My mom has a 2008 Malibu with around 85k on it and I don't believe the trans fluid has ever been changed, it's one of those annoying ones without a dipstick, I was wondering how important is it that the whole vehicle is level when you crack the level bolt, to those with knowledge of the transmission is the bolt centered in the case to where if you crack it open with the car up on ramps it doesn't make much difference compared to if the car was on flat level ground or does it really have to be completely flat where a better way to do it yourself would be similar to how FordTechMakuloco showed on the 6F35 on the 2013+ Escape and Fusion where you jack the car up at the pinch weld and take the tire off and lower the jack to where the car is level then crack the bolt that you can now reach with the tire removed, because I think the level bolt is sort of similarly on the drivers side of the transmission on the Malibu.
2008 Malibu 4T45 DIY transmission fluid change?
- Thread starter blufeb95
- Start date
I did my wife's 2012 Equinox and you can turn the wheel and get to the level plug with the car on the ground. You might want to check to see.
The most important thing is that you do it cold, so when you drain it, you can measure how much came out and refill with the same amount 
If your transmission doesn't have a drain plug, get an aftermarket pan that has one. It will make future ATF changes much easier.
If your transmission doesn't have a drain plug, get an aftermarket pan that has one. It will make future ATF changes much easier.
It doesn't have a drain bolt and when I looked on rock auto all the pans explicitly say they don't have a drain bolt, aparently it holds about 7.4qts and the total capacity is 10-11ish so most of the fluid gets changed, I'm thinking of splurging on some Allison TES-295 and change the filter and then never mess with it ever again.The most important thing is that you do it cold, so when you drain it, you can measure how much came out and refill with the same amount
If your transmission doesn't have a drain plug, get an aftermarket pan that has one. It will make future ATF changes much easier.
I'll I should order some spare plastic clips for the splash gaurd and check in a few weeks, the roads are still pretty salty and we need a couple good rains to was them off so I don't really want to break the clips and not be able to put it back on right now, thhe splash gaurds are just big enough to let the CV axel through, so I can't see anything else.
Why does this keep happening?
These are common transmissions that used to have aftermarket pans with drain plus easily available, but now they seem to have stopped making them! What is going on?
The same thing happened to the 4F27E!
Dorman #265-809 should work, and it does still seem to be available
If you get the Dorman, make sure the drain bolt is tight. Some people have reported them not being fully torqued from the factory, but when you do tighten it, you will have no problems.
The only thing is that that adds like another $40 to the cost by putting that pan on, you replace the majority of the fluid when you drain it off so I think one drain and fill should be good, the car only gets like 5k a year put on it at most, my mom bought it with 83k on it in the summer of 2017 and now it has 95k on it, so it only gets like 4k a year put on it at most, I think a filter change out and going with TES-295 fluid which will probably run me about $100 to get both should service it well until the car rusts out.
Aparently it holds closer to 13 quarts, Depending on how the fluid looks I might do a second drain and fill since one change out will leave roughly 46% of the fluid behind, a second would leave around 21%, since I was looking at going with Delvac 1 ATF which seems to be cheapest at 33.99 from summit racing so doing it twice would be over $150 for the fluid.
13 quarts is Dry Fill spec which is a overhaul, torque converter & cooler flush, Even then I don't think I've ever had a 4T45E take that much fluid, It's more like 10-11 quarts.
All 4 speed & 6 speed GM/Hydramatic units need the filter changed.
All 4 speed & 6 speed GM/Hydramatic units need the filter changed.
If it was a 2008 car and assembled in June of 08, probably one of the last run of Malibu's ever manufactured with a 4 speed, do you think it'd already have 2 magnets in the pan or do I probably need to buy two new circle magnets, I know there was a service bulletin for it but I don't know when that went into affect if it was before or after this car was produced.
So by draining approx 7 quarts and putting in 7 and a half quarts going for a drive to get it warm then cracking the leveler bolt, about what total percentage of the total system fill do you think would be changed out in actual practice?
Is TES-295 complete overkill in these transmissions, being an older 4 speed design that was originally spec'd for high viscosity DEX III and later back spec'd to low viscosity DEX VI do you think it'd be a better idea to just stick with DEX VI or go for a full synthetic high viscosity fluid like the overkill TES-295 or maybe a less expensive full synthetic DEX/MERC fluid, I know valvoline's Full Syn Mercon V says it should be good for DEX III applications.
I just did a Saturn Ion with this trans (pan drop, new filter) and it took between 6 and 7 qts. It helps to have a skinny funnel with a really long snout or added length of tubing on the end to do the refill. It's annoying to do the fill check with an overflow port instead of a dipstick, but not nearly so much as on my Caddy SRX where the fill and check ports are located right next to the hot exhaust downpipe.
The 2008 Malibu won’t have the 2 round magnets unless someone has already serviced the transmission and followed the TSB.
I serviced a 2011 HHR a few years ago and it didn’t haven’t the round magnets either. Upon further investigation regarding the TSB, it was simply that, a TSB. GM assembled the 4T45e to the very end with only the one rectangular magnet.
Also, stick with DexVI. The 2008+ 4T45e received numerous updates in order for it to be capable with the HHR SS Turbo automatic. The 2008+ received “high energy” friction material so it is highly recommended to use DexVI.
I serviced a 2011 HHR a few years ago and it didn’t haven’t the round magnets either. Upon further investigation regarding the TSB, it was simply that, a TSB. GM assembled the 4T45e to the very end with only the one rectangular magnet.
Also, stick with DexVI. The 2008+ 4T45e received numerous updates in order for it to be capable with the HHR SS Turbo automatic. The 2008+ received “high energy” friction material so it is highly recommended to use DexVI.
So I guess I need to get the 2 magnets, I may invest in a pan with a drain plug I'll need, a new fitler, either the ATP premium or Delco because they have a good gasket, I guess I might just use up all the ATF I have on hand, I have 6qts of Enos Eco ATF that I can use up and 1 full quart of Valvoline DEX VI and a half quart of Valvoline DEX VI.
Sounds like a good plan to me. The round magnets will have “MADE IN CHINA” written on them with a silver permanent marker. I got mine from the dealer. Good choice on getting the ACDelco filter. I’ve used the PowerTorque store brand from O’Reilly with good results as well.
Either TES-295 or Dexron VI would work well in that unit, Both have really good shear stability.
Cheap full synthetic Dex/Merc?? Mobil 1 has their multi vehicle Dex/Merc but it's not cheap & might as well go Delvac 1 TES-295.
