[arxigos1111]

Yeah, if I was going to pick an aftermarket fluid to use it would be the Valvoline. I have never heard any bad things about it. I just have PTSD from the old days of people putting anything other than ATF+4 in Intrepids and then losing a transmission in a thousand miles.

 

[arxigos1111]

way better quality than cheap synthetic blend any dealership selling and using for any automatic transmission, they don’t care about your vehicle just to cover the warranty for few years, fuel efficiency and that’s it God save us, if you want the best protection for your vehicle only you can do it not any dealership, after Amsoil my second choice have been always Valvoline and Pennzoil Ultra Platinum as engine oil.

 

[Alfissimo]

It's not on ZF's official approval list.

We stopped supplying Ravenol for now due to incorrect labeling. I have to correct them on some things.

 

[arxigos1111]

We dropped Ravenol due to issues with their false labeling.

I’ve spent lot of time on oil analysis researches etc so I recommend for you guys to don’t waste your time and money on expensive fluids, Valvoline max life works just fine with ZF and all my asian vehicles, new formula extended protection is even better but 30% more expensive than max life selling 26$ gallon, second option for me is Amsoil OE fuel efficiency same viscosity with valvoline pretty close to ZF requirement. That’s it guys, that’s ATF fluids for me, as engine oil my first choice is Amsoil 0w-30 signature series for my Stelvio, Pennzoil 5w30 Ultra Platinum as second and Valvoline extended protection third, for all my Asian vehicles and truck I use Amsoil OE or XL.

 

[JeFizz]

I’ve spent lot of time on oil analysis researches etc so I recommend for you guys to don’t spend your time and money on expensive fluids, Valvoline max life works just fine with ZF and all my asian vehicles, new formula extended protection is even better but 30% more expensive than max life selling 26$ gallon, second option for me is Amsoil OE fuel efficiency same viscosity with valvoline pretty close to ZF requirement. That’s it guys, that’s ATF fluids for me, as engine oil my first choice is Amsoil 0w-30 signature series for my Stelvio, Pennzoil 5w30 Ultra Platinum as second and Valvoline extended protection third, for all my Asian vehicles and truck I use Amsoil OE or XL.

How do any of those oils do with LSPI?

 

[arxigos1111]

https://www.amsoil.com/p/signature-series-0w-30-synthetic-motor-oil-azo/

 

[MWisBest]

I’ve spent lot of time on oil analysis researches etc so I recommend for you guys to don’t waste your time and money on expensive fluids, Valvoline max life works just fine with ZF and all my asian vehicles, new formula extended protection is even better but 30% more expensive than max life selling 26$ gallon, second option for me is Amsoil OE fuel efficiency same viscosity with valvoline pretty close to ZF requirement. That’s it guys, that’s ATF fluids for me, as engine oil my first choice is Amsoil 0w-30 signature series for my Stelvio, Pennzoil 5w30 Ultra Platinum as second and Valvoline extended protection third, for all my Asian vehicles and truck I use Amsoil OE or XL.

I don't think virgin oil analysis does much of anything for hydraulic fluids. I prefer to just get whatever fluids are guaranteed tested to meet the specification they have to for what they're going in. Valvoline MaxLife has been used by enough people with ZF8HPs that I can't really question that specifically at this point but I don't care to be the poor sap who finds out the hard way that saving a few bucks on fluid or getting something that looks super duper special was a bad choice. I've certainly seen it happen to people.

Amsoil makes good oil, but it costs double what I'm paying for Mobil-1 and it's not actually API certified, whereas the Mobil-1 is. There's no compelling reason to spend on Amsoil unless you want to go so far on oil change intervals that you need to change the filter halfway into your oil change mileage 😂

 

[arxigos1111]

Mobil 1 ? Jesus Christ
That’s the last oil I would ever choose if I don’t have any other option except water, the worst based in all oil analysis I’ve seen.

 

[MWisBest]

Mobil 1 ? Jesus Christ
That’s the last oil I would ever choose if I don’t have any other option except water, the worst based in all oil analysis I’ve seen.

That's a hot take if I've ever heard one. I've had multiple vehicles get reclaimed to the earth by rust before having any engine issues caused by using Mobil-1 for 150,000+ miles.

The big picture is that more frequent oil changes will trump a ""better"" oil used for very long intervals. I never go over 5,000 miles on a change, I just change in March and October so I'm not out there freezing my balls off in the winter. Oil filters cannot filter small wear metals, that's why you'll see heavy equipment using bypass filters designed to filter extremely small particles without causing a restriction like you'd get using it as your main oil filter. I can get Mobil-1 0W-30 for $25 per 5 quart jug, your Amsoil isn't even close on that price.

