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I did a transmission service on my 2007 HHR today for the first time. 85,000 miles, and as far as I know this is the first maintenance. I bought the car with 41K, and have never had a problem with anything. It's a great car!
First, buy a filter and 7 quarts of Dexron VI. Wal-Mart has the best price on all oil, not just transmission fluid.
Jack up the front, place a drain pan under the transmission, and start loosening bolts (8mm) towards the front and let it start to drain. Remove the pan and clean it up. Save the gasket, you will re-use it.
Replace the filter, there are no holding screws or bolts.
Replace the pan and torque the bolts to spec. It doesn't take much!
The fill plug is under the hood, to the left of the relay box. Look under the harness. Removing the air intake make it easier. The fill plug is just a black plastic cap that is on finger tight, you don't need tools. Don't confuse this with the inspection plug, which is further to the left. It is NOT threaded.
Insert a funnel with a long tube into the fill hole. Add 6 3/4 quarts.
Jack up the rear of the car so it is level. Start it up and run it through the gears with your foot on the brake at all times, idle speed. Leave in park with the funnel still in the hole.
Idle until the temp is at normal, around 187. Run through the gears several times, and leave in park. Leave the engine running.
Jack stands must be under all 4 corners of the car!
With an 11mm wrench, remove the plug that is on the passenger side of the transmission near the output shaft. It is about 3" above the pan, and is by itself. It is obviously the plug where you check the fluid level.
Wear safety glasses, and remove the plug (engine running). If no oil comes out, add more until oil comes out. Reinstall the plug with the engine still running (if you shut off the engine you will lose a lot of fluid!).
Once the plug is back in you can shut the engine off and replace the fill plug. Check for leaks. Lower the car and drive it a mile or two to see if it shifts OK. Have a beer. Nothing to it!
I plan to add a transmission oil cooler in the near future, I'll post something on that. I plan to use hoses with the correct factory fittings so it looks and function like GM designed it.
Thanks for the Post !
I have not visited this group in years, I have a 2007 HHR and wanted to do this Service.
I will go ahead and order everything I need to follow what you did.
If you read your Owner Manual you will find that the transmission does not require regular servicing under normal operating conditions. So why would you need to drain it often? If there are no puddles of ATF under the car, why would you need the check the ATF level?
Dexron VI is synthetic lifetime lube.
No need to worry about popping bolts, the worry is distorting the pan around the bolt heads.
I had my transmission fluid flushed at about 180K miles, which was the first time since they initially dd it at 35K or so (according to carfax). They still gave the suggestion of "changing it every 40K miles" but for me thats just about one year of driving, and when I mentioned the manual stating no need for change they told me "not to trust that." Meaning that they dont want customers to trust the manual because they are losing heaps of money changing peoples transmission fluid needlessly every 2 years. I did mine as a fresh start and peace of mind as I am the second owner. the car shifts perfectly and I dont plan on another service until about 300K. Again, I drive 30-40K miles a year, so you might very well never have to change the fluid, unless you keep it forever like most of us plan to.
I'm getting my fluid changed for the first time in a couple days. I'm at 67,500 miles. I'm just doing it as preventative maintenance, since nothing is really wrong with how the car is running. How often do you guys suggest doing this? The manual says every 50k, but someone pointed out to me that's a "severe service" and it should be good for the life of the car. I can't imagine it being unwise to just get it done :/
08-27-2017, 06:21 PM
