PoManNox
Active member
I did drain and fills on the transfer case and rear differential on my 2021 Equinox LT AWD 1.5T today. I'm just shy of 36K miles on the vehicle and I just bought it used a couple weeks ago.
I drove it up on ramps for the t-case drain/fill. The drain plug is towards the rear, out in the wide open and the fill plug is up higher on the right side / driver's side and completely blocked by a heat shield. There's three 10mm bolts on the heat shield that you have to remove to shift the heat shield out of the way, allowing you access to the fill / level check port. I couldn't figure out how to get the heat shield out of there due to space concerns, so I just shoved it over to the side the best I could. The heat shield is there to protect the electronic axle disconnect actuator on the T-case from the exhaust system.
Both the drain and fill plugs have a 3/8" square opening that you just insert a 3/8" ratchet into. Both plugs are the same, are magnetized and have replaceable rubber gaskets on them. I did not replace the gaskets. I used Valvoline synthetic 75w90 in the squeeze bags. I had to use a piece of ~3/8" vinyl tubing shoved over the gear bottle nozzle to reach the fill plug on the T-case. Out came about ~500mL of oil. It wasn't too dark, but had a metallic sheen to it and both plug magnets had some black, greasy ferrous material on it. In went enough gear oil that it started running out the fill hole. Probably pretty close to a full quart.
The rear diff is a lot easier. The fill and drain plugs are the same as the T-case. Both of them are on the left side / driver's side and easy to get to. You'll want to blow and wire brush any dust, dirt and corrosion away from these plugs before you remove them. I had lots of debris in all the nooks and crannies on the rear diff housing. I blew it all out with compressed air. Out drained about a quart of gear oil. It was darker than the T-case oil. The plug magnets had about the same amount of goo on them. In went slightly more than a quart of 75w90 before it started dribbling out the fill plug.
You could probably stretch this service out to ~5yrs/60K miles and not endanger these gear boxes. I did it now because these fluids looked MUCH worse on other make/model SUVs I've owned in the past at this age/mileage.
I drove it up on ramps for the t-case drain/fill. The drain plug is towards the rear, out in the wide open and the fill plug is up higher on the right side / driver's side and completely blocked by a heat shield. There's three 10mm bolts on the heat shield that you have to remove to shift the heat shield out of the way, allowing you access to the fill / level check port. I couldn't figure out how to get the heat shield out of there due to space concerns, so I just shoved it over to the side the best I could. The heat shield is there to protect the electronic axle disconnect actuator on the T-case from the exhaust system.
Both the drain and fill plugs have a 3/8" square opening that you just insert a 3/8" ratchet into. Both plugs are the same, are magnetized and have replaceable rubber gaskets on them. I did not replace the gaskets. I used Valvoline synthetic 75w90 in the squeeze bags. I had to use a piece of ~3/8" vinyl tubing shoved over the gear bottle nozzle to reach the fill plug on the T-case. Out came about ~500mL of oil. It wasn't too dark, but had a metallic sheen to it and both plug magnets had some black, greasy ferrous material on it. In went enough gear oil that it started running out the fill hole. Probably pretty close to a full quart.
The rear diff is a lot easier. The fill and drain plugs are the same as the T-case. Both of them are on the left side / driver's side and easy to get to. You'll want to blow and wire brush any dust, dirt and corrosion away from these plugs before you remove them. I had lots of debris in all the nooks and crannies on the rear diff housing. I blew it all out with compressed air. Out drained about a quart of gear oil. It was darker than the T-case oil. The plug magnets had about the same amount of goo on them. In went slightly more than a quart of 75w90 before it started dribbling out the fill plug.
You could probably stretch this service out to ~5yrs/60K miles and not endanger these gear boxes. I did it now because these fluids looked MUCH worse on other make/model SUVs I've owned in the past at this age/mileage.
