I own an '04 VUE AWD w/ 74K miles. Need to change tranny fluid. Should I hire a shop to "flush" it OR drain, change, drive 200 miles and redo. I assume you can NOT drain the torque converter...right??? THX in advance and Merry Christmas.

BTW: overheat light came on yesterday in the mountains while pulling a heavy load (1800 lbs). Stopped, cooled down, check fluid which was low. Added 1/2 quart. Definitely black NOT pink(((((

 

Z1 ATF has been replaced by DW1 according to EBay. Local shop wants $250 for flush. One shop highly suggested drain, drive, drain, refill. Considerably less expensive)

 

I just changed the trans fluid in my VUE. It's very simple. You can have it done in 30 minutes. I bought the Z1 fluid at Chevy dealer for a lot cheaper than online. They carry the Honda trans fluid to service saturn customers.

 

What year do you have and is it the VTI (CVT) transmission? If it is the VTI do you have a dipstick? If you do not like I don't how did you add and check the oil level?


Thanks, Andy

 

My saturn VUE has the same powertrain as the Honda pilot. The dipstick is in the front of the trans and the fill hole is one the top of the trans. It is 17mm bolt that you have to remove to fill the fluid.

 

I found my fill cap which is a large cap on top of the transmission which looks sort of like a smaller version of the engine oil fill cap. It required removal of the battery, battery box and the fuse/relay box to see and have proper access to it. As for a dipstick, no luck. I have the drivetrain out of the vehicle for a 5 speed swap and there isn't any dipstick.


Thanks, Andy