Was dutifully doing my every-15K drain and fill on my Kia and I forgot to put the drain plug back in when I started pouring it in. I replaced the drainplug as soon as I realized it was amateur hour in my driveway. Once I finished adding all the SPIII though, it was definitely low.
I really didn't want to drive all the way to the dealer and it was closed at any rate. So I went to Walmart in my wife's car to see what they had in an SPIII compatible fluid. They only had Castrol Multi-Import that claimed compatibility with SPIII, but only in Mitsubishi apps. I figured that it was probably due to some Kia or Hyundai owner suing over some failure that was most likely not related to fluid used.
So I went had and bought it, and roughly a half of a quart was added to top it off on the dipstick.
Initial reaction - WOW!!!! It shifts smoother than it ever has before, and the tendency to shift extremely sloppy when it is cold (that it's had since it was new) has been greatly reduced. And when I say it shifts much smoother, it doesn't feel like extra slippage or anything like that, it just doesn't feel like it jerks into gear anymore like it did with the OEM fluid that I've always used since new. The shifts are just as fast as before, but without the jerky feeling.
I've also had another problem since new that is commonly reported among Rondo owners with the I4 and 4 speed transmission, that when you are driving in stop and go traffic, you get a hard 2-3 shift. The small amount of Castrol MV that I put in seems to have completely eliminated this issue. Go figure?
I'm just overall kind of curious about how half a quart of a different fluid can make such a big change. Maybe it was just the right amount of friction modifiers to smooth things out? The Castrol fluid is also 8cst which is thicker than the SPIII which runs about 7.3CST.
Not sure what I'm going to use at the next fluid change now. I had been thinking ATF+4 since the same 4 speed transmission was used in some Chrysler applications and Chrysler put out a bulletin saying that ATF+4 was acceptable in these units in lieu of SPIII in their applications. But maybe I'll just sick with 3.5 quarts SPIII and half a quart Castrol MV
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I really didn't want to drive all the way to the dealer and it was closed at any rate. So I went to Walmart in my wife's car to see what they had in an SPIII compatible fluid. They only had Castrol Multi-Import that claimed compatibility with SPIII, but only in Mitsubishi apps. I figured that it was probably due to some Kia or Hyundai owner suing over some failure that was most likely not related to fluid used.
So I went had and bought it, and roughly a half of a quart was added to top it off on the dipstick.
Initial reaction - WOW!!!! It shifts smoother than it ever has before, and the tendency to shift extremely sloppy when it is cold (that it's had since it was new) has been greatly reduced. And when I say it shifts much smoother, it doesn't feel like extra slippage or anything like that, it just doesn't feel like it jerks into gear anymore like it did with the OEM fluid that I've always used since new. The shifts are just as fast as before, but without the jerky feeling.
I've also had another problem since new that is commonly reported among Rondo owners with the I4 and 4 speed transmission, that when you are driving in stop and go traffic, you get a hard 2-3 shift. The small amount of Castrol MV that I put in seems to have completely eliminated this issue. Go figure?
I'm just overall kind of curious about how half a quart of a different fluid can make such a big change. Maybe it was just the right amount of friction modifiers to smooth things out? The Castrol fluid is also 8cst which is thicker than the SPIII which runs about 7.3CST.
Not sure what I'm going to use at the next fluid change now. I had been thinking ATF+4 since the same 4 speed transmission was used in some Chrysler applications and Chrysler put out a bulletin saying that ATF+4 was acceptable in these units in lieu of SPIII in their applications. But maybe I'll just sick with 3.5 quarts SPIII and half a quart Castrol MV