2016 Santa Fe Sport 2T..bought new.. several oil changes and basic maintenance so far..Rad & brake fluid flush next week at the dealer...I'm not a DIY guy and will let a reliable transmission shop do it. At 50,000km (30,000 miles) is it safe to flush the tranny or is a D & F better.
Tranny flush or drain & fill
- Thread starter Hyundai canuck
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Does the shop do both? At that mileage a D & F would be enough.
The dealer has a maintenance deal for brake & coolant flush,oil change,tire rotation and 15 point inspection for $400..I just thought a good tranny shop would be better. D & F at the shop is $150.
flush is a misnomer..dealers do tranny fluid exchanges all the time. ask if yours does it. i think its an urban myth that the machines somehow flush out the trans.I had that "flush" done every spring on my work trucks that put on 30k a year hard miles so the trans fluid was fresh and clean for the hot summer and never had a trans problem
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I vote for a drain and fill.
I've personally been doing drain and fill on whatever will come out when you open up the drain bolt, for some time now. The benefits of this is that you are gradually introducing some new fluid and it's mixing with the old so you have a very mild transition, you will get wildly deferring theories on this but the truth is transmission seem to like their new clean fluid more often than not and keeping it clean is probably the best thing that you can do for it.
Your transmission in particular seems to be at a very early age where there's almost no risk of doing any damage so I vote for a drain and fill, I'm a fan of that method.
Flush probably involves some kind of total fluid replacement, since the proper use of the term was brought up.
I've personally been doing drain and fill on whatever will come out when you open up the drain bolt, for some time now. The benefits of this is that you are gradually introducing some new fluid and it's mixing with the old so you have a very mild transition, you will get wildly deferring theories on this but the truth is transmission seem to like their new clean fluid more often than not and keeping it clean is probably the best thing that you can do for it.
Your transmission in particular seems to be at a very early age where there's almost no risk of doing any damage so I vote for a drain and fill, I'm a fan of that method.
Flush probably involves some kind of total fluid replacement, since the proper use of the term was brought up.
I, too, agree that a full fluid change is done with an "exchange" machine, not a power flush machine. The T-Tech type exchange machines use the transmission's pump to move new fluid in, and old fluid out. Some services, like BG, add a small can of cleaner to the fluid prior to the exchange.
Regarding full exchange vs. drain and fill? Sadly, you will not get a consensus here. 15 years ago here, the trend of the home DIY full fluid exchange was all the rage (never 100% change, but close). Since then, people here quote the Honda recommendation for drain and fills only, - never do a full exchange. So now the trend here seems to be drain and fills.
Also controversial is using OEM fluid vs. aftermarket "approved for use" fluids. I don't know if your Santa Fe takes SP III or the newer SP IV M. Member CKN has a 2021 thread here that attracted a lot of hearsay posts, if you dare read it. Your 6 speed most likely does not have a serviceable filter (unless you remove and tear down tranny).
I think either method would work, especially with your low mileage, relatively good fluid. To me, I would be tempted to do a complete exchange the first time, then follow up with drain and fills every 30K. Having said that, with my Hyundai tranny, I did my first "full" change at about 50K and do "full" changes every 30K. I have a pro mechanic friend with a machine and he uses aftermarket fluid. Que sera sera.
Regarding full exchange vs. drain and fill? Sadly, you will not get a consensus here. 15 years ago here, the trend of the home DIY full fluid exchange was all the rage (never 100% change, but close). Since then, people here quote the Honda recommendation for drain and fills only, - never do a full exchange. So now the trend here seems to be drain and fills.
Also controversial is using OEM fluid vs. aftermarket "approved for use" fluids. I don't know if your Santa Fe takes SP III or the newer SP IV M. Member CKN has a 2021 thread here that attracted a lot of hearsay posts, if you dare read it. Your 6 speed most likely does not have a serviceable filter (unless you remove and tear down tranny).
