tdiblair
Veteran Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2005
- Location
- CT Yankee
- TDI
- Passat 2005 silver Passat Sedan & 2005 Wagon Stone Henge Gray
Just did my AFT / filter change and another axle change out.
Being an anal type, I bought 6 liters of the VW ( ZF approved) blend AFT at over $18 a liter - once again along with the very expensive VW ATF filter and very expensive gasket. I was not very impressed with the $60 gasket, so I might go for the cheaper OEM spec gasket next time. As to the filter, again, being anal I fear cheaping out on my car but these other ATF filters for less than half the price claime to meet OEM Specs. I wonder if true?
On another web site for our Passats they listed about 6 other ATF for around $3.50 that are approved for our ZF trannys. Then reading down the end of the thead one poster gets on and says that Quaker State or PennOil or Amsoil ' claiming ' their ATF meets ZF spec is NOT the same as ZF saying a particular ATF is on their ZF approved list of fluids. In short he was saying if it's not on ZF's list - don't use it or don't trust what anther vendor tells you about spec UNLESS it's the vendor of the tranny which defaults back to ZF, the maker or our tranny. As far as he was concerned - only two AFT's are on ZF's list. One is what I buy from VW which is a blend ( partially synthetic) the other, he claims, is Pentosine ATF 1 ( which is pure synthetic) and a little cheaper. I didn't know about this Pento being approved and again I haven't seen this upgraded ZF approved list. All I see is a very old ZF http// on a web site. Don't even know where to go to find ZF's approved and upgraded list.
I'm too scared to try the cheaper AFT. So I can sleep, I'm sure I'll be paying up for VW bottles but being a guy who does this job every 30K, it's costly. I'm wondering if someone here knows how someone like Quaker State can approve their ATF for our needs but have ZF ingore them over on the ZF approved list.
At most the 100% synthetic Pentosine intrigues me, but I don't have a ZF ATF approved list in front of me. I don't really know if the Pento pure synthetic is approved and if it is really called Pentosine One?
So, are we all gambling if we venture away from the VW ATF that I've been buying from E.C. Tuning or are there real alternatives that are truely approved by ZF?
Blair
Being an anal type, I bought 6 liters of the VW ( ZF approved) blend AFT at over $18 a liter - once again along with the very expensive VW ATF filter and very expensive gasket. I was not very impressed with the $60 gasket, so I might go for the cheaper OEM spec gasket next time. As to the filter, again, being anal I fear cheaping out on my car but these other ATF filters for less than half the price claime to meet OEM Specs. I wonder if true?
On another web site for our Passats they listed about 6 other ATF for around $3.50 that are approved for our ZF trannys. Then reading down the end of the thead one poster gets on and says that Quaker State or PennOil or Amsoil ' claiming ' their ATF meets ZF spec is NOT the same as ZF saying a particular ATF is on their ZF approved list of fluids. In short he was saying if it's not on ZF's list - don't use it or don't trust what anther vendor tells you about spec UNLESS it's the vendor of the tranny which defaults back to ZF, the maker or our tranny. As far as he was concerned - only two AFT's are on ZF's list. One is what I buy from VW which is a blend ( partially synthetic) the other, he claims, is Pentosine ATF 1 ( which is pure synthetic) and a little cheaper. I didn't know about this Pento being approved and again I haven't seen this upgraded ZF approved list. All I see is a very old ZF http// on a web site. Don't even know where to go to find ZF's approved and upgraded list.
I'm too scared to try the cheaper AFT. So I can sleep, I'm sure I'll be paying up for VW bottles but being a guy who does this job every 30K, it's costly. I'm wondering if someone here knows how someone like Quaker State can approve their ATF for our needs but have ZF ingore them over on the ZF approved list.
At most the 100% synthetic Pentosine intrigues me, but I don't have a ZF ATF approved list in front of me. I don't really know if the Pento pure synthetic is approved and if it is really called Pentosine One?
So, are we all gambling if we venture away from the VW ATF that I've been buying from E.C. Tuning or are there real alternatives that are truely approved by ZF?
Blair