Transmission Care

[ravenblack67]

You can do it at home without raising the car off the ground. Drain and fill will take about 1.5 quarts. I dis them 100 miles apart four times starting at 40,000. It took 30 minutes. I used GM ATF.

 

[NXR71]

There's no way any 6 or 9spd equinox's ATF "looks good" at 30K miles or beyond. Here's what the factory ATF looked like on my 2021 with under 36K miles on it: https://www.chevyequinoxforum.com/t...looks-like-on-a-2021-equinox.4684/#post-22349

While that may be true it does beg the question of why my 2020 Equinox 9-speed has no scheduled interval for transmission fluid replacement in either mileage or time. "Severe" service is every 45,000 miles.

I dunno...

 

[PoManNox]

While that may be true it does beg the question of why my 2020 Equinox 9-speed has no scheduled interval for transmission fluid replacement in either mileage or time. "Severe" service is every 45,000 miles.

I dunno...

I here ya. I believe pretty much every make/model is like that today unless you read the fine print, tow with the vehicle or fall into severe service per the manufacturer. GM's goal is to get you some distance beyond the warranty period, so I'm sure statistically, the factory ATF should get you to ~80-100K miles before a transmission failure is likely to occur.

Color of the fluid in itself doesn't mean much, other than I'm old school and hate it when it's not clean looking fluid. Couple that with how easy and inexpensive the Equinox is to DIY drain/fill makes it an easy call.

 

[NXR71]

I here ya. I believe pretty much every make/model is like that today unless you read the fine print, tow with the vehicle or fall into severe service per the manufacturer. GM's goal is to get you some distance beyond the warranty period, so I'm sure statistically, the factory ATF should get you to ~80-100K miles before a transmission failure is likely to occur.

Color of the fluid in itself doesn't mean much, other than I'm old school and hate it when it's not clean looking fluid. Couple that with how easy and inexpensive the Equinox is to DIY drain/fill makes it an easy call.

Now I gotta go digging on the NHTSA site. I saw a GM bulletin there that discussed the color of the ATF fluid and what you showed in your pic would not have passed. The criteria, as I recall, was you needed to be able to pour some fluid into a glass jar, hold it up to the light, and see some light filtering through.

But I do not remember the particulars of the car or anything.

 

[PoManNox]

When I did the first drain/fill on my 2021 Traverse with the 9spd at ~34K miles and ~3yrs of use, it's factory fluid was very dark, but not quite as dark as my 2021 Equionx 6spd was. Could one be easier on fluid than the other? Too many factors apply I suppose. Both of my 2021's were purchased earlier in 2024 as former lease vehicles. Both very clean with regular dealer oil changes, etc. I went through them both and changed the transfer case and rear diff oil as well. The only fluid I haven't touched on them yet is the clutch reservoirs in the rear diffs. They hold Pentosin CHF 11S. The T-case and rear diff gear oil were pretty nasty in both vehicles.

 

[Tundra Dweller]

The flush systems are a bad idea as they stir up all the sediment that collects in the bottom of the tranny. No, the filter does not catch all this as proven by a few trans pans I have dropped. Change it per mileage, not color IMHO.
Sounds like an easy DIY job per Ammo Joe. "There is a small plug facing straight down at the floor on the drivers side just behind the front bumper. And the fill cap is on the same side tucked down a bit in the front as well. Remove plug and cap, put plug back in and refil with the same amount that you removed. GM didn’t specify the quantity it take in the manual. The only special tool you might need is either a transfer pump or a very long and thin funnel since the fill is down a bit into the engine bay. There is stuff in the way keeping you from getting to it so try a regular funnel. You MIGHT be able to use one of those collapsible bendy style funnels."