Transmission Fluid

Hi all.
We had our 2002 Santa Fe serviced yesterday. The mechanic mentioned the
transmission fluid was about $8.00 a quart and that we needed about 10
quarts. Is there some alternative to Hyundai's factory fluid? Is 10 quarts
about right? Thanks for any info.

Zaxdad

 

Not yet. For now you're stuck with Hyundai's fluid. You can beat the
dealer price on the internet but then you've got to do the work yourself.
The couple of times that I've had to buy items from my local Hyundai dealer
I negotiated prices with them and found it easy to get them to match, or
nearly match what I found on the net. Good for everyone - I saved money and
they still made money. Not to mention that next time I need stuff they will
be high on my list.

 

For a drain and fill 5 quarts should do it. If they're doing a flush,
it'll depend on the machine they use.

 

What you need is called "SP-III ATF". You can get the exact fluid that
Hyundai calls for from Hyundai, KIA, Mitsubishi, and any well-stocked
Chrysler (Make sure you get SP-III, not Chrysler ATF+3 or ATF+4, tell
them its for a mitsu-built transmission) dealer. Only one local parts
store was able to even *order* it, and they wanted more for it by the
case than the Chrysler dealer wanted by the quart.

Around here Hyundai wants about 70% more for their SP-III than the KIA
dealer 12 miles away. The Chrysler and Mitsu dealer prices being
somewhere in-between (the local Chrysler dealer has quit stocking it).
I figure if its good enough for KIA's Sportage 2.7's and Optima 2.7's,
its good enough for my Santa Fe's.

Neither car had much (more than a small smear on a paper towel) crud on
the drain plug. About 1/100th as much as my 1992 Explorer's A4LD at the
same milage/interval (and it had a filter...)

My 01 required right at 6 quarts to refill back to middle of 'full hot'
(filled back up to 'cold full', drove it about 6 miles, was about 1/4
way up into the "full hot' range, another 3/8 of a quart brought it to
the top), the 03 required 5.5 quarts. I also noticed the bottom of my
01's transmission is much flatter than the 03's, which may explain the
quantity difference.

I personally wouldn't 'powerflush' a properly working transmission. If
the transmission has burned up fluid or excessive 'trash' its time to
diagnose the problem - usually involving removal from the vehicle and
cracking the case. Might as well just overhaul it if you've got that
much labor invested already.

JS

 

The KIA dealer wants $9.00 a quart!