Beware the Owner's Maunual guidelines for changing the Azera's transmission fluid. It clearly calls for a change at 105,000 miles. Don't follow it. Here's my experience with dealers and a Hyundai Motor America representative on this subject.

About a month ago, while I waited for some warranty work to complete on a seat belt retractor, the service manager button-holed me and, in a stern tone, admonished me for waiting well beyond the recommended 30,000 mile transaxle fluid change interval. When I showed him the 105,000 guideline in the manual, he seemed surprised and said he had never been challenged on that 30,000 mile change recommendation before.

Three weeks later, I followed up at another dealer. Same stern advice and the same bewilderment when I pointed out the Owner's Manual guideline. The maintenance tech actually said he had no idea why the manual called for a 105k change interval. He also suggested that if I didn't change the fluid sooner, Hyundai might not honor its warranty if the tranny had a problem. He guessed that Hyundai would claim the vehicle had been driven under "severe driving conditions", e.g., towing, and would decline to provide warranty coverage.

Next I wrote Hyundai Motor America asking for an explanation and I just got a call from them. Basically, they affirmed that the transaxle fluid, for "most" Azera's require a change every 30,000 miles. (Note, the price per change hovers around $200.00.) They danced around the Maunual Guidlines, refused to identify any place in the country where severe driving conditions aren't the rule, and also said most owners don't read the manual anyway.

So, beware the preposterously out-of whack Owner's Manual maintenance guidelines for transmission care.

This post has been edited by allen143: Apr 18 2009, 01:45 PM

Holy cow! That's a big deal! Thanks for posting that, that's not an insignificant bit of information - you'd think Hyunda would want to cover its butt in case people regularly start leaving the transmission oil in there for 100k miles... "people don't usually read the manual" wouldn't stand up in small claims court if someone FOLLOWED that guidance, the transmission fried, and Hyundai refused to service it.

Anyway, thanks again for posting that!

A quick i'net search shows a range from a low of 30,000 miles to a high of 60,000 miles (as well as the standard "what your manufacturer recommends"). I do believe I'll request that service when I next take the car in at about 38,000 miles...

I have seen first hand were Hyundai has declined war. repairs on a car that has not
been serviced. I saw a Sanata Fe that had 82k on it an never done a trany service
on it before an was first owner, Hyundai declined a war trany on it! They told
the customer to provide proof of trany service at 30k an 60k An they couldnt do it!
My rec would be to go buy 4 qts of trany fluid from the dealer, KEEP your receipt
pull the plug on the trany an fill it up! Drain an fill is good enough for your Factory
war.

Shawn

I missed it the first time, in going through my service receipts, but my dealer did indeed do the "automatic transaxle fluid" R&R during the 30k mile service, so I'm covered. I will put a note in my PDA to ensure that it's also done at the 60,000 mile point...

This post has been edited by Gamle-ged: Apr 22 2009, 10:13 AM

Gamle-ged,

Thanks for pointing it out! What a ridiculous explanation from HMA!

I think is this is very very important. The dealerships around here in Houston tack-on a number of silly add-ons to service work to pad up revenue. I usually say that I want only those things done which are suggested by the manufacturer. Had I not come across your post, and during my 30k service, service advisor says do 30k tranny fluid service, I would have declined.

This is patently absurd by HMA. Either the manual is correct or it is wrong. If it is wrong, they better send out a corected schedule to owners. As I speak, their manual online still says 105k service for tranny fluid.

Ridiculous.

All credit to allen143 who started this thread!

I had the fluid changed in my 1990 Accord even more frequently, especially in 1998 and 1999, as I'd had a tow-bar installed and then gradually moved myself from San Antonio, Texas to SW Florida, hauling (over about a year's time) a total of eight U-Haul trailers (with two rented trucks for the bigger items, the 2nd truck also towing the Accord to Florida).

I figured that zooming along the interstate system in August, towing nearly 2,000 lbs of stuff behind me warranted a little extra maintenance for my old Honda, which I didn't trade-in on my Azera, but which I did finally sell last year, with about 245,000 miles on it, still going strong...

They weren't kidding about the leaky trans o-rings tsb either. I noticed fluid on my casing when I changed my oil last week. Trans was down well over a quart of fluid.

Which TSB was that? I went through a year's worth, looking under "Azera" and "all" and didn't pick up on it...

Should be 06-40-012

Thanks. That far back I didn't look! Anyway, I've never been a drop on my garage floor of anything but water from the AC during the humid times...

The drain and refill procedure on the Hyundai technical web site looks pretty simple. I'm thinking of buying Castrol Import Multi-Vehicle ATF since I can buy it locally at WM. Castrol's web site says it meets Hyundai's SP-III specs. I'll keep the receipt and the empty bottles in case of war problems.

^^^ That's what I topped off my trans with. Its shifting much better and its been fine since I topped it off.

How many quarts does it take to drain and refill the transmission fluid? Thanks.

If you do a full drain per Hyundai's procedure it's 10.9 liters or 11.5 qts. If you just drain the pan it's not much.

If you don't mind me asking, what is not that much? I was going to do it myself and I was going to buy the transmission fluid from the dealer. I did not want to buy too much. Thanks.

Its probably only 4 quarts or so. I dont know where I saw that though.

Service manager at my dealer said a simple drain and refill was fine as long as the fluid looked and smelled ok. If it's suspect a full flush is needed. He quoted $159 for that. The Hyundai procedure says to disconnect the cooler line and run the car until it's empty or one minute. Then drain the pan. I'm not sure I like running the transmission without fluid even for a very short time. So I think I'll do the pan drain and refill and look close at the fluid. I'll probably buy 6-8 qts to be sure I have enough. Save any extra for the next time.

Does anyone know how much is one quart of Hyundai transmission fluid?

Hyundai fluid was $6 and change. Castrol at WM was $4 and change.