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Wife's 2012 Equinox 2.4, 31,500 miles. The miles have been around town, some 80 mile back and forth trips......and 2 trips to Florida, 2 trips to Oklahoma 1 trip to Texas. No heavy hauling, no pulling anything. That's the history of the mileage. Trans started shifting funny on the 2-3 shift somewhere around 20K'ish miles. 3 trips to 2 different Chevy dealers. Reflashed trans 2 times. Fluid "level" always OK. Nothing wrong, they all shift alittle different. Hmmmmm.......
After warming trans up, I pulled the oil level drain plug with engine idling in park. Nothing came out. I took a bent wire to check fluid level. Could not get a reading. Hmmm..... I drained out exactly 4qts 10ozs trans fluid. BLACK as BLACK could be and smelled funny, not burn't, but not as trans fluid normally smelled. Put back in 5qts 8oz's. This is when fluid started to drain out of oil level hole. Drove it 25 miles, rechecked fluid level, maybe 1/2 oz dribbled out.
Long story short.......all this time the trans has been low on fluid. Hmmm.....
Well now it shifts perfectly. Imagine that. Going to do another drain/refill in 1000 miles, and then every year from now on.
 
That's inexcusable that two dealers did not see the level was low.

Did yo notice any sign of leakage or seeping of fluid near seals or the transmission casing? Not usual for a transmission to be low on dluid and not show a sign of leaking. Transmissions don't "use" oil like an engine might.
 
JayTee2014, Nope...dusty dry everywhere. Now, how do I "tactfully" inform the selling dealer(where I bought it) that trans was 30oz low??? After they said the level was OK when they re-flashed the trans. Did it hurt the transmission internals??? I have no proof other than what my eyes/brain saw. Still p!$$e$ me off.
 
wilks3 said:
Now, how do I "tactfully" inform the selling dealer(where I bought it) that trans was 30oz low??? Did it hurt the transmission internals???
Did you save any of the black slime?
I would take a small sample in a glass jar in and give it to the Service Mgr., not service writer, and ask him to explain this to you.

You didn't do your trans any favors.
The best you can do now is keep flushing the trans until the fluid is pink, clean and at the full level.
Keep flushing until it stays that way and hope for the best, check the level yourself if you have someone else do the work.
Good Luck
 
Did 2nd drain & refill, still dark but no where as black as it was. Took a gallon milk jug, cut top off and made big open mouth. Filled with 2qts water, marked where water level was. I am going to start draining 2qts out every other oil change and refill. Not hard to do or cost that much either. Going to do this until fluid comes out looking like new all the time. Just me and sure as heck can't hurt it. :cheers:
 
wilks3 said:
Did 2nd drain & refill, still dark but no where as black as it was. Took a gallon milk jug, cut top off and made big open mouth. Filled with 2qts water, marked where water level was. I am going to start draining 2qts out every other oil change and refill. Not hard to do or cost that much either. Going to do this until fluid comes out looking like new all the time. Just me and sure as heck can't hurt it. :cheers:
FYI... Menards selling Valvoline Dex VI trans fluid @$4.49 a quart.....

that way you can drain/refill much more...
 
One last quick question for those who have done the drain and refill on a 2.4L (no dipstick):

All documentation indicates to have the vehicle warmed up and running while on jacks to check fluid level and refill.

How did you get around this? I assume this:

1. Drive around to warm up trans fluid. Turn off the vehicle.
2. Remove drain plug and drain as much as you can (roughly 5 quartz)
3. Re-install drain plug and fill from the top via long thin funnel

My question, is do you go back under the vehicle and remove the fill check bolt to verify proper fill level? Or do you trust that the original fill level was correct and as long as you re-fill with the same amount that came out - you are OK?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.
 
You should drive the vehicle and get the transmission fluid hot again after filling.
Then, check the level at the fluid level bolt port with the vehicle on a perfectly level surface and see if any comes out. The level should be just at or slightly below the port opening with the bolt removed from the level port.
 
