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 syn 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 Mobil1 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