Maxlife Full Syn ATF - PS-Excellent in -30F temps.

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jayg

jayg

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Rabbit Creek, Alaska
The last few days here have been highs around 0F and lows much much colder than that. The standard ATF that I am running in my FJ60 Land Cruiser is older and yesterday was having a hard time, making the pump whine and cutout until sufficient heat had built up under the hood.


I let it run until the fluid got thin enough to sufficiently drain from the low pressure hose and syphoned out everything from the reservoir. I turned the wheel several times to purge everything from the rack until the new fluid was coming out.The fluid wasn't in terrible shape but it couldn't keep up with the sustained low temperatures.

I put in Maxlife Full Synth ATF Dex/Merc (the latest version) with a -48C Pour point.

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Fire it up this morning and no whine, no sluggishness and didn't need to give it several minutes of heat to build up under the hood to thaw it out. It was ready to go right as I turned it on.

I post this because I was considering M1 ATF to run in it but the store was out of stuff . I was hoping this would get the job just as well and sure enough it did. The benefit is that it still has the seal conditioners to help with weeping of the lines and though I don't have that issue even on my 30 year old Toyota, it doesn't hurt to have it.

So, if you live somewhere that has sustained low temperatures for months at a time, keep this on the short list for ATF/PS fluid.
 
I have some stocked for PS, but I need to use up my Castrol import multi vehicle first.. I just flushed with the Castrol since its older. I prefer the Mobil Syn ATF for the PS, however the price difference makes the Maxlife fluid a better option. Think I paid 5$ for the Maxlife at WM in the USA, full price. Castrol fluid seems ok so far..
 
I used the Maxlife ATF in the Malibu 6T40 in my signature. Has a more positive shift feel when in the throttle.
 
I use maxlife full syn in all our cars transmissions (10 fusion, 08 escape, previous 10 impala, and next spring my 15 malibu) always smooths out the transmissions and never had a problem
 
Originally Posted By: jayg
If you actually need ATF in your PS though, I'd go with the ATF.


What P/S are you running on the FJ60? Saginaw?
 
Originally Posted By: Ramblejam
Originally Posted By: jayg
If you actually need ATF in your PS though, I'd go with the ATF.


What P/S are you running on the FJ60? Saginaw?


Factory Toyota. I could swap in a Saginaw since I'm de-smogged but this thing turns 35s just fine.
 
Originally Posted By: car51
Thanks jayg, pondering using this or ST Synthetic in the Focus

I have a Focus engine power plant in my Transit. Is running the Maxlife in the rebuilt tranny and in the power steering unit. Will find out about its cold factor next week. Also running it in the Xterra and the tranny seems to shift better than the factory fill that got changed out at 90k.
 
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Valvoline got rid of the 75k odometer logo on its high mileage products?


At least on their ATF
 
I switched both my vehicles PSF to Amsoil ATF. It has really helped in the cold starts but I am going to flush that out shortly and use the group 4 based Co-op ATF SL. Its what I am running in my Ram transmission. Its pour point is -66C. Might be a good go.
 
I have used Maxlife ATF in my G35's power steering system for three or four years now; it seems to perform well, and I like the idea of seal conditioners for a car that is garaged most of the time.

Also, I run Maxlife ATF in the transmissions of both the Accord and G35; the shifts are quick and firm in the Accord, but not so much in the G35; however, I think it's the nature of this particular transmission, as Nissan Matic J netted similar results.
 
I just did the same PS fluid replacement on my Toyota Tacoma, bought 1 quart from Walmart for $5 a turkey bastered out the resovoir 4 times, I didn't even jack up the front end just started up the engine turned lock to lock a few times, then replaced again. the old Toyota fluid was dirty and dark amber at 72k miles, I don't know if its all in my head but the engine seems to run better since I did this maybe the pump is turning easier since I put in new fluid.
 
I had seepage problems with MaxLife ATF after flushing my '09 Subaru Forester power steering with this. Car had 82K miles on it and the factory fluid was dark orange when flushed out. A few thousand miles later, I noticed one of my rack boots was wet and the fluid was red. I cleaned the boot, it was wet again the next month.

I re-flushed with Castrol Transmax High Mileage, re-cleaned the boot, and it has stayed dry since then.

MaxLife is Dexron VI rated according to the label, whereas Transmax isn't. Possibly MaxLife is just a tad too thin for this application.
 
I used it in my former 2000 Century for over 50K miles now. On a recent visit to my son I drove the car for a few days. The transmission was shifting fine and the fluid looked great. I'll probably change it out for him when he comes back from his deployment and use Maxlife ATF again. At that point the fluid should have somewhere in the neighborhood of 30K miles on it.
 
Originally Posted By: crainholio
I had seepage problems with MaxLife ATF after flushing my '09 Subaru Forester power steering with this. Car had 82K miles on it and the factory fluid was dark orange when flushed out. A few thousand miles later, I noticed one of my rack boots was wet and the fluid was red. I cleaned the boot, it was wet again the next month.

I re-flushed with Castrol Transmax High Mileage, re-cleaned the boot, and it has stayed dry since then.

MaxLife is Dexron VI rated according to the label, whereas Transmax isn't. Possibly MaxLife is just a tad too thin for this application.
Valvoline max life is a full synthetic fluid maybe its cause synthetics will find leaks easier than dino oils, rule of thumb when using syhthetics is to make sure you have good seals/ gaskets before using. also max life is rated Dexron II & III
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: jrvn
Valvoline max life is a full synthetic fluid maybe its cause synthetics will find leaks easier than dino oils, rule of thumb when using syhthetics is to make sure you have good seals/ gaskets before using. also max life is rated Dexron II & III


Rack boots were dry before the flush. Should I have disassembled my PS rack before the flush to "make sure I had good seals"?
 
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