 

[arxigos1111]

There are much better options very easy to find.

Valvoline
Pennzoil
Castrol
Havoline
Supertech

 

[MWisBest]

There are much better options very easy to find.

Valvoline
Pennzoil
Castrol
Havoline
Supertech

Not if you want the 0W-30 we're supposed to have...

 

[arxigos1111]

There is no problem 5w-30 works just fine.
I already got Pennzoil Ultra platinum 5w-30 for next oil change.

 

[MWisBest]

There is no problem 5w-30 works just fine.
I already got Pennzoil Ultra platinum 5w-30 for next oil change.

Good for you. I've been running 0W-30 for 10 years now in stuff that calls for 5W-30 or 10W-30. I get some pretty damn cold days here, and as an oil nerd I'm sure you're aware there's benefits to a 0W oil.

IMO if you see snow use the 0W-30. These cars misfire by design on cold starts to try and shove as much hot air into the cats as possible, if you look at the timing advance they're actually trying to fire after top dead center and just accept that there will be misfires in the process. I've never seen anything like it, and I think the extra flow you get on startup from 0W-30 is more important for handling those extreme operating conditions.

Now if we could get back to the topic of transmissions that would be great, if you want to argue about engine oils maybe try a thread about engines, or I'm sure there's thousands of people on the BITOG forums that would spend all day arguing with you

 

[arxigos1111]

I don’t have anything to say, I already said my opinion and options, i’m just sorry when I see people afraid like using only oem fluid, oil, coolant etc… or even afraid using 5w30 instead 0w30 that the differences are minimal, sometimes 5w30 performs better than 0w30 especially in the high quality fluids, for example I’m 100% sure that Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5w30 performs much better than Mobile 1 0w30 even in extreme cold conditions but anyway that’s my opinion and I’m ending it here.
Check out this video and you’ll understand what I’m talking about and why I insist in quality fluid, in the video there is Mopar OEM fluid that has better viscosity 26 vs thicker Amsoil 31 and look what happens when it comes to extreme conditions like cold or heat.

Eddie

 

[MWisBest]

I don’t have anything to say, I already said my opinion and options, i’m just sorry when I see people afraid like using only oem fluid, oil, coolant etc… or even afraid using 5w30 instead 0w30 that the differences are minimal, sometimes 5w30 performs better than 0w30 especially in the high quality fluids, for example I’m 100% sure that Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5w30 performs much better than Mobile 1 0w30 even in extreme cold conditions but anyway that’s my opinion and I’m ending it here.
Check out this video and you’ll understand what I’m talking about and why I insist in quality fluid, in the video there is Mopar OEM fluid that has better viscosity 26 vs thicker Amsoil 31 and look what happens when it comes to extreme conditions like cold or heat.

Eddie

Cool! We're back on topic.

-50C is a ridiculous testing temperature for fluids. Anybody who has their car in that extreme of temperature is using a block heater or just leaving the car running all year. At -50 we're just getting into the point of splitting hairs over who can get the pour point of the fluid the lowest at the expense of other qualities of the fluid. -40 is generally a more realistic temperature to test fluids at.
I also don't particularly care for any tests done by people trying to sell a product; your guy there makes money linking to Amsoil products. Of course he's going to show the comparisons that make Amsoil seem great!

The potential issue with Amsoil being thicker at 40C as you've pointed out is these cars limit the speed of shifts until there's some temperature in the fluid, and they're expecting a certain profile of viscosity curve by doing this.

I'm fairly surprised you hate ZF fluid so much since it's just made by Shell, y'know, Pennzoil!

 

[arxigos1111]

I live in Florida so low temperatures aren’t an issue for me I worry the most heat how any fluid and oil performs in high temperatures, the fluid in the mopar bottle is ZF lifeguard 8 fluid, I work for BMW and BMW fluid should be ZF lifeguard as well, I don’t like ZF lifeguard fluid cause is synthetic blend which means 5% synthetic and doesn’t perform well in low and high temperatures as you see in video, viscosity going bad fast as well I’ve seen in oil tests, and second costs way high they ask premium price for cheap synthetic blend fluid, I’m Amsoil guy but for me Valvoline max life full synthetic works just fine and I don’t have to pay premium price for Amsoil as well.

