What would you use for Esso 71141 replacement

[chefwong]

So many threads and I've never recall a consensus on whether to stick with the *OEM ESSO 71141* fluid or was there alternatives that others have used and felt it was fine....TCC shudder, etc.

I'm planning a brake job soon and while it's up in the air, I'm leaning on dropping the pan and changing the filter on it. The sump holds 9, and when you drop the pan, it's around a 6 Qt change.

I've done 2 drain/refills already without a pan drop and have always used the Esso OEM fluid.

Just wondering outloud of any alternative *compatible* fluids out there, that has known to work well with trannys calling for the 71141 fluid.

I'm not in the mood to experiment with different fluids ;-)

 

[Hammer]

There are people on this board using Valvoline Maxlife ATF in place of that fluid. They seem to post positive results.

Hammer

 

[Pablo]

Not had any complaints.

Amsoil ATF TSB

Amsoil ATF

 

[bmwtechguy]

The Maxlife is good, but I like the Amsoil universal ATF better. It works well as a replacement fluid and is still less expensive than the OEM fluid. What oil did you find works best in that X5's engine?

 

[chefwong]

The 71141 bought via the Audi Equivalent Part # bottle or JIE was not too expensive when I bought them. I bought the Audi at around $12'ish a bottle if I recall. The dealer price was some astronomical $$ I don't even recall. I stuck with the 71141 back then as those drain/refills I did was when the auto was still under warranty. bavAuto has been selling it recently via the Esso bottle direct for around $19 if I recall.



As far as oil, I'm still testing but sofar the new 5W40 that has been floating around the boards lately has been showing some pretty decent results......still testing though.

 

[TTopJohn]

I'm using Pentosin ATF 1 in my Esso LT 71141 application. No problems, had it in for 10K miles.

On price, it was about halfway between the Audi/VW parts counter stuff (at the high end), and the Castrol Import Multivehicle (at the low end).

 

[wquiles]

I just did my own ATF service, and used Valvoline Maxlife. I have a little over 600 miles so far - everything still perfect. Here is the link to my post:

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