Toyota ATF or RP

This is my first time to put a poll into a post, hope I don't mess it up. My question is about Toyota ATF or Royal Purple. My concern is, I hear people say that Toyota transmissions can be picky. I am a big fan of RP and run it in the engine, transfer case, and axles. Am I good with putting RP in the transmission?

 

Personally for transmissions I wouldn't run anything other than OEM fluid. My Mom's old Pathfinder was like a new truck with the OEM fluid.

 

I don't know if Royal Purple has an ATF that meets the Toyota WS specification, but I know Amsoil does. It's what I run in mine.

https://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-prod...c-automatic-transmission-fluid/?code=ATLQT-EA

EDIT:

This is straight from Royal Purple's website:
PLEASE NOTE:

Max ATF is NOT recommended for the following applications: Allison TES-389, DEXRON® VI, Ford Type F and MERCON® SP & LV, Honda DW-1, Hyundai SP-IV and NWS-9638, Kia SP-IV, JWS 3324, MAN 339 Z3, Mercedes Benz 236.8, 236.12, 236.14 & 236.15, Mitsubishi SP-IV and ATF J2, Nissan Matic-S, Saab 93-165-147, Shell M-1375.4 (ZF 6-Speed AT), Toyota WS (JWS 3324) and ZF TE-ML 14C. Max ATF is not recommended for use in any CVT or DCT applications.

 

Any known facts or idea what makes this fluid special? A few years ago, I compared many different fluids. I found that many of the aftermarket fluids are not approved on account of the cost involved to have the oem test and certify, plus accomplish recurrent tests.

I wonder if the real question may be what is different between an early Tacoma trans that used Toyota Type IV fluid and the newer trans that spec WS.

I found that Mobil 1 ATF was Type IV compatible. I did a complete flush via the trans cooler line dumping the expelled fluid. I may be sitting on a time bomb, but to this day I have only noticed things are better. The shifter immediately became smoother when selecting a gear, some of the funky shift issues blamed on the computer program have smoothed out.

It would be nice to know what is different, is it too slippery to lock up the internals? Is the fluid supposed to have some electrical properties? Is it a temp concern?

PK

 

You will be fine using M1 in place of Type IV. Do NOT use it for WS. The clutches are the biggest factor in this. They design the clutch material for a specific fluid. Also how the fluid handles different pressures at different temps etc.

 

So based on fact, the clutch material from a Type IV fluid trans is different than a WS trans. I assume this is based on PN for the clutch packs.

So far though, replacing WS with M1 has shown no issues.

PK

 

Actually, on my truck, TRD Sport 4.0 with Auto, there is a cable assembly that runs from the gear shift to the side of the trans. This is the selector and I believe internally, goes to the detents for each gear.

I hear you about some people having issues with non WS fluid. Seems it is typically a shudder type problem. So far, in 20 k miles mine has acted great. It also has a remote external filter and no longer uses the radiator cooler or oem towing cooler. I replumbed it for one large external cooler and converted the oem optional trans cooler to a power steering cooler.

It would be nice to know if the clutch packs are the same in the aftermarket for early trucks and later trucks.

From best I could tell from my research, it seemed they changed fluid more so for a lower viscosity, probably based on increasing MPG.

PK

 

Cool thanks guys

 

Jusy so everyone knows, Valvoline Maxlife is ws rated. Cheaper than Toyota fluid.

 

This was also a fluid I considered. Below I'll post a link to the spec sheet. FWIW, the spec sheet states in the second paragraph it does not meet WS specs from Toyota, but is approved by Valvolene for the application.

If you do more research, you will probably find that every fluid except oem Toyota WS is not WS certified, but rather approved by the fluid manufacturer, similar to Valvolnes statement.

http://www.valvoline.com/pdf/maxlife_atf.pdf

The after market fluids business is huge and the oems are well versed and have a strong grip on convincing people that it is oem and nothing else.

PK

 

Eneos makes a ws atf fluid. It's about 3 bucks cheaper than Toyota ws

Eneos is Nippon Denso. Toyota has some ownership with Nippon Denso.

 

The OEM WS fluid is reasonably priced, performs well, and is readily available. Someone remind me why this is a debate again?

 

Some people want their fluid cheaper, others want a fluid that is actually a synthetic that will out preform the stuff toyota puts out. Toyota can build a hell of a truck, but when it comes to fluids, I dont much trust the company that gets to sell me another truck when mine wears out. Max lifespan is not really in their best interest.

 

I've converted 2 Toyota's requiring WS to this product. Both shift as good or better than when they were running Toyota WS. My '15 Tacoma is of course still running the factory fill. When it goes out of power train warranty at 60K, I will flush and fill with the Valvoline product. That's the current plan. By the time I get to 60K, there could be other players in the game. Still waiting for Castrol to come out with their WS equivalent.

If you look around the WEB, there are many WS equivalent fluids.

 

I use the Valvoline Maxlife in my transmission as well (about a 50/50 mix of OEM and Valvoline at this point). So far so good.