 

[MWisBest]

I live in Florida so low temperatures aren’t an issue for me I worry the most heat how any fluid and oil performs in high temperatures, the fluid in the mopar bottle is ZF lifeguard 8 fluid, I work for BMW and BMW fluid should be ZF lifeguard as well, I don’t like ZF lifeguard fluid cause is synthetic blend which means 5% synthetic and doesn’t perform well in low and high temperatures as you see in video, viscosity going bad fast as well I’ve seen in oil tests, and second costs way high they ask premium price for cheap synthetic blend fluid, I’m Amsoil guy but for me Valvoline max life full synthetic works just fine and I don’t have to pay premium price for Amsoil as well.

Synthetic blend could be any percentage, it's not a fixed 5%. Obsessing on synthetic vs blend vs conventional makes more sense on engine oil, it makes less sense on hydraulic fluids like ATF or power steering fluids etc. The additive package becomes a more important factor.

I wouldn't pay dealer prices on LifeGuard 8 either. It's $15 a bottle from FCPEuro at the moment. I paid more when I got mine but I got it back when they were doing free replacements of all things bought from them ever, next fluid change I can just ship them back old fluid and the new stuff is free.
If you walk into most dealers and ask for small stuff like fluids you are going to get shafted. This is not a surprise.

I don't have a big problem with the MaxLife stuff, at this point it's proven enough, I've learned some fleets are using it for their trucks and have no issues with that. If you want to run aftermarket at least get the stuff where the price is right and entire fleets have tested it already for ya. I just think obsessing over a pour point test, virgin oil analysis, and what people who make money by linking to Amsoil say, is silly.

Most of my complaints with aftermarket fluids just come from past experience. Many complaints with the Chrysler automatics of the 90s and 00s were from people using the wrong fluid in them. The transmissions let go at 100,000 miles, well jeez someone changed the fluid at the service interval of 90,000 with who knows what instead of what was for the time the most advanced ATF, ATF+4, and then the transmissions just shit themselves. Most people who go to service a transmission by themself aren't going to be replacing it themselves if something happens. It is easier to just tell people to get the known good than the unknown that some guy on the internet thinks is better with paid-for 'science'

 

[arxigos1111]

I believe the reason ZF and many others manufacturers using synthetic blend fluid is about keeping as low as possible the viscosity of the fluid for better fuel efficiency required by the government, no one cares about protection here, not the manufacturer not the dealership not the government, it’s only you. ((why they would care anyway? They are running businesses and their business is selling, if the transmission and your vehicle last 500k+ miles they will run out of business)) like I said they care the most for fuel efficiency and to cover the warranty for few years, after that? Buy another vehicle another transmission to keep their business running.
Let’s checking the fluids specs, Synthetic blend ZF lifeguard has kinematic viscosity @ 40°c = 26, (my Mazda FZ fluid 25), full synthetic maxlife (25% synthetic) = 28.8 and High End Amsoil 100% synthetic ( I don’t believe in 100% should be around 50%) and Redline that probably have higher synthetic percentages in their fluid = 31, so the numbers itself are telling the truth here, higher synthetic the fluid? more thicker is and better the performance and protection are, probably less fuel efficient but me personally i dont care. I would run Amsoil or Redline in high mileage vehicle like 150k+
So in my opinion OEM synthetic blend fluid is just fine for brake in first 5k to 10k max 20k miles, after that i will change the filter cause there are lot of brake in metals, the fluid and I will do the upgrade to full synthetic like Valvoline in my case every 4 years or 40k miles drain and fill only no filter replacement needed all brake in metals are already out with the first filter, and in higher mileage like 130k+ I will change the filter again and upgrade to thicker fluid Amsoil or Redline.

my questions and worries about oem fluid are….
What’s going on in high temperatures?
Will perform bad as we saw in the cold flow test video? Cause the vehicles are dealing the most with high temperatures over time, low temperatures are rare especially in my area.

 

[Stevelkinevil]

Good info man, thanks!

 

[carguy75]

There is no problem 5w-30 works just fine.
I already got Pennzoil Ultra platinum 5w-30 for next oil change.

I am new to the Giulia platform, but the owners manual does not state that we can use a 5w-30 weight oil in the 2.0T engine. From what I understand the multi-air solenoid system in our 2.0T engine is very sensitive to oil weight and oil purity which can foul up the system or reduce it performance if the oil is dirty or has the improper viscosity.

I personally would not use the 5w-30 weight of oil in my 2.0T engine, but I also could be wrong about the acceptable oil weights for the engine since I am new to the Alfa platform. However, I have owned,serviced , and repaired many different Euro, Asian, and American car engines over the years. One important lesson I have learned that applies to all engines for long term reliability is to use the oil weight specified in the manuals or updated TSB if a change occurred.

Just my two cents.