change your ATF with non-Honda fluid, you will void your warranty. Also, Hondas have been known to perform erratically and often with abnormal wear rates with non-Honda ATF.


It won't void your warranty. They will still fix your radio if you use molasses in the transmission.
 
Originally Posted By: benjamming
Originally Posted By: berniedd
If you change your ATF with non-Honda fluid, you will void your warranty. Also, Hondas have been known to perform erratically and often with abnormal wear rates with non-Honda ATF.


It won't void your warranty. They will still fix your radio if you use molasses in the transmission.


But, to make it perfectly clear, if you use molasses (or something other than Z-1) in the trans, and it fails, they can deny that particular warranty claim.
 
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The main thing that I see in that UOA of Z1 is just another example of how [censored] that overpriced fluid is.
There may be special needs for the Honda tranny but there has to be something better than Honda Z1 mineral oil.
 
thanks for the heads up guys. How will Honda know I changed the fluid if I do it myself?
I called Royal Purple and they said that if I were to change out the fluid and the tranny fails in 100,000 miles they will replace the transmission for free!! I told her to email it to me so I have it in writing and she just did! I am starting to like RP now.
 
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Originally Posted By: deven
thanks for the heads up guys. How will Honda know I changed the fluid if I do it myself?
I called Royal Purple and they said that if I were to change out the fluid and the tranny fails in 100,000 miles they will replace the transmission for free!! I told her to email it to me so I have it in writing and she just did! I am starting to like RP now.

Good to hear.

RP has a high belief in their products. I love that company.
 
Originally Posted By: deven
thanks for the heads up guys. How will Honda know I changed the fluid if I do it myself?
I called Royal Purple and they said that if I were to change out the fluid and the tranny fails in 100,000 miles they will replace the transmission for free!! I told her to email it to me so I have it in writing and she just did! I am starting to like RP now.


Well, that's a pretty firm commitment, all right. I can see some potential problems with consummating the arrangement should a problem occur, but to make a firm commitment in writing is a big plus.

For myself, even though I have a good deal of RP Max ATF on hand, I'm leery of it from the standpoint of the chemistry differences. By the time I'm due for the next ATF change, maybe Deven will have run his for a while and will report any issues. Plus, I'll have completed more research by then.

PS: Manufacturers have been known to perform oil analysis to both determine a failure cause and to ensure that the correct lubricant is used. Don't tell a soul (well except for the few million people who just read about it :) < ), but especially the dealership.

"Hey, it just cacked, dude."
 
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Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
Originally Posted By: deven
thanks for the heads up guys. How will Honda know I changed the fluid if I do it myself?
I called Royal Purple and they said that if I were to change out the fluid and the tranny fails in 100,000 miles they will replace the transmission for free!! I told her to email it to me so I have it in writing and she just did! I am starting to like RP now.


Well, that's a pretty firm commitment, all right. I can see some potential problems with consummating the arrangement should a problem occur, but to make a firm commitment in writing is a big plus.

For myself, even though I have a good deal of RP Max ATF on hand, I'm leery of it from the standpoint of the chemistry differences. By the time I'm due for the next ATF change, maybe Deven will have run his for a while and will report any issues. Plus, I'll have completed more research by then.

PS: Manufacturers have been known to perform oil analysis to both determine a failure cause and to ensure that the correct lubricant is used. Don't tell a soul (well except for the few million people who just read about it :) < ), but especially the dealership.

"Hey, it just cacked, dude."


Sneaky little......
 
I tried Royal Purple ATF in my 2007 Civic LX and it shifted smoothly. It also made the whining noise that most Honda's automatic transmissions make almost completely disappear.

What I didn't like is how Royal Purple ATF made my transmission feel sluggish and unresponsive, especially while driving slowly or in stop/go traffic. I then converted to Amsoil ATF and the shift quality felt more crisp, but not to the point of being harsh, compared to Z1 or Royal Purple. In my opinion, and in my application, Amsoil ATF is superior to both Z1 and Royal Purple.
 
RP made your tranny shift smoothly? AND sluggish & unresponsive.

21.gif
 
Originally Posted By: peterdes
RP made your tranny shift smoothly? AND sluggish & unresponsive.

21.gif



It felt like the ATF was too viscous for my application, but I realize that my critique of Royal Purple ATF is very subjective.
 
I have had RP Max ATF in my 2006 Mazda3 2.3 5 speed auto for 37K of my cars 46K miles. MZ3 5 speeds are notorious for killing the OEM fluid in under 15K miles, and mine was no exception at 9K miles. My car shifts very smoothly and does so with a positive feel, whether in auto mode, or manual mode. I did a drain and refill about 15K miles into the RP run, and the fluid looked like it came out of the bottle...............I'm sold.
 
Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
But, to make it perfectly clear, if you use molasses (or something other than Z-1) in the trans, and it fails, they can deny that particular warranty claim.


More specifically, they would have to furnish the part that failed and prove that the lubricant caused the failure in order for them to deny the warranty claim. Anything other than this and they would have to answer to the Federal Trade Commission. See also, Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (P.L. 93-637)
 
Originally Posted By: CompSyn
Originally Posted By: Jim Allen
But, to make it perfectly clear, if you use molasses (or something other than Z-1) in the trans, and it fails, they can deny that particular warranty claim.


More specifically, they would have to furnish the part that failed and prove that the lubricant caused the failure in order for them to deny the warranty claim. Anything other than this and they would have to answer to the Federal Trade Commission. See also, Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (P.L. 93-637)

Yeah, but...but if they just stonewall you, what are you going to do? Sue? No lawyer will take a case that small unless you pay them a lot. Complain with a state consumer protection agency? Good luck getting any action any time soon. Meanwhile, your car is out of action.
 
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