volvoholic...
....I think it is time to change the TRANSMISSION -_- soon.
2004 T6 ! Three friends of mine had changed trans already!
We call it GLASS TRANS.
Mine is auto trans. Ok....then.. is it possible to put manual trans into my car? (guess not possible)
Or is there anything that protect the trans? (such cooler??)
I'm getting nerveous for the trans.

 

There is no manual tranny S80's in the U.S.
Not really all that much to prolong the life. If you hadn't changed the tranny fluid often from day one then it is almost to late.

 

While on the topic, how often should it be changed and is there any way to tell if yours is due for a change... any change in colour of the fluid maybe?

thanks

 

I keep getting so much mixed info regarding trans... some say dont change fluid if you have alreayd waited a certain number of miles, then some say change it without flushing,
that still doesnt really tell me if i should change the filter with or without changing the fluid etc... overall just pretty conflicting opinions..
I would like to think that the dealer will know best.. but that often isnt the case

 

Dealer says never unless there is a problem.
If the car has alot of miles on it and you change the fluid it could cause problems. Trans fluid is almost like a cleaner as well. If you change it it will knock alot of the deposits off internal parts and may cause problems in the future.

 

I get what your saying tech, the only problem with me is that I bought the car already high mileage so I honestly cannot tell if the fluid has ever been changed.... I think there would be risks in both ways but I think there HAS to be some risk attached to never changing trans fluid... that sort of goes against everything I ever knew about cars... I know the Volvo is a more advanced car than my accord but a trans is a trans (unless its a CVT etc)...

I still cannot see the risk attached with changing the filter because that cant knock any impurities out.. all it will seek to do is to pick up whatever is swirling around in there

are there any obvious signs to look for to think that I should be worried about the trans or fluid? Any DIY inspection of the fluid that I can do?
thanks

 

Pull the dipstick and see how dark the fluid is.
You can have the filter changed if you want to.

 

I know its hard to describe by text but what colour fluid am I looking for exactly? Eg. what is good or bad...
Also, I think the filter is only about $15 which I consider reasonable, but where would you trust to do the installation... I doubt a general place such as Meineke will be best suited to that.. Maybe I can hunt for a volvo specialist around tampa..

 

The fluid should be a redish color. It if looks brown/black it is old and crappy.
Most oil change places will do it but make sure they have the proper fluid first.

 

Il check out the fluid this evening to see what its looking like..
What is the reccomended fluid for the car? I assume its best to go with the OEM volvo fluid if need be?
thanks

 

Well, today I made some calls to 1. A volvo specialist in tampa
2. Volvo of Tampa
3. The Volvo Store in Winter Park, Orlando

number 1 said they dont do the job and they cant really tell me if to do it or not .. ie call the dealer
2. Volvo of tampa talks to me at length about the risks and the benefits, and the cost and the procedure etc etc... after all of this, they dont really tell me if to do it or not because they dont want to give me the service history on the car for the prior owner..
They also mentioned that if they do the job and something goes wrong... well its my problem and they wont be supporting be on that..

3. For some odd reason costs twice as much as tampa while tampa is normally 50% more than them for everything... strange
They too cannot really give me a straight answer on what to do abotut it.. Yes i understand that sludge may become unstuck but technically wouldnt sludge itself degrade the life of my trans?

I checked out the fluid today.. the level seems good and the colour is somewhere between red and light brown, still appearing very clear...
the only thing is the smell of it smells slightly like.. rusted iron actually.. when i say slightly I mean you have to go right up to it to smell it to pick it up...
I also got some black soot off the dipstick while wiping it, but I dont really think this was from the tranny fluid itself... maybe old fluid burning off?

Anyway, I really am not sure what to do at this point... The car feels fine except for the occasional shudder between 1st and 2nd, but its always done that since I got it and it doesnt feel like anything particularly bad...


Out of curiousity, what would be the risk of putting too much ATF down the dipstick?
thanks

 

Here's a page with some info about the transmission. Towards the bottom of the page is a discussion about flushing the trans fluid. http://www.tripleedgeperformance.com...ssion_Info.php

 

You do not want to overfill it. If it's overfull, crack the pan and drain some out. Keep it between the level lines on the dipstick.

 

Nah, Its not overfull but I was wondering if I was to top it up and overdo it (as is often the case) what would happen then..

thats some pretty good info there about the flush... I guess if i'm going to do it i'l have to trust the dealer on this one... il leave it as their call on what to do after dropping the pan and taking a look at the fluid.. I dont THINK something is wrong with the trans but I really would like to do some preventative maintainance beforehand...

hopefully I can get the dealership to finally give me a full service history on the vehicle so I can know what was done with it before I bought it..

 

Well it holds 13 quarts, so if you're a cup or so over it shouldn't have any ill effects.

 

How much should a software update on the transmission cost? I think Volvo of Tampa wants to charge something like $130 for it....
I suspect I may be making the drive to orlando again to have that done...

 

Between .5 labor to 1.0 and $30.00 for the software itself.

 

i power flushed my 109K tranny and installed aoil cooler, and it died about 5K miles later. the fluid looked good all throughout.

 

Well I have no intention of power flushing it....

I'm just going to have the fluid drained and replaced... I think it has been repeated time after time that power flushing is about the worst thing you can do for these trannys...

Does anyone know if the non-geartronic 4 speed tranny has a different spec for fluid than the geartronic from the t6?

I think I read somewhere that the geartronic takes synthetic and mine doesnt..

 

Sorry to be a trouble, but any opinion on what will be the better ATF to use on my tranny? What would be the advantages of using Synthetic ATF on the non geartronic 4 speed on my 2.9l
I checked the fluid again today and while I am fairly satisfied with the colour I still find that it smells a bit metallic, like a strong metallic scent, almost like concentrated rust maybe? Is this normal or should I have the tranny fluid changed out ASAP..
If you want I can take a picture of the stick but I'm not really sure how much that will help...

Also, sorry to beat a dead horse here but what is the final opinion on the transmission fluid filter. The dealer wont change it but is it worth changing?
thanks