JayTee2014 said:
You should drive the vehicle and get the transmission fluid hot again after filling.
Then, check the level at the fluid level bolt port with the vehicle on a perfectly level surface and see if any comes out. The level should be just at or slightly below the port opening with the bolt removed from the level port.
With the engine idling in park.
 
Ok going to bump this post back to life. I have a few questions


My ride 2015 nox 2.4. 15,000 miles

1) Did a trans fluid change using info found in this thread and was shocked at the color of the fluid. The oil in my snow blower that had a million hours on it looked better. Is that normal?

2) I did get it up to operating temp and level and pulled the plug on the side and fluid came out while running. So it wasn't low. I drained the blackness and then measured the amount that came out, 4quarts plus about 8 oz. Is that right? There seems to be a lot of people that add 5 quarts.

I drove it a bit after and I had one hard downshift when coming to a stop but somewhat smooth after that. Time will tell. I hope this cures some of the hard downshifting that this 6 speed seems to have across GM brands.
I plan on doing another change in a couple hundred miles
 
Without a dipstick you have limited options to check fliud level.
Pulling the side plug at a hot idle in park is recommended.
Refilling with the same amount that you take out will get you close, do not overfill.


Get rid of the black slime and your transmission will thank you.
 
Ok I have a update . I did another fluid change after about 100 miles, stuff was still dark but not as dark as first change.
I also had to have my compass fixed at dealer so I asked to have all updates installed. The invoice did not reflect any updates but service writer assured me that he had tech check. The second fluid change along with the update (if there was one done) seems to have smoothed out the harsh downshifts when coming to a stop. I no longer have to brace myself when coming to a stop. Happy camper here.
 
I did the first trans fluid drain & fill a couple weekends ago on mine.

The fluid that came out was still nice and red.

Maybe it's the placebo effect but I find that it does shift better now.

Having a trans dipstick makes this job very simple indeed. I wasn't expecting to have one but mine does.
 
Not sure the v6 has same setup as 4cyl. My 2.4 does not have a dip stick but does have a cap on top of trans for filling. The drain plug is a life saver. Wish my Silverado had one, would make life so much easier.

My second fluid change the fluid was still pretty black. It shifts better now so I'm happy even if its all between my ears ;)
 
Having a trans dipstick makes this job very simple indeed. I wasn't expecting to have one but mine does.

The 2.4L 4-cyl. has the 6T40/6T45 transmission depending on the year.
No dip stick.


The V-6 has the heavier duty 6T70 transmission.
It has the dip stick.
 
Just did my 4th Transmission drain/refill.
Very easy on this transmission.
No need to lift the car.
I put down my plastic sheeting- put my drain pan- loosened the dipstick cap and removed bolt.... went inside for coffee/b-fast.
Came back out 20 min later and put bolt back on and refilled.
Filled the bottles back up with the 'old' trans fluid- 5.2 qts were drained. (Will take my used Trans fluid to a Household Hazardous waste roundup--- along with my used coolant from my Trailblazer)

Drain refills done @
38,724
40,827
46,286
66,438
 
Just did my 4th Transmission drain/refill.
Very easy on this transmission.

I believe the smaller 6T40/45 and the smallest 6T30 in cars like the Sonic or earlier Cruze should be changed every 30K to 35K miles. They get dirty really fast according to some owners on another forum.

Just changed daughters Sonic 6T30 automatic. Very easy. But she wouldn't find the time for me to do it, so it went 3 years and 71,000 miles.

It came out very black. Interesting that it also drains about 5.2 quarts out when pulling the drain plug. So I did one drain and fill and let her husband to a second a few days (200 miles) later. I mentioned to him he might want to do one more, but he said it looked "much better" after the first drain/fill.

One thing I read gave me a little pause. For folks who wait a bit too long to drain/fill . . . I read that it may be best to leave 15% to 20% old fluid in the transmission as it contains clutch material that will help worn clutch plates from slipping. Apparently, some have slipping issues when all the fluid is completely replaced in a transmission that has a lot of miles or went too long to replace the fluid. So by leaving some old fluid in it, the clutch residue helps provide some grip.
 
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