2005 FWD Equinox Transaxle Questions
 

We just purchased this car for our son from our neighbor. The next day the transmission started to slip pretty bad. I called around to our local transmission shops and found somebody that would rebuild it for an estimate of 1975.00 to 2200.00. So they had it towed to their shop and evaluated it and said it would be 2700.00 and would be done in 2 o 3 days. At that point I told him to go ahead and if it took 3 days which would be a Friday that I would just pick it up Monday and he said that would be fine. Well when I went there Monday afternoon it was still up on the rack with him under it. I asked him why it was still on the rack and he said he was just looking at it after the test drive. But what was weird is he had a bucket under it with the drain plug cracked open enough to let fluid out, I asked why he was doing that and he said he thinks the tech over filled it. I could tell something else was bugging him and when I asked he said the fluid looked discolored and that if the radiator had gone bad that it was possible to get water in it. I told him that I had read that these transmissions were suppose to get a different kind of fluid like a T-IV so maybe that's why its a different color. He said no it was Dexron 5 and you could use that on a complete rebuild as long as you don't mix fluids. This doesn't make sense to me because down the road if I get the car serviced and my fluids checked and topped off, the service stations are going to put in what Chevy calls out for. So I guess what my question is does all this sound on the up and up or does it sound like maybe I got screwed? Any input would be appreciated, thanks.

Hello,
Question, When you drove this car cold, did it work ok then start to slip when hot? This is a 5 speed trans called 55-50SN. Gary(i have a trans shop in new york)

you are correct on the fluids. Any type of dexron fluid is wrong for this trans.
It will say so in your recommended fluids in the owners manual. It happens all the time. Tell him he is wrong and to check his service information. Get that fluid out and put in T-IV. Sad that a trans rebuilder does not know this.

gsferraro,
The first time it did it my son had driven down the freeway a few miles then when he go off the freeway thats when it started to slip. After that it seem to do it more often cold or hot.

tech2,
It's frustrating, I went with my son to do his 1 to 2 week inspection and once again mentioned the different fluids and he said it was nothing to worry about. He said Dexron 5 is compatible with most fluids. I guess I'm going to have to spend more money and have a different shop inspect the transmission.

Hello,
If it slips or bangs when cold then there is something internally wrong with the trans. If it works ok cold and not ok hot, the problem is the valvebody which can be changed without taking the trans out of the car. I do alot of these and very rarely have to overhaul one, 99.9% of the time the valvebody is the problem. Question, before you brought it in to the shop was it ok cold and not hot? I use a fully synthetic oil in this trans. This trans is also used in nissan and volvo. Same trans but different names.