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Dealer transmission flush

10966 Views 13 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  BDCCruze
Anyone get this done? I'm at 73k and the car seems to be shifting a little sloppy lately so I was going to get it done. Cost is 180 which from what I read in diffeeent threads and looking online seems less than the cost of the fluid alone. The dealer assured me thats the price and its the same for all their vehicles. Something doesnt add up . I'm concerned they are going to use thr wrong atf.
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If you're not comfortable doing it yourself, have the dealer do it. See if they will let you supply your own ATF and try Amsoil Signature Series Fuel Efficient Synthetic ATF.

If you are somewhat mechanically inclined, try DIY. This link recenty helped me through the entire process for about $100 bucks.

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/169-...ion-fluid-diesel-aw-af-40-6-transmission.html
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I had mine done around 70,000 km's (44,000 miles). Likely sooner then it needed to be done, but I figured better safe than sorry. I'd have to look at the receipt, but I believe the labour for the service on mine was around $150 and I supplied my own transmission fluid (used the Amsoil). The dealer screwed up on mine because they told me they needed 8 quarts to do the flush (I had it in writing from them), but then I got there and they said they needed 16 quarts. I'm not sure how, but they said they ended up doing it using 8 quarts. So as a word of warning, if you are going to supply your own fluid, I wouldn't triple check how much the dealer needs you to bring. I'm going to guess they just did a partial flush on mine. Wasn't a huge deal to me. I'll just get it done again sooner than I was originally planning on.
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I had mine done around 70,000 km's (44,000 miles). Likely sooner then it needed to be done, but I figured better safe than sorry. I'd have to look at the receipt, but I believe the labour for the service on mine was around $150 and I supplied my own transmission fluid (used the Amsoil). The dealer screwed up on mine because they told me they needed 8 quarts to do the flush (I had it in writing from them), but then I got there and they said they needed 16 quarts. I'm not sure how, but they said they ended up doing it using 8 quarts. So as a word of warning, if you are going to supply your own fluid, I wouldn't triple check how much the dealer needs you to bring. I'm going to guess they just did a partial flush on mine. Wasn't a huge deal to me. I'll just get it done again sooner than I was originally planning on.

I contacted mine today and they said 16 quarts. Seems like alot.
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I contacted mine today and they said 16 quarts. Seems like alot.
I think the transmission only holds about 8 (which is why they told me 8), but to do an actual flush and get all the old fluid out and put new fluid in requires 16.
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I had my dealer service the transmission at 70,000 miles. They replaced two seals, the tube and plug which were corroded and the fluid. Cost with labor was $233.21. It did not make any difference with the shifting.
From prices I've heard of here, that's about 3 quarts of GM fluid, $30 worth of parts and an hour of labor. That leaves you with about 1/3 of the fluid new which made almost no difference in my car either when I switched it over to Amsoil. The second change made a noticeable improvement, at that point more than half the fluid was fresh Amsoil.

I would bet another drain and fill would begin to make a noticeable difference.
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Many flush machines (which allow the transmission's internal pump to cycle fluid out while the pump fills the transmission through the cooler lines) require 16 quarts to function, which is why you were quoted 16 quarts. Some machines require only 12 quarts.

Either way, the AMSOIL fluids are both cheaper than what GM is using, even the high end stuff that lasts 2x as long in severe service driving. I'd confidently recommend either one.

AMSOIL OE Fuel-Efficient Synthetic ATF

AMSOIL Signature Series Fuel-Efficient Synthetic ATF

A preferred customer account gets you 25% off, and as a bonus for July 26th through August 1st, AMSOIL is offering shipping for only $4.95 for orders over $50. If you're looking to pick up some ATF, you could save a few bucks with this option.

AMSOIL Preferred Customer Account
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I just took the opportunity to make my first order with the flat rate shipping as a preferred customer! Love Amsoil products. I know the fluid for the manual trans from Amsoil made my car shift much better. I did a drain/fill 3 times on a 2014 LTZ Auto with Valvoline fluid for a friend, before I knew about Amsoil, and it was a huge difference in shifting and the fluid looked horrible at 45K. I used 12 qts.

I would bring the fluid to them after verifying the process they use to flush. 16 qts makes sense for a full 100% change.
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Thanks for the comments everyone. I think I will go the Amsoil route. I cancelled the appointment with the dealer for now.
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If anyone needs to order, there's a promotion where shipping is $4.95 through August 1st with a preferred customer account.
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Cleaning your transmission filter by using a flushing machine to run clean fluid through it is like cleaning your air filter by driving on a clean road.

If the service includes a filter change, forget what I just said. Does the CTD transmission have an external spin-on filter or a filter in the sump?
No external or internal filter on the Gen 1 Aisin transmission. Only an internal screen.

Excellent related thread:

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/169-...ion-fluid-diesel-aw-af-40-6-transmission.html
Cleaning your transmission filter by using a flushing machine to run clean fluid through it is like cleaning your air filter by driving on a clean road.

If the service includes a filter change, forget what I just said. Does the CTD transmission have an external spin-on filter or a filter in the sump?
it doesnt include a filter change, but im gonna go ahead forget what you said anyways.
I had mine done around 70,000 km's (44,000 miles). Likely sooner then it needed to be done, but I figured better safe than sorry. I'd have to look at the receipt, but I believe the labour for the service on mine was around $150 and I supplied my own transmission fluid (used the Amsoil). The dealer screwed up on mine because they told me they needed 8 quarts to do the flush (I had it in writing from them), but then I got there and they said they needed 16 quarts. I'm not sure how, but they said they ended up doing it using 8 quarts. So as a word of warning, if you are going to supply your own fluid, I wouldn't triple check how much the dealer needs you to bring. I'm going to guess they just did a partial flush on mine. Wasn't a huge deal to me. I'll just get it done again sooner than I was originally planning on.
I had my dealer service the transmission at 70,000 miles. They replaced two seals, the tube and plug which were corroded and the fluid. Cost with labor was $233.21. It did not make any difference with the shifting.
From prices I've heard of here, that's about 3 quarts of GM fluid, $30 worth of parts and an hour of labor. That leaves you with about 1/3 of the fluid new which made almost no difference in my car either when I switched it over to Amsoil. The second change made a noticeable improvement, at that point more than half the fluid was fresh Amsoil.

I would bet another drain and fill would begin to make a noticeable difference.
The devil is in the details. I had a similar experience when I got a quote from a couple dealers. One dealer said $180 which didn't sound right because I know how much the fluid cost. I specified diesel but me may of only looked at the dexvi price. I called a second dealer and they said $260 for the diesel, which is more what I expected. However, when I started prodding they said they only change about 3 quarts out at that price. If I wanted a full flush it would cost $60 more. That doesn't make sense though considering the fluid cost.

Even at $320 I don't see how they could flush 16 quarts of fluid through that considering the fluid is $40 a quart, unless they only charge their wholesale price, which I doubt.

I ended up ordering 10 liters of Pentosin ATF1-LV for $80 from Rock Auto and I will do it myself. I got the 2 lower seals for about $3 each from a GM dealer parts department.
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