Hi all, I just entered the 73k mile mark and can’t stop thinking about the transmission fluid. As far as I am concerned, there is no such thing as “lifetime” fluid and was wondering if anyone has changed their transmission fluid? Thank you in advance. Oh and btw, current gas prices in CA are $4 a gallon, super happy with the bolt.
Transmission Fluid
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Battery replacement master thread - please do not create a new thread.
Omar
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Great post! My 2019 Bolt is a little “whinier” than my 2017 which had me thinking I needed to take an oil sample to see if there’s premature wear. The dealership refused to do it because in their view there was nothing to worry about. Your post helped me to chill out about it…thanks again.
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Just wanted to post on this that I did have the Tranny replaced in my '17 Bolt. Due to a sound it was having and it took 2 dealerships and me complaining for them to find it.
I say Change it, it couldn't hurt.
AND I think, IMHO there should be 'sparkly' bits in that oil if there were any metal particles in it. Shine a flashlight through it
I say Change it, it couldn't hurt.
AND I think, IMHO there should be 'sparkly' bits in that oil if there were any metal particles in it. Shine a flashlight through it
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Not even the brightness of the sun can pierce the bottle of black oil in my earlier post - I've tried that. But just to humor you I tried this with a 4cm diameter clear sample container that I've kept, see image below.
The reason for this is that sparkly bits are fresh wear particles most likely found in a gearbox that is either new or operating in a deteriorated condition. In the case of my Kona EV the gearbox has not failed and the vast majority of the ferrous material has been present for the nearly 3 years since the car was new. Break-in particles that are shed off gears have been ground down from visible sparkly bits into a very fine dust by millions of crushing blows from continuous circulation though bearings and gears. The material turns black from the heat and is no longer even very magnetic. This oil has been sitting around for 4-6 weeks in this container and the contents have not settled, the blackness is staying in suspension.
This blackness issue won't happen in the Bolt transmission (assuming normal operation) because fresh wear particles that are not caught by the filter screen are soon attracted to the magnet and sequestered forever. Very few if any will avoid the magnet, simple statistical probability sees to that. But I now have two magnetic drain plugs in my Kona so as far as I'm concerned this issue is resolved.
![Image]()
![Image]()
The reason for this is that sparkly bits are fresh wear particles most likely found in a gearbox that is either new or operating in a deteriorated condition. In the case of my Kona EV the gearbox has not failed and the vast majority of the ferrous material has been present for the nearly 3 years since the car was new. Break-in particles that are shed off gears have been ground down from visible sparkly bits into a very fine dust by millions of crushing blows from continuous circulation though bearings and gears. The material turns black from the heat and is no longer even very magnetic. This oil has been sitting around for 4-6 weeks in this container and the contents have not settled, the blackness is staying in suspension.
This blackness issue won't happen in the Bolt transmission (assuming normal operation) because fresh wear particles that are not caught by the filter screen are soon attracted to the magnet and sequestered forever. Very few if any will avoid the magnet, simple statistical probability sees to that. But I now have two magnetic drain plugs in my Kona so as far as I'm concerned this issue is resolved.
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965 Posts
It was a super light tap tap when in stop and go traffic quick on/off the pedal in L.
It is not the bar that has been a known issue, I had that too and it was replaced.
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A couple weeks ago when dropping my. 2017 LT off for its battery replacement, the advisor suggested getting the oil changed in the transmission. I currently have 44,000 miles on the car, he said they're seeing that the oil is needing to be changed at around 50,000 miles on the Bolts. It looks pretty easy to do, so I'll just do it myself
There's no such maintenance requirement in the owner's manual, and I've never seen a single post here about someone having a problem that requires the transmission oil to be changed. My scammie sense is tingling...
Yep I had the same thought.
My 2017 Bolt at 78k miles is at the dealership tonight to change the electric motor, battery coolant and brake fluids. Cost is $600. Which is negligible over the operating life of the vehicle.
My owners manual recommends electric motor (ATF) change at 65K miles.
I decided to change the fluid now that I am over 150,000 miles. The fluid is very dark. We will see what the lab results say next week.
![Image]()
Mobil1 Dexron HP. Not sure about the EUV but I would not be surprised if it was the same.
The results are here:
Aluminum: 49 ppm
Chromium: 2 ppm
Iron: 157 ppm
Copper: 19 ppm
Boron: 53 ppm
Lead, Tin, Molybdenum, Nickel, Manganese, Silver, Titanium, Potassium: all less than 8 ppm
Calcium: 108 ppm
Phosphorus: 232 ppm
Zinc: 11 ppm
Barium: 24 ppm
Water: 0.0 %
Insolubles: <0.1 %
I will summarize the notes to "looks good" and Aluminum is a little bit high keep an eye on it.
Aluminum: 49 ppm
Chromium: 2 ppm
Iron: 157 ppm
Copper: 19 ppm
Boron: 53 ppm
Lead, Tin, Molybdenum, Nickel, Manganese, Silver, Titanium, Potassium: all less than 8 ppm
Calcium: 108 ppm
Phosphorus: 232 ppm
Zinc: 11 ppm
Barium: 24 ppm
Water: 0.0 %
Insolubles: <0.1 %
I will summarize the notes to "looks good" and Aluminum is a little bit high keep an eye on it.
Any appreciable breakdown in viscosity?
No. Still in the acceptable range.
150,000 miles and change
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Hi, I can not find DEXRON HP ATF on the market. They beat me to it DEXRON 212B. According to the label on the bottle, it is compatible with mine 2017 BOLT EV Premier on 100 000 km.
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