Thoughts on 100K Mile Sealed ATF ?

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Originally Posted by dadto2
I'll admit that I know nothing about Hyundais, and very little about transmission fluids... But I can say that the factory ATF in my '99 S70 (sealed transmission with no change interval in the manual) has 271,000 miles and 21 years on it and is still going strong.

That's kind of like someone saying they won't wear a safety belt because they know someone who was saved by being thrown clear during a horrible crash.
 
You are at a perfect time to change it. I would only use the licensed brand ATF for your car. If Kia has the exact same ATF, that would seem to be a great option.

I only use the ATF that the manufacturer recommends. For me it is either T-IV or WS or Toyota Dexron III.
 
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Mercedes used to have filled for life transmission fluid, then they updated their specs and a regular change was speced at 39k. So probably somewhere in the 30-40k range is a good time to change it.


not 38 or 40 but at 39
 
I'd do a simple drain and fill at 50k and call it a day, using Hyundai fluid. And I'd make sure to not let them know about it, knowing them they will void your warranty.

Once owned a Lexus with "lifetime fluid", changed it at 70,000 miles, stuff came out dark. Changed it every 30,000 miles from there on out, never any issues. Oh, and it was apparently only "lifetime fluid" here in the States...Canada it was 60k mile fluid...middle East was every 50k.
 
I have same hyundai tran in my jeep compass and have done 2 d and fs so far with 60k with maxlife. 3 qts out, 3 qts in with cold engine. Ez to do and cheap insurance ....i would not pay the 20 a qt for Hyundai spec 4. Mopar want same price for their sp 4 atf....maxlife works great
 
Originally Posted by Nick1994
I had my mechanic do a drain and fill (he said around 4 quarts came out) with MaxLife ATF and then drive it around the block, then do it again. So 2 drain and refills at 100k miles.

I would recommend to change more often & only do 1 D&F each time. That way there is newer fluid in there on average but the same fluid total replaced at x mileage.
 
Originally Posted by ChrisD46
The Sonata in my signature has a "sealed" transmission supposedly good for 100K miles using Hyundai SP-IV-M ATF .
The transmission is really not "sealed" per se and there is a way to do a semi-reasonable drain & fill on it .
My thoughts : Hyundai may warrantee the transmission to get past 100K miles but I would not believe it's going to last much longer than that ... If you were to plan on keeping the vehicle would it not make sense to do a drain & fill sooner than 100K miles ? I currently have 31K miles on my Sonata and plan to keep it past 100K miles - what are your thoughts on doing a drain & fill prior to 100K miles ? If so - what mileage would you do the first drain & fill ? As for ATF the 2017 and newer Hyundai / Kia use SP-IV-M which goes for $18 to $20 per qurst (must have unicorn tears included) ! That's expensive - Maxlife ATF meets SP-IV-M and is much less expensive ($17 per gallon) .

So what are your thoughts on above statements and thought process ? Break it down and advise your thoughts ... Thanks in advance !



"Semi-reasonable"? Sounds like every 30k to me.
 
I agree, there is no such thing as lifetime ATF
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Maxlife is good stuff and will work in your Sonata with no problem. 60k is a good time to do it.
 
Originally Posted by benjamming
Originally Posted by Nick1994
I had my mechanic do a drain and fill (he said around 4 quarts came out) with MaxLife ATF and then drive it around the block, then do it again. So 2 drain and refills at 100k miles.

I would recommend to change more often & only do 1 D&F each time. That way there is newer fluid in there on average but the same fluid total replaced at x mileage.


Not bad advice but what Nick did is a lot more fluid replacement than the vast majority. What is the expected life expectancy of this transmission? How often is the fluid changed on average?
 
Originally Posted by edwardh1
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Mercedes used to have filled for life transmission fluid, then they updated their specs and a regular change was speced at 39k. So probably somewhere in the 30-40k range is a good time to change it.


not 38 or 40 but at 39


Yep, very strange, and very German I guess. I thought it translated to something in kilometers, but it doesn't. You get a high mileage badge at 155k miles, but that's because that works out to 250k kilometers.

Oh yeah now I remember, service interval used to be every 13k so I guess 39 would be the 3rd service interval. But then they later changed it to 10k but I guess they kept the 39k interval.
 
