# should i touch my trans fluid?



## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

ryan rh said:


> hi there! ive been a cruze owner for almost two years now and she hasn’t given any problems, yet. im new to this forum and hopefully i can get some insight.
> 
> so basically my cruze is a 2016.5 and in hitting 100k klicks soon and im wondering if i should change my trans fluid, even though the rule of thumb is to not touch it if its running fine.


Welcome Aboard!

Yes. 

They have revised the mileage recommendation IIRC. So you are about 62K miles. 45k, 90k, 135k is the recommended severe schedule.

*How to: Automatic Transmission Fluid Flush*
*AMSOIL Products for the 2011-2015, 2016 Limited Gen1 Cruze*

Don't forget to introduce yourself and your Cruze here.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Oh wait is this a Gen II?


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## JLL (Sep 12, 2017)

Blasirl said:


> Oh wait is this a Gen II?


It sounds like it. He/She said 2016.5


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## ryan rh (Jan 20, 2021)

yes, its a gen 2


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Absolutely. Changed mine @ 45k and it made a huge difference. My car does about 90% city driving and it was starting to get pretty jerky. Fluid was very dark.

I did 2 drain-and-fills, measuring what came out each time and replacing that amount back into it.


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## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

I mean it has some detergent stuff. I wouldn’t take a bath in it but yeah touching it should be fine.


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

Snipesy said:


> I mean it has some detergent stuff. I wouldn’t take a bath in it but yeah touching it should be fine.


Damnit.... Beat me to it 

I was just gonna say : "Ewwww, no."


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

I'd definitely avoid putting it in your mouth, though.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

And watch out about getting it on shoes or spilling it on something as you pour...you'll be smelling it for weeks...


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Cruze Gen 2 Transmission Fluid Change 
Transmission Fluid Capacity/Level Check Procedure
AMSOIL Products for the 2016+ Gen2 Cruze


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## TDCruze (Sep 26, 2014)

Definitely time to change it at 100k km. No such thing as "lifetime" fill. The fluid does degrade over time.


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## JLL (Sep 12, 2017)

TDCruze said:


> Definitely time to change it at 100k km. No such thing as "lifetime" fill. The fluid does degrade over time.


In the eyes of GM of course there's "lifetime" fill. They want to sell you a new transmission. Or even better a new car! Why do you thing they came up with the "oil monitoring system"? It'll have you go 8,000 - 12,000 miles between oil changes.


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

My Cobalt does about 10k miles on the oil monitor between 100 and 0%, but the CTD's is 7500 miles.


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

MP81 said:


> My Cobalt does about 10k miles on the oil monitor between 100 and 0%, but the CTD's is 7500 miles.


My Ion gets between 11 and 11.5k. Actually seems to be a flexible service reminder. Probably the same system as your Cobalt. No percentage available without a good scanner, it's good until it says change now. 

I've never run my Cruze past 5k, but the percentage display runs on 7500 miles or 12 months. Either it's not flexible or it has a 7500 cap.


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

Taxman said:


> My Ion gets between 11 and 11.5k. Actually seems to be a flexible service reminder. Probably the same system as your Cobalt. No percentage available without a good scanner, it's good until it says change now.
> 
> I've never run my Cruze past 5k, but the percentage display runs on 7500 miles or 12 months. Either it's not flexible or it has a 7500 cap.


Yup they are all flexible. New stuff just has a 7500mi cap


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

About 3500 mi has been put on my 16 since the last oil change ~11 months ago. It's down to 10% on the OLM. Lots of 3-5 mile trips, and lots of just sitting.

I don't recall the 12's being much more than a mileage counter, though.


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## Johnny B (Jun 4, 2019)

ryan rh said:


> im wondering if i should change my trans fluid, even though the rule of thumb is to not touch it if its running fine.


*You should change the fluid.* And change it about every 80,000 km if you want your transmission to last. The BS "rule of thumb" is mostly from people that didn't change the fluid until the transmission was already doomed by being forced to eat itself for years. The other option is don't change the fluid and get a new one at about the 190,000 km mark.


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## marmalou (Dec 30, 2020)

Johnny B said:


> *You should change the fluid.* And change it about every 80,000 km if you want your transmission to last. The BS "rule of thumb" is mostly from people that didn't change the fluid until the transmission was already doomed by being forced to eat itself for years. The other option is don't change the fluid and get a new one at about the 190,000 km mark.


Just curious, how easy do you think it will be to find new transmissions for the Gen 2 in the future?


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

marmalou said:


> Just curious, how easy do you think it will be to find new transmissions for the Gen 2 in the future?


Junkyards will be full of them as Cruze sedans and hatches age off the roads due to rust, accidents, or other major problems. The 6-speed automatic in the gasoline cars is shared throughout a bunch of GM products.

Diesel car owners might have slim pickings, as the 9-speed auto is more rare.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

marmalou said:


> Just curious, how easy do you think it will be to find new transmissions for the Gen 2 in the future?


Out of curiosity, it looks like this transmission (6T35) will be shared with the LE2-powered Trax, Encore, and of course Cruze.

The 1.5T engined cars like the Equinox, Terrain, and Malibu [pre-2019] appear to use a revised version of the old 6T40/45 from the 1st gen Cruze and 2nd-gen Equinox [pre-2018].


