oleg1981

iv done my trans oil change 3 times! always used mobil 3309. sinse GM,toyota,volvo geting there oil in there bottles from mobil its the exact oil that we need!
the reason i'v done it 3 times it because i did not wanted to do the flash but wanted to change most of the oil in a trany! after first oil change iv done about 3000miles. after the second change 3000miles and changed the oil. the tranny is shifting smooth! the car have 180000miles and runing just fine.

Dave1963

All excellent information. I went to my local dealer and asked about trans service. I changed the trans fluid/filter in my Dodge truck religiously at 35K and wanted to follow suit with my equinox. dealer said, "It's a sealed unit. Lasts 100K....you can't change the fluid."

I'll be draining mine this weekend and changing the fluid.

bluespeed3

I have been worried about this for a while and checked with the dealer today they quoted me $230 to change because of the difficulty in accessing the dip stick. I came home, found this thread and proceeded to check the fluid. I found if you take the battery box and mounting bracket out you can access the transmission dipstick without too much trouble AND you can do it from under the hood.

The fluid was red and full so I left it alone....

ruley73

Keep in mind, you don't want to wait until the fluid darkens. When the fluid begins to darken, excessive wear is already happening. This is what you want to prevent.

tech2

yep. change it every 60 000miles/90 000km.

Sojuexp

I have a 2005 equinox FWD. I'm currently at 55000 miles on it and the book says for maintenance to change the transaxle fluid and filter every 50000 miles. I got a quote for around $200 for getting the fluid changed but they said that the filter would cost about $1000 because its at least 15 hours of work not counting all the extra maintenance afterwards. Is this right how does periodic maintenance cost so much? I've read all the posts on here and everyone just talks about the fluid not the filter. Thanks for any assistance

ruley73

The transmission fluid filter is not serviceable. The Aisin transmission must be disassembled for it to be replaced. The 2005 owner's manual incorrectly says to change the transmission filter. The 2006-2009 owner's manuals only mention changing the fluid.

Sojuexp

Ok thank you, thats what I was planning on doing. I just wanted to ask someone elses opinion.

samwal

can you do complete fluid exchange

ruley73

Yes. See post #1.