Transmission fluid type

Are you a troll or an idiot ? Oh I forgot, a troll is an idiot.

Why the heck are you calling me a troll? I am seriously concerned.

I don't know whether to trust the dealership -- it's a joint Subaru/ Hyundai dealership, and the guy was young and might have been a Subaru guy anyway.

So I was hoping it someone with some actual technical knowledge of the fluids would know the difference, know whether the one can be substituted for the other, and if not, what the consequences will be and what can be done.

This has been discussed here in the past and the consensus is to use the right fluid. There is some sort of "generic" but I'd not trust it and you don't want to cause a warranty problem later.

Edwin,

Of course he is a troll. To quote him

"Why the heck are you calling me a troll? I am seriously concerned.

I don't know whether to trust the dealership -- it's a joint Subaru/ Hyundai dealership, and the guy was young and might have been a Subaru guy anyway."

What kind of idiot (or troll) goes to a dealer and get the answer that they use the same component in the cars they service a then says quote "I am seriously concerned."

As my best friend Vinny, who was born and raised in Brooklyn NY would say to snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com cut the freaking Bull Shit and get outa my face.

Although I am reluctant to post this because it goes against my number one newsgroup posting rule of not feeding the trolls, I decided to post just to remind all of us that we can still be distracted by these jerks.

If you are "seriously concerned," you should be.

I have heard of dealerships, oil change places, etc. using other fluid than SPII (now SPIII). Part of the problem there is that Mitsubishi has failed miserably in terms of "marketing" this fluid. There continues to be absolutely no place you can get this fluid except at the appropriate dealerships (which I'm sure is quite fine with them).

The groups that have used other fluids have fallen into three groups. One group has used what some call Chrysler or "Mopar" fluid, which used to be ATF+3, but is now ATF+4. My own dealership uses this, and contrary to the feelings of some on this board, the relatively new ATF+4 does seem to be compatible, and has worked out without any reported trouble in these transmissions. If you need or wish to use a different fluid (since SPIII from the dealer is ridiculously expensive), this is the way to go.

But I get the impression that few of the people that use alternative fluid go this way. Most of them use Dexron-based fluid. Of those types, there are two groups. One group tries to use these "multi-vehicle" ATF's, which lists just about every transmission out there. But the Mitsubishi / Hyundai transmission is always noticeably missing from the list. And for better or worse, these are still Dexron-based fluids.

If I were being asked about these fluids, I might be talked into one of these "multi-vehicle fluids" (with great reluctance) ONLY if it were a full synthetic fluid. Otherwise, you just have Dexron fluid with a couple of extra additives. And I believe that Dexron fluid (along with the old type 'F') is fluid you want to keep out of this transmission.

By the way, the final group are people who just plain stick Dexron fluid in everything, since it is the cheapest and most readily available. I would hope that your dealer isn't that foolish. Ordinary, non-synthetic Dexron is a dictionary definition of what you do not want to use in these transmissions.

Hope this helps.

Thank you, Tom and Edwin! The little transmission shop I went to almost certainly falls into the last category -- three immigrants in a bay in a shared complex offering the cheapest prices possible. I don't recall seeing Synthetic on the packaging, and I didn't recognize the brand. I guess I'm gonna have to march in there and have them flush it out with SP-III, on their dime.

I can't imagine why the guy at the dealership would say something when everyone else in the world says the opposite -- since he didn't know automatically [no pun intended] and went over to check what fluid they had makes me doubt that he has the expertise I had been hoping to find there -- he may have just found the Subaru fluid and assumed it was for the Hyundais too.

Of course this guy is a troll. Now he claims the transmission shop he picked to work on his precious little car is and I quote "three immigrants in a bay in a shared complex offering the cheapest prices possible."

As I said before he is a troll or just an idiot. On second thought not an idiot but a giant shmuck that is also a troll. I also promise not to feed this troll anymore. Double Tap

Absolutely. As far as I'm concerned, the guy at the dealer was indeed on crack. Use SPIII only. As Tom said, I suspect that ATF+4 is nearly the same thing, but when you consider the price of ATF+4, there's not much savings to be had there.

If they won't reflush with SPIII, find someplace that will and have it done immediately. Dexron is not good for your transmission.

Someone comes on here and asks a legitimate question, and you call him a troll three times in the same thread. You should take a good look in the mirror, sir.

Hyundaitech, If you read his post he takes his precious car to and I quote "The little transmission shop I went to almost certainly falls into the last category -- three immigrants in a bay in a shared complex offering the cheapest prices possible." Then brings his precious car to a Hyundai dealer, asks a question, receives an answer to his question he does not like, and asks if the tech was on crack.

The person is a troll, and well meaning, straight forward, helpful people like you, Edwin, and Tom are just not cynical enough to pick up on his crap because possibly you don't have to deal with low life scum on an often enough basis to have your antenna attuned to his kind of BS.

Please read the stated facts of his posts, his syntax, implied meaning, and I think you might change your opinion.

I still say he is a troll.

Double Tap

Wow I've never been accused of such a thing! Usually the other way around. I'll have to go back and read the original post to see if I did not get my cynical hormones flowing in time.

I think that's the first time I've ever been accused of not being cynical enough.