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

The severe service schedule calls for a fluid change at 45k miles (72k km)


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## TDCruze (Sep 26, 2014)

Barry Allen said:


> Junkyards will be full of them as Cruze sedans and hatches age off the roads due to rust, accidents, or other major problems. The 6-speed automatic in the gasoline cars is shared throughout a bunch of GM products.
> 
> Diesel car owners might have slim pickings, as the 9-speed auto is more rare.


The 9 speed is used in several GM models as well so either one should be relatively plentiful in future junkyards.


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## TDCruze (Sep 26, 2014)

Ma v e n said:


> The severe service schedule calls for a fluid change at 45k miles (72k km)


I will add after changing my fluid in the 9 spd after 30k mi, it was needed.


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

Does the 9-speed have a replaceable filter? I know on the 1st gen diesels, the Aisin trans has an internal, non replaceable filter and that fluid gets trashed really, really fast.


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## Johnny B (Jun 4, 2019)

marmalou said:


> Just curious, how easy do you think it will be to find new transmissions for the Gen 2 in the future?


Like the Flash said, its a pretty common GM transmission that will be around for a long time. Either buying them new through GM, or buying rebuilt ones.
Also, just to be clear I was joking about the not changing it option. A new transmission is currently about $3000, and a rebuilt about $2000. And those prices don't include installation.
If you change the fluid, and don't drive like a maniac your transmission should last a very long time.


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## TDCruze (Sep 26, 2014)

MP81 said:


> Does the 9-speed have a replaceable filter? I know on the 1st gen diesels, the Aisin trans has an internal, non replaceable filter and that fluid gets trashed really, really fast.


The 9 spd has an internal non serviceable filter. Actually, I think there may be 2 internal filters, but none readily accessible.


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

So yeah, it'll need frequent fluid changes like the 1st gen CTD's Aisin.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

Would it kill engineers to make a transmission filter easy to replace? Allison does this with the transmission in the Duramax pickups (an external, screw-on filter that's easy to replace). VW makes it relatively easy for their DSG (manufactured by BorgWarner) to where you do the 40,000 mile fluid change and swap out the filter from the top, after removing the battery.


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

I really don't know why the switch to "non-replaceable" filters has become so popular. The AF40-6 came out in 2005, so that's one of the earlier transmissions I know of to not have an easy to change filter (my 4T45E in my Cobalt, which is an '07, has a filter in the pan).


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## JLL (Sep 12, 2017)

MP81 said:


> I really don't know why the switch to "non-replaceable" filters has become so popular. The AF40-6 came out in 2005, so that's one of the earlier transmissions I know of to not have an easy to change filter (my 4T45E in my Cobalt, which is an '07, has a filter in the pan).


I would speculate it's to sell more transmission assemblies and/or cars in the long run.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

MP81 said:


> I really don't know why the switch to "non-replaceable" filters has become so popular. The AF40-6 came out in 2005, so that's one of the earlier transmissions I know of to not have an easy to change filter (my 4T45E in my Cobalt, which is an '07, has a filter in the pan).


Size, maybe, but it seems common on most 6 speeds and newer. It looks like the 8F/9Ts have a replaceable line filter though.









General Motors 9T50 Nine Speed FWD: Part One - Transmission Digest


The 6T70 / 6F50 and 6T40 / 6F35 transmission families have undergone countless changes since 2007 and are used in a variety of different models of vehicles currently.




www.transmissiondigest.com


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

The C8 Stingray TR9080 DCT has a serviceable filter......it's a roughly $500 service at 7,500miles, and then at 22,500, and then every 22,500 after that.

One or two reasons they get rid of filters is because most people don't change them anyway, and it just adds an additional maintenance cost that GM is loathe to inform customers that maintenance costs beyond oil changes may exist on a vehicle. And they've found that not having one doesn't open them to excessive warranty repair costs. So no more serviceable filters. It's also cheaper/easier to engineer a trans that doesn't require an externally serviceable filter. Win win win for GM


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## TDCruze (Sep 26, 2014)

I just hope these interal filters have a large enough capacity to last the "lifetime " of the transmission. 

Seems like a cartridge type external replaceable filter would not have been to hard to design into a transmission.


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

TDCruze said:


> I just hope these interal filters have a large enough capacity to last the "lifetime " of the transmission.
> 
> Seems like a cartridge type external replaceable filter would not have been to hard to design into a transmission.


It's not that it's technically "hard" it's that it adds complexity and money to the trans. And increases operating costs to customer.


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## TDCruze (Sep 26, 2014)

Ma v e n said:


> It's not that it's technically "hard" it's that it adds complexity and money to the trans. And increases operating costs to customer.


Definitely a cost thing, and average consumers love the idea of zero maintenance so for most its a win win. 

Then there's the few of us who love changing fluids and filters. We hate not having filters to change and dipsticks to check. Feels like we are failing on maintenance.


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

Most of these people probably think brakes never need to be replaced, either. But the vast majority of people constantly get new vehicles, so they've conditioned themselves to basically never needing anything other than an oil change.


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## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

I think I paid something like $110-120 for a couple jugs of Amsoil ATF. 
And there are yards which will sell you a 2nd Gen transmission for $125-150, get your spare while they're still low mile and cheap...


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