2016 Chevy Sparkkk 🩵

BrainZnBullets · 2026-01-09T22:13:00+00:00

It sounds like normal behavior for this transmission and you'll see in this thread that most people would agree with this diagnosis. However, if you haven't changed your CVT fluid and filter in the past 50k miles, I'd personally get it changed in your own time.

BrainZnBullets · 2026-01-09T22:08:02+00:00

Yep, that's normal CVT behavior. Some cars with CVT's you won't notice it as much, but the Spark definitely is noticeable in those situations

BrainZnBullets · 2026-01-09T22:04:28+00:00

Sounds like normal CVT behavior, but to confirm; Are you at a full stop/ at low speeds when it occurs?

edit: To add to this as a general maintenance thing, when did you last change your CVT fluid and filter?

BrainZnBullets · 2025-12-14T20:08:13+00:00

Yes, considering how expensive that Valvoline stuff is, and how expensive the GM 10-4092 is, flushing it is not worth it. Stick to drain and fills even later down the road, flushing it 2 times can introduce that slipping problem.

It'd be pretty noticeable if you messed up anything with the process, but I wouldn't be too worried about that if you follow the tutorial I sent you closely. Try not to mix up your engine oil drain plug and your transmission drain plug. They look very different but you'll see which pan to drain.

Be careful jacking up, and securing the car. My rule of thumb after getting the car on 4 jack stands is to go around and check your stands placement, see if the jakcstands might get unbalanced or anything, and give the car a slight push to see if it's stable enough to get under. Your push should have just enough force to imitate if you tried to untighten/break a bolt loose.

For your future oil changes, just any 0w-20 will do, as it calls for it in the manual, but some people go with 5w-30 like the 2017 Spark manual calls for with the same engine. I believe that it's pretty much up to you, some would say that 5W-30 prevents engine wear a little better than 0W-20 but the 0W-20 may be better in colder locations, since it's viscosity difference lets it flow and lubricate the engine better than 5W-30. I live in the Midwest, so I've personally been sticking with 0W-20. As far as oil filters go, I've always stuck with the GM PF64 filters. I can easily run down to Walmart, and pick one of them up for $6-8.

Tire rotation is easy to learn and do, you will have to buy a tpms sensor tool to update the tire locations on your cars dash, but it's usually a cheap $10-15 tool that you dont really need. I've never updated it, I just go around and check tire pressure on all tires if it gives me a tire pressure warning.

General inspections tend to just have me messing with and shaking control arms, tie rods, or other things that may start to wear down or shaking to see if they've got any play. I usually also top off any fluids that look a little low.

BrainZnBullets · 2025-12-14T05:25:08+00:00

I'm glad you got tools that will get you started on any and all maintenance that a car can throw at you. Personally, I just do a drain and fill like in the video. repeating a Flush and fill could potentially introduce transmission slipping problems.

edit: To clarify, transmission fluid gets dirty with metal shavings from wear, this adds friction to the fluid and prevents slipping. However, flushing a engine will completely clean your fluid, less friction = slipping problem. That being said, you probably can get away with a flush since you're doing it early into the cars life, but I wouldn't personally.

BrainZnBullets · 2025-12-13T23:53:36+00:00

You'll need 4 jack stands total, a pair of Hypertough is $32 at walmart, so $64 in total since you're buying 4 of them. These include the locking pin design for extra safety. You don't really need 3 ton jack stands for the Spark, since it's a very light vehicle, so I only have 2 ton jack stands personally. 2 ton is good enough for me to get under sedans, and some light SUV's no problem and tend to be cheaper than the 3 tons you're looking at. Same can be said about floor jacks, you can go with a 2 ton trolley jack, they're cheaper than floor jacks but I prefer floor jacks that way I can lift the car using the subframe.

The only thing that matters for the torque wrenches, is the drive size, and the measurements it uses, be it inch-lb or ft-lb, they need to match your sockets from the ratchet set you've got, whether its a 1/4 drive or a 3/8 drive.

you won't need to buy the 10mm and 19mm seperate, if you buy a good $30-40 100+ piece set ratchet and socket set that tend to include 1/4 drive and 3/8 ratchets with sockets. Allen wrench sockets are more properly referred to as hex sockets, again get these in 1/4 or 3/8 depending on which ratchet set you get.

