The following is an email I sent to AMSOIL Technical Service after seeing that their Universal ATF was recommended on the Website (Corporate, not a dealer) for use in trannies requiring T-IV fluid.
I have a 2004 Toyota Landcruiser (UZJ100) and the owner's manual recommends Toyota Type IV automatic transmission fluid. How is this different from the Dextron III fluid recommended in earlier model years using the same transmission and should I use the AMSOIL Univesal ATF or stick with a dealer supplied Toyota Type IV fluid ? I noticed that the web site recommends the AMSOIL ATF but Toyota Type IV is not listed on bottles of AMSOIL Universal ATF. Thanks
AMSOIL Reply
From: AMSOIL Technical Services
Thank you for contacting AMSOIL with your concerns.
In response to your inquiry, reformulation of AMSOIL Synthetic Universal Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF) was not required to attain the Toyota Type T and T-IV ratings. Therefore the labels don’t reflect the rating, as this is a relatively recent change.
Thank you again for the opportunity to respond to your concerns. As always, please feel free to contact us again if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Jim Van
AMSOIL Technical Services
I am running AMSOIL ATF in my UZJ100 and feel very safe doing so. I am thinking that T-IV is essentially a high-quality Dextron III like product, perhaps even semi-synthetic (like MERCON V) and that is why Toyota has moved to it but AMSOIL Universal ATF did not have to be changed to meet the requirements. I would still like to see the T-IV approval on the bottle. My semi-synthetic theory makes the high price of the T-IV from a dealer seem more reasonable but I have never expected or received reasonable prices from a dealer.