I think either method would work, especially with your low mileage, relatively good fluid. To me, I would be tempted to do a complete exchange the first time, then follow up with drain and fills every 30K. Having said that, with my Hyundai tranny, I did my first "full" change at about 50K and do "full" changes every 30K. I have a pro mechanic friend with a machine and he uses aftermarket fluid. Que sera sera.
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Thank- you for the replies.. There sure are a lot of different schools of thought on this topic. A power flush machine sounds to aggressive. Exchange machine sounds better. I've been researching this for a while now and I think I'll go with a full exchange for my first one at 30k and probably continue with full exchanges every 30-35k. I'm going to ask my dealer if they have an exchange machine and go that route if they do.
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On my 07 F150 since new (6 miles) I would drain 4.5 and fill with 4.5 qts. of MerconV at 30K miles. 30K miles after that it gets a pan drop, filter, and 4.5 qts. of MerconV. 169K miles on it currently and the tranny (4R75E) still shifts like it was new.
Yours is a warm and fuzzy story, BOF.
Can you recall whether your transmission had a pan gasket or just sealant?
What did you close it up with, gasket or goo?
Can you recall whether your transmission had a pan gasket or just sealant?
What did you close it up with, gasket or goo?
I'll comment since I did mine under 30k. Drain and fill is all that's necessary. Maxlife works as a great replacement for SP-IV. I did 2 d&f a couple weeks apart, but one will replace around 5 quarts out of 7-9. Will only do 1 every couple 3-4 years going forward. The underbody plastic is a pain to remove, I would only do multiple drain and fills if it meant putting that back only once.
Is there a transmission drain plug on a2001 S10
I don't know about S10s. The Chevy and GMC Sierra s were all hd dual wheel trucks and they did not so that was another reason I preferred the machine exchange since it wasn't as messy having fluid spill all over the place taking off the pan
On our 2012 Santa Fe, I did a drain/fill every 30K with Valvoline Maxlife. Never had an issue up to 168K when it got totaled.
It was replaced by the 2019 Tucson we just purchased. It will get it's first drain / Fill at 38K when I change the oil.
It was replaced by the 2019 Tucson we just purchased. It will get it's first drain / Fill at 38K when I change the oil.
When I did my Sportage at 50K km for first time I did full ATF replacement, it looked as I did right thing. Now doing D/Fs every 50K km, fluid comes out looking very good.
IMHO, since you are not a DIY guy, take the car to a 'Transmissions shop' that's reputable, get full ATF exchange first time. Those 6AT transmissions have two valves that are quite sensitive to (abrasive) dirt in ATF and can start leaking causing AT to slip. Get all dirt out early along with ATF.
IMHO, since you are not a DIY guy, take the car to a 'Transmissions shop' that's reputable, get full ATF exchange first time. Those 6AT transmissions have two valves that are quite sensitive to (abrasive) dirt in ATF and can start leaking causing AT to slip. Get all dirt out early along with ATF.
On a low mileage transmission, there is no harm if replacing all the fluid. I wouldn't use any sort of "cleaner". Transmission fluid is already a great cleaner and you don't need anything else in there.
I'm a drain and fill kind of guy but I do it frequently.....far more than your average recommended interval. It is cheap and I buy pans with a drain plug so that I can drop 2-3 quarts out every 20,000 miles or so and I drop the pan and change the filter at around 50,000 miles. I have a CVT on one of my vehicles and they consider that a "lifetime" fluid but I'll probably stick to my 50,000-mile rule for that too.
I'm a drain and fill kind of guy but I do it frequently.....far more than your average recommended interval. It is cheap and I buy pans with a drain plug so that I can drop 2-3 quarts out every 20,000 miles or so and I drop the pan and change the filter at around 50,000 miles. I have a CVT on one of my vehicles and they consider that a "lifetime" fluid but I'll probably stick to my 50,000-mile rule for that too.
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