Kia SP-IV-M = $18 per quart
Hyundai SP-IV-M = $21 per quart (same fluid)
Ebay has slightly better pricing - but still expensive for ATF ! Maxlife (now recommended for SP-IV-M applications) is much less expensive - then Eneos and Ravenol make their own specific SP-IV-Plus / M ATF's which are slightly less expensive . I don't believe there should be anything special about ATF's (as long as it's synthetic and the viscosity / temp range closely matches the OEM SP-IV-M ATF) ... If a Hyundai Sonata drains out approx. 4 to 5 quarts then you are looking at over $100 just for the ATF which is ridiculous . Maxlife ATF 1 gal. red jug at $17 is worth doing research on as some Hyundai forum posts indicate Maxlife has a lower viscosity closely matching the Hyundai SP-IV - M ("M" has slightly lower viscosity from the prior SP-IV ATF version) ... There has got to be an equally good SP-IV-M ATF available that costs less than what Hyundai / Kia are charging (i.e. robbing) you for !
 
Get the Eneos Chris....

It is specific to your vehicle. And while in warranty if it were me I would use only a "specific" ATF fluid in your circumstance. A multi fluid shotgun "approvals" would not be my first choice in this deal.
 
*Thanks - I'll look into the ENEOS for the reasons that you state plus it is priced better than the Hyundai / Kia SP-IV-M ATF .
Originally Posted by bbhero
Get the Eneos Chris....

It is specific to your vehicle. And while in warranty if it were me I would use only a "specific" ATF fluid in your circumstance. A multi fluid shotgun "approvals" would not be my first choice in this deal.
 
Originally Posted by Wolf359
Oh yeah now I remember, service interval used to be every 13k so I guess 39 would be the 3rd service interval. But then they later changed it to 10k but I guess they kept the 39k interval.

13k miles is roughly equivalent to 20000 km (normally you would round it down to 12000 but they chose 13k).
 
Save your money and drive the car. Change at 100k per owners manual. Follow the owners manual unless you are using the car under severe duty. The fluid is totally fine under normal driving conditions for 100k miles. I own a decent sized repair facility and this is the advice I would give you if you walked in the door. If you insisted then I'd do the change, take your money and laugh all the way to the bank. Honestly, if you do it before 100k it's just a waste of time, money and effort—not to mention bad for the environment too.

Whatever you do, PLEASE don't follow the person who suggested a home brew drain and flush through the cooler lines. A bad idea for many reasons.
 
IMHO, first ATF service is very important just like first engine oil change (if not more important) and should be done at 20-30k miles if one wants to drive the car for long time. D/F is a good start but I did complete ATF replacement in both cars in my sig at early stage and then went with D/F every 30k miles sched.
I'm using MaxLife ATF as the cars spec SP-IV, and it works great.
 
Originally Posted by ToadU
Save your money and drive the car. Change at 100k per owners manual. Follow the owners manual unless you are using the car under severe duty. The fluid is totally fine under normal driving conditions for 100k miles. I own a decent sized repair facility and this is the advice I would give you if you walked in the door. If you insisted then I'd do the change, take your money and laugh all the way to the bank. Honestly, if you do it before 100k it's just a waste of time, money and effort—not to mention bad for the environment too.

Whatever you do, PLEASE don't follow the person who suggested a home brew drain and flush through the cooler lines. A bad idea for many reasons.



my Escape at 60k it made a big difference in shift quality. The old fluid was very dark. Ford says to wait til 150k to change it. But it's got a dipstick and a drain plug so why not change it sooner. When it comes to "sealed" transmissions, well, I'd still change it before 100k. The fact that it shifted better indicated that the old fluid was worn out, no?
 
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My take as we've discussed this topic many times in the past is most vehicles will tend to easily make it to ~8yrs or so and ~120K miles on the factory transmission fluid.

If you're the type that gets a new car by then, or way before that like most of the population does, then changing transmission fluid is kind of pointless.

Sure, I know some folks go 300K miles and 20yrs on the FF, but this is not the typical.

I know for fact on my used vehicle purchases, which most of my vehicle purchases are, I change any fluid I can get to, early and often. If I have some sort of failure, I know it's not due to lack of maintenance. #2, I make great used cars.

I can say the hyundai transmissions I've changed fluid on before the ~36k miles mark, the factory fluid looked like used motor oil. I'm sure that black ATF would churn along fine for some time, but you know it's circulating all sorts of materials through the system.
 
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