2020 Chevy Equinox 38K OE trans fluid drain/fill

[AZjeff]

Bought this Equinox a week ago and working though getting it to a known baseline. I took a look at the fluid at the level plug and decided it's original so a drain and fill or 2 in order. Regular service is never change, severe service is 45k miles. I did some reading and found the the original fill on this 6T40 comes out really dark from supposedly anti-rust additives when it's built. That's an understatement, it's pretty much black with no burnt smell. With a capacity of 8.2 quarts and a drain of 4 quarts 10 ounces 2 drain/fills gets it over 75% fresh. This is the easiest auto trans I've ever serviced. Glad I knew what it would look like.

 

[jtwrace]

What did you put in it?

 

[AZjeff]

What did you put in it?

Sorry. First drain Dexron VI, second drain Valvoline Full Synthetic Dex VI. Had the gallon of Dexron on hand.

 

[JTK]

I found much the same with my 2021 Equinox 1.5T LT AWD when I bought it used in June of 2024 with ~34K miles on it. I did somewhere around 4-5 drain/fills the first few thousand miles just to be safe, and as you say, they're easier than an engine oil change, which is also a breeze on these.

I also added a Votex magnetic drain plug for the transmission.

Is yours AWD? You'll find the transfer case and rear diff to be super easy to drain/fill as well. There's also a tiny wet clutch fluid reservoir on the input of the rear diff that takes Pentosin 11s fluid. T-case and rear diff use regular old 75w90 synthetic gear oil. Nothing fancy.

I used Castrol Universal ATF/CVT fluid for two drain/fills and Valvoline Maxlife for the others. The go to ATF on GM boards is Mobil 1 blue label Dex VI. Has to be the blue label per those boards.

I'm just over 50K miles on my 2021. She's been flawless. Love the vehicle.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Nice work! I love servicing transmissions. Why some people say "lifetime fluid" I will never understand.

 

[barkingspider]

You did good for your equinox trans