What kind of oil do I use for transmission?
 

I went to auto zone and they don't know what kind of oil my 5 speed accent needs. They told me I should go to a Hyundai dealer to get the right kind....help please thank you

GL-4, not exactly easy to find.



I would highly recommend stuff from Redline, but if you do not want to go with a synthetic like that.. Hyundai's stuff isn't bad.



IMO: Royal Purples Gear stuff sucks.

Redline MT-90.

^^^ that's what I have in my Accent and it shifts great!

Never go to AutoZone. What you are looking for is on page 6-10 of your Owner's Manual. If you do not have a manual, and/or if you want the factory shop and electrical manuals (and more):



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The manual says:

"Use only API GL-4 SAE 75W/85W"

Many, many users here have had very good results with the Redline GL4 MT-90 synthetic oil. I've been happy with the Royal Purple product, and the Hyundai fluid is also a pretty high quality oil. If you have any grinding, go with MT90 and you will not regret it. Quantity is 2.27qts. so buy 3 quarts and have a little extra for the next times you change the oil.

having been through some fun with the oil myself....here's what i came out with.



yes you MUST use a GL-4, do NOT let anyone tell you that a GL-5 replaced a GL-4 oil. it does NOT! many of the goofballs working at parts stores think it does simply because the number is higher.



i went through the synthetic stuff and i used amsoil 75W-90 GL4. should be perfect right? well i ran for a while with that and loved it, well over a year.



and then i blew a major bearing in the transmission, say goodbye to 4th gear. i had to replace the entire transmission. although i cannot confirm 100%, its looking like the synthetic oil is a probably cause of the damage. short version is that the synchros require some friction to work correctly. synthetic is simply too slick and over lubricates. more evidence: in the new trans i used the same oil not knowing better. caused some grinding shifting into 3rd gear, turns out the cause was the oil.



now do keep in mind that i am very biased after this fiasco. i had my transmission outright fail at 160,000kms which is just stupid, especially for these cars. the transmission shop did not even know what to quote me for a rebuild because 'they never get these cars in for this problem'.



i've heard many swear by the redline. i would avoid amsoil at all costs. if it were me, i wouldn't use synthetic in these transmissions at all. let's face it, they're cheap. they were never built to run on synthetic.

Things break. Synthetic oil was not the problem.

according to the mechanic it was. normally i would question it, but the second transmission raises the warning signal to me.



- the new trans had 60,000km on it. it was tested prior to my buying it.



- installed and ran the synthetic, didn't work right going into 3rd.



- then had the new transmission rebuilt under warranty



- STILL wouldn't go into 3rd properly



- the fix was going back to regular oil.



that's TWO transmissions where the cause can be due to oil, rather definite in the second. and i'm sorry, transmission failure at 160,000km for no good reason? i don't buy that.



i would guess that the redline may be a good choice, i don't hear of anyone using the amsoil in these cars. it was simply what i had available to me.

Hyundai's own dyno oil ruined my transmission. By 50k miles or so IIRC I was ready to replace it. Even with new Hyundai oil it wouldn't go into second gear. It hadn't worked well right from day one it would grind occasionally, but had gotten worse and worse over time. After reading about how well Redline MT-90 worked I ordered some from Jeg's since it wasn't available locally and gave it a try. Within a couple days the grind had almost disappeared. It is now 130k miles later and the trans is grinding in second gear really bad again, but considering that I got an EXTRA 130k miles out of a trans I was ready to replace I'm not going to complain.



At one point in time I had the 60k mile service done and didn't think about it but they replaced the trans oil with dyno oil and the car was nearly undrivable again within days. Swapped out for new MT-90, back to shifting like butter.



I have not heard good things about the AMSOIL gear oil in Alpha or Beta powered Hyundais. This is not the first story, and surely won't be the last. Redline MT-90 doesn't work because it is the most expensive, or most technologically advanced, it is because it has the properties our transmissions like. Even Redline's 75-90 doesn't work well. I gave it a try once because it was available locally and had to swap it out for MT-90.

man these transmissions are cranky little bastards...i honestly believe that it comes down to the exact brand and type of oil. i want to try redline, but after my experience i'm too chickenshit.