What was the total mileage on your car ?

 

The car had 90000 ish miles when I did the job.

 

I was under the impression that Volt did not have a transmission. Since the engine generates power for the battery only, how is a transmission used??

 

Technically, it is called the EDU (Electric Drive Unit, but since it contains gears, clutches, and Dexron a lot of folks refer to it as a transmission.

 

It doesn't have a transmission per se, when using the generic term "transmission" you would be referring to the "box" containing the ring gear etc. Weber has a Youtube video that actually builds it up part by part. Very interesting but still complex enough to make it difficult to know what actually is happening without building it hands on yourself.

 

Yes, I referred to the "EDU" which has the reverse, drive mode and "low gear", parking and neutral hence the transmission.
I did this post to let the community know how important it is to change the Dexron VI in it. I definitely saw the difference. I remember my Chevrolet dealer telling me those "transmission" really needs to be flushed time to time, back in the days, I didn't really believe it and thought they were trying to upsell and rip me off at the same time lol
Now with that being said, it did cost me $60 and 1h30 of my time vs $150 or $200 at the dealership ... And believe me gals and guys, it is super easy to do

 

I just wanted to share my own experience with the community :
I own a 2015 volt for a little more than 4 years now and I put around 50,000 miles on it. The car has 91000 miles now.
The other day, I decided to change the transmission fluid myself. I went to the Chevy dealer to buy the Dexron VI (which is the cheapest place to buy it from surprisingly, $9 a quart !)
You will need 6 quarts.
Quite frankly, it is super easy to do the job yourself. I'm not a mechanic by any mean and it took me around 1h30 from start to finish, and that's taking my time.
Long story short, I would have never guessed but after changing the fluid, the car runs so much smoother ! IT IS INCREDIBLE !!!
It really feels like the car is not struggling anymore and not under any stress at all. I don't know if I explain myself correctly but let's say you let go of the gas pedal, the car will keep going so much easier than before.
And the electricity and/or gas mileage is so much better which confirmed to me that the car is thanking me lol I got an incredible 46 mpg on ICE with the A/C on and cruising at around 75 mph. That never happened to me ever before...

Anyway, folks, if not done yet, I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND to change the transmission fluid, you will see all the benefits (which I never suspected before)

Volts dont have transmissions.

 

I just wanted to share my own experience with the community :
I own a 2015 volt for a little more than 4 years now and I put around 50,000 miles on it. The car has 91000 miles now.
The other day, I decided to change the transmission fluid myself. I went to the Chevy dealer to buy the Dexron VI (which is the cheapest place to buy it from surprisingly, $9 a quart !)
You will need 6 quarts.
Quite frankly, it is super easy to do the job yourself. I'm not a mechanic by any mean and it took me around 1h30 from start to finish, and that's taking my time.
Long story short, I would have never guessed but after changing the fluid, the car runs so much smoother ! IT IS INCREDIBLE !!!
It really feels like the car is not struggling anymore and not under any stress at all. I don't know if I explain myself correctly but let's say you let go of the gas pedal, the car will keep going so much easier than before.
And the electricity and/or gas mileage is so much better which confirmed to me that the car is thanking me lol I got an incredible 46 mpg on ICE with the A/C on and cruising at around 75 mph. That never happened to me ever before...

Anyway, folks, if not done yet, I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND to change the transmission fluid, you will see all the benefits (which I never suspected before)

I wonder if they had the wrong fluid in there previously and so noticed a difference?

I changed the "transmission" fluid on my 2015 Volt and 2017 Volt (Gen 1 and Gen 2) the same month and they each had within 1,000 miles of each other at about 65K miles. The fluid that came out of the 2015 Volt (that I've owned since new) was shockingly clean. It was the same color as what I put back in; that pinkish-red color. It seemed like a waste of time to change it.
Since I had already bought the fluid, I changed the fluid on the 2017 Volt. There was a change to the transmission. The fluid on the 2017 (which I had only owned a few months) was black/grey and so dirty looking. The difference was amazing. I don't know if it's a design flaw or if the previous owner just hammered that transmission, but I'm glad I changed that one!

 

Because the Volt it doesn't have a torque converter, changing the tranny fluid is as easy as an oil change. And since the clutch inside the tranny is one of the highest wear points in the entire car, and because it's so easy, I change fluid every 50k.

 

Long story short, I would have never guessed but after changing the fluid, the car runs so much smoother ! IT IS INCREDIBLE !!!

Anyway, folks, if not done yet, I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND to change the transmission fluid, you will see all the benefits (which I never suspected before)

Nice! I have changed oil on the Volt, and transmission on my other cars, but didn't know the Volt have a sort of transmission that needs fluid change.

OP, do you mind put down a few notes on what the process is and anything to watch out for? Where are the access points? (top, bottom, pics with arrow?). Easy to get to? Since there is no oil filter, is it just a drain and fill? I assume there's no dipstick, so how much do we put in?

Regular ICE transmission drain/fill usually leaves fluid in the torque converter. Sounds like this one is more like a complete drain/fill?

If anyone have the service manual, do you mind share the official steps from Chevy? (ie, fluid type, fluid capacity, how to check after filling, etc). Thanks!

I am very curious to see if I can feel any differences on my 2013 Volt. With the way car prices are, I may really need to drive it til the wheels fall off.

 

OP, do you mind put down a few notes on what the process is and anything to watch out for? Where are the access points? (top, bottom, pics with arrow?). Easy to get to? Since there is no oil filter, is it just a drain and fill? I assume there's no dipstick, so how much do we put in?

Here is a good post to get you started...

2011 Changed my Transmission oil

Hi Folks, So I mentioned on another thread I want to keep my Volt a long time. Without getting into a long drawn out discussion of the merits of early oil changes I'll cut to the chase (and save some folks scrolling through for an answer) and say I believe Chevrolet is being very honest about...

www.gm-volt.com

 

I am thinking it's time for my 2017 (87k) to have the fluid changed as well. The ICE engagement has become more noticeable and almost jerky. When reapplying throttle after coasting, there is a definite jerk forwards, as if the clutches are wearing. Plus, I drive fast, I drive a lot, on hilly terrain, in urban settings, on snow tires, often with multiple people in the car, etc ... only natural that the fluid would be cooked by now.

By far the BIGGEST symptom is that I've noticed a gradual decline in the car's ability to coast. I didn't notice until I was cleaning my brakes and let the car roll in neutral; the car didn't even decelerate by 1mph. By contrast, now, when I let my foot off the pedal in D, the car decelerates pretty quickly, as if the natural regen is getting stronger.

 

can this job be done with a fluid extractor instead of going under the car? I understand it needs to be level so using an extractor I can avoid lifting the car.

 

It only needs to be level to check the fluid. That can be done with all 4 wheels on the ground (I have a Gen 1, not sure about your model year?)

I read here that someone tried to use an extractor, but did not have any luck.

 

You can find many "how to" on YouTube, google etc It's super easy 1 drain plug to remove under the car, put it back in, remove the fill up bolt on top (which is a little bit tricky to access, but nothing too bad) and refill with the same quantity you drained. (should be around 6 quarts)
Once again, on YouTube, you'll find videos that are very straight forward

 

Can confirm - I just did this on my 2012 last weekend with 103K on the clock. Drove it up on my ramps and it was surprisingly easy. If you have a universal and I believe a 19mm socket, the top bolt is accessible even without pulling the main engine cover. I did go the extra step of pouring the used fluid into a clean, tall narrow pitcher to better measure what came out before replenishing (I ended up at about 5.7qts). YouTube was helpful as well.