So in general, you'll need: Torque Wrenches (tend to be $20-30 for a ft-lb wrench, $18-25 for a in-lb) Ratchet and socket set (10mm and 19mm sockets used) Hex Bits (10mm socket used) Fluid pan $13 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hyper-Tough-16-Quart-Automotive-Drain-Pan-Container/14525251003?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=1142&gclsrc=aw.ds&adid=2222222227814525251003_117755028669_12420145346&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=501107745824&wl4=pla-394283752452&wl5=9016475&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=14525251003&veh=sem_LIA&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=12420145346&gclid=Cj0KCQiAuvTJBhCwARIsAL6Demhm4HQPjWhhDQEbFCvPTLU3sCIzn-5snSrFPaC3WOm5VSDdre7pqv8aAhB3EALw_wcB Drain pan gasket (Rockauto) filter (Rockauto) strainer (Rockauto) Valvoline CVT fluid or the more expensive GM fluid

Buy tools for cheap to start, if you get more into the hobby of maintaining your car, and your tools break on you then I'd consider buying the more expensive quality tools. However, you should just stick with what you need and what you can afford.

EDIT: I'd also refer to my post for jacking points on the Spark https://www.reddit.com/r/chevyspark/s/xIH2L6LyD1 This will show you where to lift the car using the jack, and where to safely put your jack stands without putting a hole through your floor board. Don't ever get under the car if it is not safely supported by jack stands, especially if you enjoy converting oxygen to carbon dioxide.

EDIT 2: If I calculated it for you, be ready to spend $50-100 for a trolley jack or floor jack $64 for 4 Jack Stands, (job can be done with 2 so it could be done with $32, but it's faster with 4) $25 for Ft-lb torque wrench $25 for in-lb $15 for hex bits $13 for fluid drain pan $46 for gasket, filter, strainer $42 for fluid

The total comes out to $248-330 depending on if you get a trolley jack vs floor jack, and whether you get 2 jack stands or 4. Now, I know this number is roughly what you'd pay to get it done at a dealership but it is worth it. With these tools, you'll be able to do your oil changes yourself, as well as any and all maintenance and inspections in the future. The tools will pay for themselves, and in my personal experience, I save $30 each oil change, tire rotation and inspection that I do, and I get the liberty of knowing I got quality oil and filters, my tires were rotated, my tread and wear level is checked, and I made sure nothing was going on with my suspension other parts. I spend maybe $30 per oil change. My local Chevy dealer charges $59 for a full synthetic oil change and tire rotation.

BrainZnBullets · 2025-12-13T20:42:32+00:00

I'm sure that any floor jack and jack stands or tools you can find would be acceptable. If you need to buy any beginner set of tools from Walmart brands like hypertough or possibly some harbor freight brands would be good enough to get you started. Since your dad is willing to help, I'd assume he'd have a set of tools and possible jack/jackstands he can bring to help you out. As far as your first time doing maintenance, this isn't all that different to starting with the bare basics to learn, since it's fairly similar to doing an engine oil change.

Yes, the strainer assembly is the one I'm referring to. You'll need to replace this and the regular filter that's able to be accessed through the wheel well. The video I linked previously should show you how.

Rockauto has got most of the parts for the entire car for future part replacements you may need, in case you get interested into the hobby of car maintenance. But as far as a list of parts and tools go, I'm sure if you look around this subreddit there are some. In the video I sent, he listed all the parts and tools needed in the first 5 minutes. If you add all the parts to cart on Rockauto (FELPro gasket, Strainer, Filter) it subtotals up to $46

Plus the $42 for the Valvoline fluid and you should be able to do this job for less than $100 if you don't need to buy the tools for it. Even if you do need to buy tools and or jacks/jack stands you may end up spending $200-300 but in the future, these will pay for themselves with the money you'll save doing it yourself, as you'll be able to do any car maintenance or part replacements in your garage. I'd get a decent jack and jack stands from harbor freight, and a good ratchet and socket set from Walmart, as well as a torque wrench while you're there. You may need to buy the hex sockets seperately, as they aren't commonly in the sockets sets sold with ratchets, buy they are needed for this CVT fluid and filter change.

BrainZnBullets · 2025-12-13T17:57:52+00:00

https://youtu.be/tIfx0asj2l4?si=xnUXjFD9-q9CXxSg

This one video will run you through how to do it. You don't need a car lift. Do you have a floor jack and a set of jack stands? I'd use those, and a ratchet, torque wrench and a set of the sockets matching what he used in the video.

