SP-III vs SP-IV? Backward compatible?

[Johnny248]

Looking at some Synthetic ATF.... Anyone know if SP-IV is backward compatible for SP-III?

• DEXRON® VI, DEXRON® III (H), DEXRON® III, DEXRON®IIE
• MERCON® LV
• TOYOTA WS
• Hyundai SP-IV
• MERCEDES 7 Speed
• NISSAN Matic S

 

[Johnny248]

I've read some other posts on BITOG regarding SP-III and I think there was a small mention of SP-IV not being officially compatible with SP-III, but not much info.

 

[unDummy]

Not approved by Hyundai/Kia but I will surmise that some automakers are too afraid to scare owners into an overly expensive ATF when the vehicle was originally filled with a cheap(supposedly adequate) fluid.

The issue also sets up the automaker for potential lawsuits if they back spec a new superior fluid, and a bunch of owners that used the original garbage fluid, sued to pay for transmissions that failed or were rebuilt out of warranty. The automaker admits the guilt since the newer ATF is far superior to the inadequate older ATF that might've caused a failure.

Since your location is typically cooler then the southern border, and since most inadequate OE ATF's shear to 5cst or less, I would have no problem testing that ATF in an older transmission that requires SPIII.

I'm glad that GM back spec'd DexronVI.
I'm glad that Honda back spec'd DW1.
I'm glad that Nissan back spec'd Matic-S to J, but am not happy that they kept D matic.
Chrysler dumped ATF+3 for ATF+4. Ford is a king at flipflopping(mercon/merconV, SP vs LV) but they did catch up with some applications.
Toyota is a chicken too...WS(T-V) vs. 3309(T-IV) never got the back spec'ing.

 

[Johnny248]

I was just unsure if the LV fluid would cause any problems.

About the Nissan...

Matic J -> S
Matic K
Matic C -> D

I see multi fluids that are spec'd D,J,K, so does that mean that the multi fluid is ok for S also since S replaced J? man... Why can't a manufacture just chose one ATF.....

 

[unDummy]

They can't choose 1 ATF because their parts department would go out of business.

 

[Johnny248]

Originally Posted By: unDummy
They can't choose 1 ATF because their parts department would go out of business.



We use one synthetic universal ATF at our dealership in all of the Nissan autos. We have both Valvoline Syn CVT as well as Nissan CVT NS-2 fluid, but it is way more cost effective for the customer when we do flushes to use the Val NS-2 than the Nissan. Almost half the cost. That being said, our Syn ATF states:

Dex 6, Dex 3, Mer 5, Mer 3, Mer SP, Mer LV, Atf +3, Atf +4, SPIII,SPIV, Nissan D, S, K, Toy T-IV and some others. We have never had a problem with any of our customers Auto's using this fluid.

I'm still not 100% sure what the difference between all the Nissan fluids are. I've read that D is nearly the same as Dex3, and what is also strange is that Nissan's worst the Transmissions (RE5F22A mainly and RE4F04 sometimes) use Matic K fluid. I don't know what is special about K, but I know that I see far more transmission failures on those two transmission than any others. And it seems that most of them have had the K fluid in them at time of failure. We replace quite a few Maxima and Quest transmissions. It is pretty ridiculous, and I have to admit that I feel bad for owners of these 5-6 year vehicles with ~100k on them need new transmissions.

 

[MolaKule]

Quote:
the Transmissions (RE5F22A mainly and RE4F04 sometimes) use Matic K fluid.


What area of the tranny is failing and does another (different) fluid seem to prolong the life of these trannys?

 

[unDummy]

I never had a problem with my D transmission like the RE4F04 in my Nissans. I maintained them and they lasted beyond 250k miles.

The Aisin unit is murdered by typical Nissan confused-shift programming. Still, if you maintain it, it will last a long time.

I think I'm going to trademark 'confused-shift' or 'confused-shiftomatic' . Seems that it is what is being used for in many vehicles today.