hello, what is the corrrect or reccomended way to change the tranny fluid on a 06 lucerne with a 3.8 L engine? is it a simple drain plug or do I need to remove the pan and get a new gasket.. also what fluid should I refill with,,,thanks,,,also what interval should this be done??/
trans fluid change on a 06 lucerne
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GM suggests every 50,000 miles. Pan drop and filter change is excellent. You will need Dexron 6 and 7.0 to 8 qts of fluid. The pan gasket is designed to be reusable, just wipe off and reuse. Best filter to use is one from a dealer or somewhere that sells original equipment.
Dexron-VI, full flush.
Disconnect the upper transmission cooling line, put a length of hose with the proper barbed fitting into the hole in the radiator, and run that into an empty bucket or milk jug.
If you have the 4T65, it's 14 quarts of Dexron-VI for a full flush.
If you have the 4T65, it's 14 quarts of Dexron-VI for a full flush.
Last November, my dad gave me his 06 3.8 lucerne 58,000 miles. I did a pan drop and filter change. As stated above, you don't need a new gastket, but you will need to torque the pan bolts. There is no drain plug. The owners manual states that it takes 7.4 quarts for dain and fill, and that figure is dead on!! I used the walmart off brand stuff at $3.77/quart. No leaks.
I would also like to add that at 58,000 miles the fluid did not look very good at all. I will more than likely do another drain and fill using my mytivac pump this spring.
A flush is not necessary on these cars since you get such a large % of the fluid out with each pan drop and filter change (7.5-8qts). I had a UOA done on my 4T65E at 90k miles and it looked good. This was after pan drops and filter changes with M1 ATF at 30k and 60k miles. I changed to Dex VI at 90k (I did a flush that time) and did another pan drop/filter change at 120k with Dex VI again. So far so good.
On my '94 Grand Prix with the 4T60E it also got about 7.5 qts per pan drop and filter change. I did a pan drop and filter change every 30k for the life of the car which was 13 years and 212k miles and it still shifted like new. I used a mix of brands of Dex III for that car, no synthetic.
On my '94 Grand Prix with the 4T60E it also got about 7.5 qts per pan drop and filter change. I did a pan drop and filter change every 30k for the life of the car which was 13 years and 212k miles and it still shifted like new. I used a mix of brands of Dex III for that car, no synthetic.
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