Hey everyone. Just bought a used 2016 Traverse AWD a few months ago. It now has a little over 50k miles. I notice that it stays in lower gears longer than it should around town. When I drove it on a long trip (over 600 miles) and after about an hour of driving I notice it doesn't like to shift into 6th gear; just stays in 5th. After a few hours of that the display told me "trans is too hot, idle engine". So something is wrong there.
I decided to change out the ATF since it was due I guess. When I drained the fluid, a little over 9 quarts drained out. That seems odd since I expected 4-5 qts reading through this forum. Is that possible something new with 2016 model year or is there something odd going on in my powertrain? According to the Amsoil website the full ATF fill is 9.5 qts. I don't think there would be an extra 4-5 qts left in there after over 9 came out. Any suggestions?
Hey Kevin I know this is a few months old and you probably have resolved the issue but I figured I would share my recent experience with a GMC Acadia. Customer of mine has Transmission Hot Idle engine message come up so they went to a Big O tire and Big O recommended a transmission flush. They declined the work and brought it to me instead. I checked the fluid and it was full but discolored. I Test drove the vehicle with a scanner attached to check transmission fluid temperature and on a slight incline at 70-75 mph the transmission temp kept rising and got to 240 degrees I also notice a delayed shift or shift flare between several gears. I came back to the shop and double checked the fluid and noticed it was above the max line and if I wiped the wire portion of the dipstick the fluid was actually way overfull. I flushed the transmission and then drain almost 4 quarts of extra fluid out of the transmission. I then took the same test drive route after warming up the transmission and the fluid temp only got up to 200 degrees and the shifting issues were resolved. The fluid when overfull gets air bubbles in it and the air bubbles reduce the effectiveness of the transmission cooler and creates delayed shifts.
I did a video on as well but the video contains the same information listed in this post but includes visuals. From now on when I check transmission fluid and it looks full I take a paper towel and lay the dipstick down on it to see if the fluid is overfull. I never would have thought the fluid would be that overfull on the Acadia or that the overheat issue would be caused by it.
Thanks so much Chad! This really sounds like my issue. I did a fluid change a few months ago and just about 9 qts came out!!! ( should have been only 4-5 since I wasn't doing a flush). So I'm wondering if it was over filled. going to check tonight the stick. I may end up draining again and if 9 qts comes out again I'll only put in 4.5 and check the level. (Seems like the way to do this w/o a true flush is to fill and drain about 2 or 3 times to get most the dirty fluid out.) Thanks so much for this info!!
Hi everyone, looking to finally do this on my 2014 Traverse and questioned if I should use the regular dex VI or go for the full synthetic. Has anyone had any issues using the regular dex? There's a deal right now on Amazon for regular dex and its about half the price of the full synthetic so that's why I wanted to ask before going ahead the regular.
New to forum here & first time to post. Just did this drain & fill to my 2012 Traverse & was very easy thanks to rbarrios!
I carefully measured out the old fluid & got 5.6qts. Replaced the exact same amount with Amsoil low viscosity ATF. Like others, I plan to do a total of 3 drain & fills using the Amsoil ATF.
Next jobs to tackle are spark plug changes, coolant flush, power steering flush, brake lines flushed, & replacing drive belt; all of which have never been done yet. My goal is to switch all the fluids over to Amsoil fluids.
Quick question, does it take that long or that many miles for the new fluid to completely circulate through the torque converter, cooler lines, etc... or would I be good driving it say 50 miles & then do my second drain & fill again in a day or two? Much obliged sir
Hi.
I Just wanted to make sure the fluid had a chance to really mix.
I really dont know how many miles it would take. But at that time.
420 miles may have been 1 week of travel... and I repeated the drain on a weekend.
Next jobs to tackle are spark plug changes, coolant flush, power steering flush, brake lines flushed, & replacing drive belt; all of which have never been done yet. My goal is to switch all the fluids over to Amsoil fluids.
I did my Spark Plugs at 100,000.
Coolant flush- since the coolant was going to be out- I also replaced my upper and lower radiator hose- and the thermostat, All of which were working fine. But this was at about 111,000 and I didnt want to drain again for possible repair of those items.
Power steering flush- I simply use a turkey baster with a hose attached- and suck out the fluid in the reservoir and refill with new fluid and or Lucas PS stop leak. But I do it every so often. Usually when Im doing oil changes. I prefer this method other disconnecting hoses. On this PS system- introducing air- is really hard to remove. Also- Your model year- is probably using Dexron VI trans fluid instead of the regular clear PS fluid my 2010 has.
Brake lines- I did back at 5 yrs of age I believe. Simply having my wife pump the brake a few times- then hold... I would then open the bleeder and close. Did it till the fluid came out a little clearer.
There is a thread on here- where we have the brake bleeder sequence to follow. In this vehicle- its not farthest to closest..
Judging by the color of the transmission fluid that people have had come out of their Traverse, I would say 50k mile change is a wise decision. These transmissions run fairly hot, even with the tow package, they easily get up over 210*F in heavy traffic. Most pickup trucks run around 150 to 170*F, so 200-210*F+ seems pretty high to me.
That being said, I did not do a UOA, so maybe my fluid was okay.
I had 2 gallons shipped to me. For 40 bucks. Synthetic Dextron VI. Mine took 5.3 quarts at re fill. Its ok. Just changed it, I have a question for you guys, when you shift from Park to drive or from reverse to park do you get that little clunk just it's a smidge of a clunk, but I drive a liberty and everything's tight underneath there and I just want to make sure that it's the mechanism on this car and not a problem. I bought mine used with 24,000 miles and it was 3 years old. It's a Traverse LT it's excellent condition excellent. But I'm just I'm just being fanatic. Thank you. If I can ever help anyone it would be my pleasure.
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