Hyundai A8LF1 / A8LF2

Hyundai and Kia's eight-speed transverse automatic — the gearbox of the Palisade, the Telluride, the Santa Fe and the larger front-drive cars.

⚑ It is not the A8LR1, and one letter is the whole difference. Hyundai's codes carry the layout: F is the front-drive transaxle and R the rear-drive unit, which is why the manufacturer's own service literature calls this one an automatic transaxle and the A8LR1 an automatic transmission. They share a ratio count and nothing else, and a parts listing that treats them as one is offering a gearbox that will not bolt up.

It is a conventional planetary automatic, not a dual-clutch, which is worth saying because the same makers' D8LF1 is a dual-clutch with a nearly identical code and a completely different feel and failure pattern. A shudder at low speed points at the dual-clutch; on this one it does not belong.

What owners report is harsh or delayed engagement when cold, and it is most often the valve body or a software calibration rather than the clutches — the transmission control software has been revised repeatedly, so establish which level is loaded before condemning anything mechanical.