2009 Hyundai Elantra ATF decision

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schuylkill

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I'm obsessing about this and need to pull the trigger. Have about 23K on car and I'm going to do complete drain and fill, have new pan filter and waiting on Magnefine to arrive. The filter came with a rubber pan gasket so I need to decide whether to use it or not.

OM states to use "Hyundai Genuine ATF SP-III, Diamond ATF SP-III, SK ATF SP-III or other brands metting (sic) the SP-III specification approved by Hyundai Motor Co." I will most likely not use the Hyundai fluid, I would use Eneos Type SP fluid from NAPA for $4.79/qt in it's place if I go that way. VI is 175, kin vis @100°C = 7.388 and @40° is 36.23.

Amsoil has a deal going for free registration for a 6 month period for wholesale pricing so I can get Amsoil OE for $6.41/qt or Signature series for $8.71/qt. What are the main differences between these fluids? OE has VI of 180, 100°C = 7.5 and 40°C is 36.5. Signature Series has 165 VI, 100°C=7.5 and 40°C is 38.5. (I'm surprised by this 165 number)

Finally on my list is Castrol Import Multi-Vehicle for $5.74/qt at Walmart. VI of 200, 100°C = 8 and 40°C is 36.6.

I live in Pennsylvania and get cold winters. The car often sits and is used mostly for short trips. I'm sure any would be fine. (Thanks to Tribosessive for his information about the Eneos SP fluid.) What do you think?
 
i will reply only based on my personal experience:
2004 elantra gls, 95K miles, rebuild trans at 89k. physical failure, no sensors/errors trow. i think it was a combination of nut behind the wheel (a few hard launches), not correct level of fluid and too many things in the atf case.(spiii + castrol import MV + lubegard red)
same climate as you.
i suppose your miles=city traffic? (by 23k miles for only 4 years....).

spIII will keep you in the "no manufacturer warranty rejection" zone. you can shop around for it at hyundai, kia and mithubishi dealers. prices may vary wildly. even is just new fluid you will feel an improvement in shifts.
kind of stiff in winter times till' warm...

eneos is an option not necessarily known by a lot of users. your decision. this seems to be reported the best match to spiii

based on this website opinions and a few hyundai based ones, the most close one/most used to spiii are the castrol import multi-vehicle and maxlife atf.


you can get more of the fluid out by varying the height of corners of the car up in the air.

MOST IMPORTANT: make sure you have the right level! those trans in hyundai programming are quite sensible to fluid levels.

what is the color of current fluid?

good luck.
 
Originally Posted By: schuylkill
I'm obsessing about this and need to pull the trigger. Have about 23K on car and I'm going to do complete drain and fill, have new pan filter and waiting on Magnefine to arrive. The filter came with a rubber pan gasket so I need to decide whether to use it or not.

OM states to use "Hyundai Genuine ATF SP-III, Diamond ATF SP-III, SK ATF SP-III or other brands metting (sic) the SP-III specification approved by Hyundai Motor Co." I will most likely not use the Hyundai fluid, I would use Eneos Type SP fluid from NAPA for $4.79/qt in it's place if I go that way. VI is 175, kin vis @100°C = 7.388 and @40° is 36.23.

Amsoil has a deal going for free registration for a 6 month period for wholesale pricing so I can get Amsoil OE for $6.41/qt or Signature series for $8.71/qt. What are the main differences between these fluids? OE has VI of 180, 100°C = 7.5 and 40°C is 36.5. Signature Series has 165 VI, 100°C=7.5 and 40°C is 38.5. (I'm surprised by this 165 number)

Finally on my list is Castrol Import Multi-Vehicle for $5.74/qt at Walmart. VI of 200, 100°C = 8 and 40°C is 36.6.

I live in Pennsylvania and get cold winters. The car often sits and is used mostly for short trips. I'm sure any would be fine. (Thanks to Tribosessive for his information about the Eneos SP fluid.) What do you think?


I would not bother with Amsoil OE. If you are going to order from Amsoil get the good stuff for $2.00 more/QT.

I think Amsoil is one of the best ATFs out there and have it in both my vehicles, but thats just my opinion.
 
Quote:
what is the color of current fluid?


It's a honey brown color, not dark.

Quote:
Do you know the specs of the genuine hyundai fluid?

No I can't find them. I am told that the Eneos matches them, but I don't know. Haven't found an analysis either.

Quote:
If you are going to order from Amsoil get the good stuff for $2.00 more/QT.

That's what I'm thinking also. There's a warehouse not that far from me in Lancaster. I know a couple of guys who use their products, if they need supplies it may be worth it for me to shoot over there and pick it up myself. I'd need to get the shipping costs.
 
If your '09 Elantra only has 23,000 miles on it, I wouldn't even worry about changing ATF for another couple of years. If your car is still under warranty, I'd ONLY use the OEM Hyundai branded SP-III. If you don't use the Hyundai brand ATF, go with the Enos SP-III. I didn't get around to first changing the ATF in my '05 Sedona until about 150,000 miles. Did 3 drain and fills with the Enos SP-III that I bought at NAPA for $4.29/quart...used 12 qts for the 3 drain and fills done about 8 months/10,000 miles back. Good Luck!
 
