Originally Posted by Jimzz
Originally Posted by AzFireGuy79
It looks like only positive results from Toyota owners switching to MaxLife ATF where WS is specified. $17 a gallon vs $48 for the Ravenol T-WS. I appreciate your input!
I've used Maxlife (and castrol + havolines syn ATF a little as well) in many Toyotas and Lexus trans without issue. Well one issue, it held up much better than the factory WS stuff.
I've also use it in Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Infiniti, Ford, GM, Honda, Acura, Mercedes, etc... with no issues at all. There are some trans that do take a special fluid so watch out for those, like ATF+4 trans. But most other common used/made auto trans Maxlife, and similar fluids, work fine.
I've used non Mopar ATF+4 both licensed and unlicensed for years. There is nothing special about ATF+4, just Chrysler being really picky that it has a Grp-III base-stock of a specific variety and a certain level of friction modifiers. I have used the Amsoil Signature Series multi-vehicle formula in my Journey and did so for 100,000km (60K miles) before it was in an accident and in my opinion it shifted better with the Amsoil than the ATF+4 from Mopar it came with. It also remained cherry red unlike the Mopar stuff which darkens.
OEM Fluid is typically built based on reasonable performance to a certain cost that saves the OE money. Other fluids makers that need to keep their reputation intact do a better job because they are passing those costs onto the consumer so that is why we end up with superb fluids like Amsoil, Maxlife, Castrol.
IMO with Toyota WS the fluid although it darkens quickly it doesn't mean that it's a bad fluid. There is a poster on here that did a UOA with many miles on his factory fill of WS fluid and the transmission held up just fine so changing it with WS fluid regularly would only make that even better because nothing beats clean fluid.
Now IMO and based on my own experiences in the real world some of the others like Amsoil, Maxlife, Castrol offer better shift quality and reduced operating temperatures than OEM fluids because of better additives and basestocks, as well as longer change intervals so there is a benefit there, but in terms of longevity clean fluid regardless of make will make the transmission last more than you could ever want because most people neglect the transmissions and OEMS typically build them to last on the factory fill for at least the warranty period etc. so it's a non-issue.
The Ford fluid turns dark in short order but the fluid is just fine. It's the dye they are using that changes quickly.