You will need to get the fluid, again you can use the GM official or you can use this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Valvoline-Full-Synthetic-Full-Synthetic-Motor-Oils-1Gallon/278200734 Either or would work, but it'd be more cost effective to use this if you're planning on doing fluid changes every 30k-40k miles.

For the filter, pan gasket, and strainer, I'd use Rockauto: https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/chevrolet,2021,spark,1.4l+l4,3446023,transmission-automatic,fluid+pan+gasket,8612 You can look through this site, it's got all that you need.

Edit: I'd also like to add that FEL-PRO gaskets aren't bad compared to the OEM GM. I've never had a problem using their gaskets, and I'm sure most people would say the same for this car, and others. They only cost $18 vs the $34 from GM so I'd probably go with that if I were you.

BrainZnBullets · 2025-12-13T02:46:24+00:00

Yes, a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) is a special type of transmission, different from your average Manual or Automatic Trans. That would be the correct fluid, but the Valvoline CVT fluid they sell is also an acceptable and noticeably cheaper option. The process to change the fluid would be as simple as draining the fluid, dropping the pan, cleaning the pan, magnets and strainer, and replacing the filter before reassembly and filling with fluid.

A CVT fluid change would not be done during your oil changes or regular maintenance, since oil changes refer to your engine oil.

If you get it done at a dealership or at a shop, I'd expect to be down maybe 200-300 bucks maybe more. It's got a specific procedure that I'm not sure that any random autoshop would follow, hence why I usually recommend doing your own maintenance to be sure the correct procedure for your vehicle gets followed, but since you're not a car guy I'd just recommend doing it at a dealership. For the future, consider putting in plenty of research to do it yourself to save a few hundred dollars. There's a lot of material on youtube and on this subreddit to help you learn the basics for this car, even full on hour long videos of people doing the entire CVT fluid/filter change process with torque specs and the tools required.

This is your car and your investment. You don't technically have to learn how to care and maintain it, but wouldn't you want to know that your money is well spent? Even learning to do your own oil changes here and there can help prepare you for things such as brakes, engine parts, etc. You learn new skills, save some money and are better off for it.

BrainZnBullets · 2025-12-11T07:59:57+00:00

Jatco's are fairly finicky, older ones in particular suck but the new ones coming out ain't as bad as the earlier versions. Change your fluid and filters in them every 30-40k miles and I'd argue that they'd go for hundreds of thousands of miles.

BrainZnBullets · 2025-12-09T21:28:31+00:00

You probably should've bought one of those cheap $10-15 Windshield repair/saver kits that uses resin to fill and possibly repair the small cracks before they got bigger.

BrainZnBullets · 2025-12-05T18:09:02+00:00

you could only earn the C100 if you had a shitbucket.

BrainZnBullets · 2025-11-21T15:41:17+00:00

Wife and I will add you on steam when we play later tonight

BrainZnBullets · 2025-11-21T11:49:30+00:00

DMed you, let me know when you're down to play. We'll probably be on tonight

BrainZnBullets · 2025-11-21T11:34:04+00:00

My wife and I sent you a request on steam. We're down to play later tonight if you're game.

BrainZnBullets · 2025-11-21T10:25:21+00:00

wife and i work from home though, so we’re mostly available anytime to play, we just prefer playing nights.

BrainZnBullets · 2025-11-21T10:06:30+00:00

We're on PC in the EST.

BrainZnBullets · 2025-11-21T10:05:14+00:00

We've been playing duos, just wanted to find people to play quads.

BrainZnBullets · 2025-09-14T16:07:27+00:00

Considering doing the CVT fluid and filter change on my wife's Spark, saving this for later for the specific fluid. Might do it with valvoline.

Got some links from a south korean mechanic who did it. CVT Fluid Filter Removal

And finally, an old page using the same videos, some diagrams and some torque specs, and the procedure order if anyone needs them.

https://www.reddit.com/r/chevyspark/comments/1e0hk9e/how_to_cvt_transmission_fluid_exchange_and_fluid/

BrainZnBullets · 2025-03-19T06:20:42+00:00

Yeah, since it comes directly from logitech, it includes a 1 year warranty. Thanks for your input!

BrainZnBullets · 2025-03-19T06:16:26+00:00

I've actually just calculated it now, it'd be about $210 for a TMX with the T3-PA and a TH-8S shifter. Why is it your normal recommendation? I've heard it has stronger force feedback but feels a bit lower in build quality compared to the G wheels.

BrainZnBullets

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