I did 3 D&R's on my 2008 Elantra at 30K using Valvoline Maxlife ATF and it's running great and shifting nicely. Only 1.75 quarts came out at each drain so I don't know exactly what percentage of new fluid I have in it but it's now nice and red.
I also added a bottle of LG red.
I plan to do this every 30K and only change the filter when I hit 90 or 120K.
Let me know how your filter looks and if there are any magnets. Thanks
 
If you're considering Castrol I.M.V. ATF (synthetic or syn-blend), you might also want to look into Valvoline Maxlife synthetic ATF.

It is a Hyundai/Kia SP-III approved lubricant. I've been using either two since 30K on my '05 Accent (2x) and '09 Elantra (1x).
Normally, I buy whichever is cheaper. I recently got 4-qt jug of Maxlife for $16. Either should last a good 30-45K after a good D&F.


I would save the filter until the next service interval. 23K is not very old. I plan to change the ATF filter when I reach 90K, along with the fuel pump pickup screen.
The FSM says that ATF filters are NOT serviceable in my '09 Elantra? Neither have in-line fuel filters either
 
Quote:
I would save the filter until the next service interval. 23K is not very old.


I've read on this forum and elsewhere, and it makes sense to me, that the most wear on the tranny and therefore sediment build up on the filter element and magnets occurs during the first several thousand miles so if you are going to change it out doing it earlier is better than later. That's how I'm approaching this. I plan to do a complete drain using the cooling lines. Amsoil has what I see as a DIY posted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ly6cbbKa9A
Then since I'm installing a Magnefine filter I don't think I will need to drop the pan again, just replace the ATF and inline filter. Now which fluid should I use? Hmm.

Quote:
If you are going to sign up for the Amsoil PC pricing deal, please use the BITOG Amsoil sponsor. ZO# 515729. Thank you.


I've already registered and was accepted. Can I still do this?
 
Originally Posted By: schuylkill
Quote:
I would save the filter until the next service interval. 23K is not very old.


I've read on this forum and elsewhere, and it makes sense to me, that the most wear on the tranny and therefore sediment build up on the filter element and magnets occurs during the first several thousand miles so if you are going to change it out doing it earlier is better than later. That's how I'm approaching this. I plan to do a complete drain using the cooling lines. Amsoil has what I see as a DIY posted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ly6cbbKa9A
Then since I'm installing a Magnefine filter I don't think I will need to drop the pan again, just replace the ATF and inline filter. Now which fluid should I use? Hmm.

Quote:
If you are going to sign up for the Amsoil PC pricing deal, please use the BITOG Amsoil sponsor. ZO# 515729. Thank you.


I've already registered and was accepted. Can I still do this?


If you call 1-800-956-5695 first thing tomorrow and say you meant to sign up with 515729 you might catch it in time, but may be too late.
 
Just called a local Hyundai dealer, $8.95/qt and a local Kia dealer, $6.80/qt. Would they hassle over using Kia fluid? I'm not an AT guy, this is my wife's car and I have little experience with the feel of an auto tranny and she probably wouldn't notice. Still pondering and researching, probably wasting my time but I sort of enjoy it.
 
I still think you should just leave your car alone and not bother changing fluid in a '09 car with only 23,000 miles on transmission. If you attach that line filter, and it comes loose at clamp, you could end up with ATF blowing out all over road and ending up with a shot transmission. I know it's your car, and I certainly realize you're free to do whatever you want with your own car, but if it was my car I'd just leave it be and not do anything now.
 
Quote:
I still think you should just leave your car alone and not bother changing fluid in a '09 car with only 23,000 miles on transmission. If you attach that line filter, and it comes loose at clamp, you could end up with ATF blowing out all over road and ending up with a shot transmission. I know it's your car, and I certainly realize you're free to do whatever you want with your own car, but if it was my car I'd just leave it be and not do anything now.

That's certainly the easy answer and maybe the wise choice, either way time will tell. Then again there are many ways to interpret results.
 
Originally Posted By: schuylkill
Quote:
I still think you should just leave your car alone and not bother changing fluid in a '09 car with only 23,000 miles on transmission. If you attach that line filter, and it comes loose at clamp, you could end up with ATF blowing out all over road and ending up with a shot transmission. I know it's your car, and I certainly realize you're free to do whatever you want with your own car, but if it was my car I'd just leave it be and not do anything now.

That's certainly the easy answer and maybe the wise choice, either way time will tell. Then again there are many ways to interpret results.



This car has a drain plug so you could do a couple of D&R's to insure fresh additives.
That's the plan I'm following....
 
My son has been driving it and it is around 614K now. It is on the second engine which I got with 30K on it so the engine has about 380K on it, I replaced the head gasket when it had about 300K on it. I got the engine for $100! Best deal ever. The tranny is from an ex model and is the third tranny it has had. This one has been really strong and has about 400K on it, put it in with about 350K on car. There is some rust now in rear wheel areas but not much and the paint is flaking off in spots. It's a hatch and I really have used the heck out of it.
 
Gosh, 23k? That's pretty aggressive.

If I was going to mess around with ATF at 23k, I'd just D&R every oil other oil change.

I didn't even replace the fluid on our '04 until 90k and (other than the shifting points) never had even the slightest issue with it for the 145k life of the car (totaled). I'm certainly not recommending doing that, but the transmissions on them aren't in need of that much attention so quickly.
 
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