anything bad about CITGO or harvest king?

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jalikaria24

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im looking to get some dexron iii for my truck and have the choice between citgo, harvest king, or valvoline. all 3 have dexron 3 licensing on the back and are dex/merc fluids. does it make a diff which i get? i assume all dex fluid is very similar but i just wanna hear if anything wrong with going with the harvest king. its dirt cheap. thx

i can get harvest king for $30 for 7.5L
motomaster/citgo is $90 for 20L
valvoline is prob $40-50/ 5-6L

thx
 
Originally Posted by apollo18
all 3 have dexron 3 licensing on the back and are dex/merc fluids. does it make a diff which i get?

If they are all truly licensed like you say, get the one that's readily available and/or lowest price. Licensing means the automaker that controls that spec says the fluid is 100% acceptable.
 
There are VOAs here on the Harvest King oils, and they look fine. If it's appropriately rated - it should be good to go.
 
If it is licensed and meets the specifications of the manufacturer, the least expensive is the way to go.
Anything else is merely a wallet flush.
 
Originally Posted by apollo18
im looking to get some dexron iii for my truck and have the choice between citgo, harvest king, or valvoline. all 3 have dexron 3 licensing on the back and are dex/merc fluids. does it make a diff which i get? i assume all dex fluid is very similar but i just wanna hear if anything wrong with going with the harvest king. its dirt cheap. thx

i can get harvest king for $30 for 7.5L
motomaster/citgo is $90 for 20L
valvoline is prob $40-50/ 5-6L

thx

Pretty sure there's no licensing left for Dex III, the licenses all expired at the end of 2011, GM licenses Dex VI as a replacement, so they'll all be "approved for use". I've had no issues with Citgo products, and WM is switching a lot of ST oils to Citgo, I would say their Dex/Merc is likely as good as anyone elses.
 
Still trying to find out what HK is. Dexos number on bottle isn't on Dexos supplier page. Think it's Warren Oil. Emailed supplier but they didn't respond. Trans fluid might still be Citgo.
 
Originally Posted by bullwinkle
Pretty sure there's no licensing left for Dex III, the licenses all expired at the end of 2011, GM licenses Dex VI as a replacement, so they'll all be "approved for use". I've had no issues with Citgo products, and WM is switching a lot of ST oils to Citgo, I would say their Dex/Merc is likely as good as anyone elses.

Correct, there is no such thing as a licensed DEXRON III product. DEXRON VI is the current license and this license supersedes DEXRON III.
 
Since there's no licensing what's does it mean when it says for dex/merc or suitable for dexron iii or something like this "For use in vehicles previously serviceable by DEXRON® III/MERCON® brands Suitable where Ford ESP-M2C138CJ or ESP-M2C166H is specified Meets Requirements for Allison C-4"

Does that still mean it meets the dexron III specs and is good as any other one? Or does it just mean it's good enough and not actually confirmed by GM
 
Originally Posted by kschachn
Originally Posted by bullwinkle
Pretty sure there's no licensing left for Dex III, the licenses all expired at the end of 2011, GM licenses Dex VI as a replacement, so they'll all be "approved for use". I've had no issues with Citgo products, and WM is switching a lot of ST oils to Citgo, I would say their Dex/Merc is likely as good as anyone elses.

Correct, there is no such thing as a licensed DEXRON III product.

What if it had a Dexron III license when it was current ? It met the specs or requirements then, theoretically nothing should be different....
 
Originally Posted by csandste
Wally World is switching from WPP to Citgo? Or Amalie to Citgo? Haven't heard that!

Some of the diesel oil has already made the switch, the ST 15W40 gallons now have a Citgo MSDS.
https://www.msdsdigital.com/supertech%E2%84%A2-heavy-duty-engine-oil-sae-15w-40-msds
 
I would think since its pointed out about GM license being gone, DEXRON III is fine. I use Carquest brand in my Camry power steering
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted by apollo18
i heard that people say that all dex 3 is basically the same but is that only if they have the license? or is it good enough if the label says dexron on the front/back

Are you reading any of the posts in this thread (and the other one) or just making random responses?
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
What if it had a Dexron III license when it was current ? It met the specs or requirements then, theoretically nothing should be different....

Well of course it met the licensing requirements when it was manufactured.
 
i did read the responses im just confused on why it matters if the license expired.
i assume all these were licensed back in the day and that means they were dex 3 certified and now even tho its expired they are still dex 3 certified.

am i right?

i dont get how the expiry has anything to do with it thats why im confused beacuse i dont want license expiry to mean that anyone can slap dexron or dex 3 on there product without actually being approved as dexron/tested as sufficient to be dexron
 
Yes some of that is correct, but it is expired because it has been superseded by a superior specification.

Just so you know however that the blenders and bottlers do not put DEXRON III on the container as a licensed product, for example ExxonMobil states: "Mobil ATF D/M is recommended by ExxonMobil for use in applications requiring GM Dexron® III H" on their equivalent fluid. In every instance that this license is mentioned today it is always "in the opinion of" or "suitable for". None available today are "dex 3 certified" as you say.

Even that ExxonMobil recommendation is a bit off, they say it is for those requirements but they also sell a DEXRON-VI fluid which is the correct recommendation per GM.
 
Though I have read where certain transmissions have not always done very well with dexron IV... I think older Allison transmissions being one of them.... Sometimes it is just as well to run what originally came in there like Dexron III... My lady's Camry being specd Dexron III is what I am going to put in that 98 Camry transmission. Not Dexron IV.
 
Originally Posted by bbhero
Though I have read where certain transmissions have not always done very well with dexron IV... I think older Allison transmissions being one of them.... Sometimes it is just as well to run what originally came in there like Dexron III... My lady's Camry being specd Dexron III is what I am going to put in that 98 Camry transmission. Not Dexron IV.


I agree
Most consumers are not smarter than the factory engineers
 
thanks for all the replies, so it seems like the fluids i chose are not dexron certified since they certificate expired.
so how do i tell the difference between two fluids if they both are suitable for dexron 3?
obviously if they are both dexron 3 ceritified then i know it doesnt make a diff but since the certificate is long gone how do i tell which is better or which is closer to dex 3 specs
thx
 
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