Fluid change for Aztec

[Rob Taggs]

Need to change the automatic transmission fluid in my wife's 2003 Pontiac Aztec. How do I go about it? Do I just drop the pan, replace the filter, gasket and filter? Or should I take it in to have a shop flush out the entire tranny?

I'm kinda stumped because I have never changed fluid on such a new vehicle like this and don't want to mess something up. Thanks for the advice in advance.

 

[The Critic]

I thought you did a pan pull @ 50k with M1 ATF?

 

[Rob Taggs]

I was going to but, never got around to it. Kinda worried about someone flushing it. Have heard bad stories about the over pressure bit messing up seals.

 

[The Critic]

Flushing won't overpressure anything because a fluid exchange machine is operated by the pressure generated from the fluid coming out of your own transmission. There's no compressed air hooked up to the machine.

Personally, I would just pull the pan, put on a new filter kit, and refill with 7-8 qt of Dexron-VI.

 

[WishIhadatruck]

Quote:

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Personally, I would just pull the pan, put on a new filter kit, and refill with 7-8 qt of Dexron-VI.

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I think this is good advice. This is what I do with my vehicles with the same transmission as the Aztec. These typically have a reusable gasket as well. The filter kit will only include a filter and seal for the filter neck which only needs to be replaced if the current one is worn to much or damaged. I try to do it every 30k.

 

[Tempest]

Instructions I used to flush my trans and it still works.

 

[The Critic]

That only works if you have more than one person around. Might just be easier to pull the pan more often than to fuss around with the lines and risk a big mess if you're working alone.

 

[Tempest]

I did it alone. Just need some extra hose, clamps, hose splice fitting, funnel for the fill tube, and a bucket to catch the waste. Worked great. Just feed the fluid in as fast as the pump moves it out.