DCT 3 year or 45K service

[Phil1098]

I finally found a good thing to my 2020 pan leaking. I had the gasket replaced a few months ago when the car was over two years old. Can't change the gasket without new fluid so I just kicked the "every three year" can down the road and now have another three years.

I will tell everyone this that most don't know. To remove the pan (if the internal filter really does need changed) you don't simply remove the pan bolts. There are two stud on the rear side that have a wire harness clip on them and you don't have enough room to get them out. The aluminum cross member is a straight extrusion and they didn't put any clearance notches in it. I was helping the tech with mine and the service manual shows that to remove the pan you have to remove the engine and DCT mount bolts and raise the entire engine and DCT (as an assembly) about an inch to allow clearance. This wouldn't have been required if the would have modified the cross member. With a full lift and the proper jacks, it really wasn't that big of a deal, but doing it at home could be a real challenge.

[Phil1098]

Chevy dealerships will work on your car with you supplying fluids and parts? I wasn't aware of that. Why would they forfeit the profit margin on fluids and parts?

It happens all the time, even for for an engine oil change, customers routinely tell service the bag on the passenger seat has my oil and filter for you to use.

[GAG]

Like I said elsewhere, it would be nice if we could get some real clarification from GM, someone on the Corvette team knows what they intended to be done when the routine fluid change is done at the 3 year/45,000 mile service. Just the fluid swapped or does the pan need to be removed and the internal filter replaced? The dealership may default to the more extensive (more expensive) interpretation without clear guidance.

What I find interesting is that the Owner’s Manual doesn’t even require that the external canister filter be replaced during the routine fluid replacement, only “If the vehicle mileage is near the canister filter replacement interval”. This leads me to believe that dropping the pan and replacing the internal filter was not intended for routine fluid changes, otherwise it would say “replace fluid and filters”.

My 3 year fluid change will be next December. I will have about 18,000 miles but I will replace the external filter along with the fluid change, that just makes sense to me. Given how many miles I am putting on the car, filter and fluid every 3 years will keep me well within the maintenance schedule.

I was concerned when I saw the comment about needing to replace and internal pan filter and the total cost involved? That is the first time I have seen anything about an internal filter and there is nothing in the owners manual that states anything other than doing the routine fluid change as stated above and replacing the "external filter".

Does anyone have a copy of the service manual that shows the internal pan filter needing to be replaced?

[MGfoursixeight]

I was concerned when I saw the comment about needing to replace and internal pan filter and the total cost involved? That is the first time I have seen anything about an internal filter and there is nothing in the owners manual that states anything other than doing the routine fluid change as stated above and replacing the "external filter".

Does anyone have a copy of the service manual that shows the internal pan filter needing to be replaced?

There is nothing listed in the service manual about changing the in-pan filter as a maintenance item. Typically this means that it is considered a "lifetime" item and is usually only replaced during a tear down or major repair.

That being said, when the time comes to change the fluid in my C8 I will replace the in pan filter as well as clean the pan/magnets. Is it a waste of money? Perhaps, but it makes me feel better knowing that things are nice and clean inside my DCT!

[meyerweb]

The service manual has a procedure called Automatic Transmission fluid, fluid pan and/or filter replacement. It's referenced literally dozens of times, maybe a hundred times. But I gave up searching the 7500 pages of pdf to try to figure out if it's part of the routine procedure or only part of problem resolution.

[RKCRLR]

The service manual has a procedure called Automatic Transmission fluid, fluid pan and/or filter replacement. It's referenced literally dozens of times, maybe a hundred times. But I gave up searching the 7500 pages of pdf to try to figure out if it's part of the routine procedure or only part of problem resolution.

It also has a fluid fill procedure which includes draining the fluid and refilling without removing the pan.

[lion shf]

Are we talking about saving $200 on fluids? Not sure I’d poke my service guy like that, especially in regards to the trans.

[16falcon]

I wouldn’t think the service technician would care whether or not he gets the DCT fluid from stock or out of your trunk, he gets paid the same either way. Actually he may prefer it, he doesn’t have to go round up 11 quarts of DCT fluid and haul them back to the car. I suppose it might annoy the service manager since you are cutting into his departments profit margin. I will ask my service advisor if they allow customers to bring their own fluid and filter before I show up with them.