How to Perform Oil Change 2009-17 Chevy Traverse

Hi I'm Mike from 1A Auto. We've been selling auto parts for over 30 years.

Hey, everyone. Sue here from 1A Auto, and today we're going to be doing an oil change on a 2012 Chevy Traverse. I'm going to show you the drain plug, how to fill it, and what type of oil to use. If you need any parts for your car, click on the link below and head on over to 1aauto.com.

So once you pop the hood from inside, the release hook is right in the center. We have a 3.6 liter, and the oil fill cap is in the front. It's clearly marked 5W-30. I'm going to just take that cover off, like I do with every oil change before I start. Here we go. That way, just tells me that there's going to be no oil in this and not to forget to add oil if I walk away or someone walks by and says oh we shouldn't start. I don't know if there's oil. So now I'm going to raise mine up. Get ready to drain it.

So the drain for the oil from the oil pan, which is aluminum on this Traverse is on the passenger's side of the engine block. So on the right hand side, you'll see this bolt right here. It's a 15 millimeter wrench or a socket. Break that free. Put my catch pan underneath it. So we've got a good drip still going here. Some people would be like oh that's good, put the plug in. Not me. I want that thing done. I'm in no rush, and it's an oil change, I don't want dirty oil. There's always going to be dirty oil in there, but I'd like to keep it to a minimum. Let's let it drain and do it's thing.

So we're at nice drip, just dripping along here, but I checked the plug out and this gasket comes with the plug. So I'm going to look at the threads. Everything's in good shape. The rubber gasket's not torn so at this point so I'm not going to replace it. I'm just going to put it right back in and snug it up. Drain plugs do have torque specs, so I recommend tightening to the manufacturer's specs. That helps the threads from spreading and tearing an aluminum pan. There's a reason why they give you specs. In this particular one, I just had to use quite a bit of strength getting that undone with just a wrench, so I'm definitely going to look up my torque specs, and I'm going to torque that. So the torque specs for this 2012 Traverse is 18 foot-pounds. So I got myself a 15 millimeter socket, set my torque wrench to 18, and that's it. I'm going to get some parts cleaner to clean that up.

Now the oil filter is located mid-way up the front of the engine here, so the only way to really get at it is to lower the vehicle. We'll put a catch pan down here, and we'll loosen it up from the top. So from the top view, you can see the oil filter. It's that white canister, and I'm going to have to put my arm down there without the camera. It's kind of a tight fit. I've got an oil filter wrench, and I'm going to be turning counterclockwise. I have a catch pan underneath.

So now I'm going to reach down and loosen the filter. So just pull it up from the bottom this way and bring it on over to your oil bucket and drain it. Now that the oil filter's out, I got a clean rag. I'm going to reach my hand down and I won't be able to see anything, but I can feel where the actual oil filter hits the engine block, and I'm taking a clean rag and I'm going to clean the surface. Basically you're just making sure that rubber gasket's gone. Sometimes it sticks and lays behind, and you don't want any grease or sand from the engine block if you hit it, to be resting on the surface. Now just get rid of all the old oil around it. Make sure I don't feel anything wrong. Feels good. It's nice and clean. We'll get the new filter, we'll prime it, and get ready to go in.

Check your owner's manual always but I can tell you this particular car takes 5-30 and it's full synthetic with the Dexos in it. That's what most of all GM cars--they have to have the Dexos. So I'm going to prime it. I like to leave it in the shipment box that it comes with. That way it's nice and steady and it won't tip. This is just what they call priming the filter. Just narrows down that time span to where the pump will be running dry. Of course it's not 100% dry because there's oil still in the engine sitting behind. But doesn't hurt to do it, and it's just the way I was taught. And I think it is the best way. Doesn't hurt doing it. Six quarts of oil for this particular car. Right on the nose, six quarts. Now I'm going to take some of the new oil. Put it right on that gasket. Because this filter is tilted sideways, I left it so that when I tilt it. It won't pour out. Just this stuff from the filter the top will. Here we go.

Got it right down. If you just kind of like let it loosely find its way. It's course thread. It'll eventually straighten out. Obviously if it sticks, don't force it. Let it find its way, so you're not cross-threading. Now the box says on all oil filters. They all are the same across the board. Bottom it out, and turn a quarter eighth of a quarter turn once it's bottomed out. Refrain yourself from trying to use the oil filter wrench, even though it's a band clamp. It can be sharp metal and it is a tin filter, and if you put a hairline crack in it when just giving it that quarter turn, and you don't know it, it could be a slow drip. You don't want to go down the road and blow your engine. So if you have to, use a rag and get a good grip on that. Once it bottoms out, turn that quarter turn to half turn, and we're ready to add our oil.

So I have six quarts. I bought a five quart jug and then a quart because it's cheaper to buy the five quart. Okay so now we've put in six quarts of oil. Take my funnel out and replace the cover. There's a notch right here. It lines right up with the front notch, and you just turn it till it stops.

I'm going to show you how to reset the oil light on our 2012 Chevy traverse. When you get this indication up in the information center, it says change engine oil soon. So you're going to come over here and you see your indicators. This is the road checklist car information. going to hit that and it gives me my tire pressures. Oil life remaining. Now I'm going to check that and hold it and 100% oil life remaining comes up. That's what you're looking for is 100, not 0. Release it, and I'm going to back out of that. I'm going to go back to my car information. There we go, there's my mileage, there's my odometer. Turn the key off and turn the key back on. Yup and now the indicator's saying oil change is gone so it's preset at 100, it's all ready to go.

So now we're going to check our oil. We filled it with the six quarts and we started the car up. We ran it for about a minute or two and made sure there were no lights on. The oil light indicator went out. And then we shut it off and we let it sit for like five minutes or so. Now I'm going to pull the dipstick, and it's a yellow plastic handle. It's in the front of the engine. I'm going to pull that right up. Clean it right off as the car's been running. And before I install it, this is what it looks like dry and clean. So you have these lines. You have one, two, three, four lines. Xs on the bottom and Xs on the top. You want to be as closest to the top here. You don't want to be over it. Anywhere between the bottom Xs and the top Xs, these two lines is acceptable. Let's see where we're at. Make sure you push it all the way down in that tube. There we go, it's right at the very top of the Xs. It's where the manufacturer wants it.

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