Got 138,000 miles on the vehicle and going through the vehicle history provided by the dealership (I bought the car used at 92,000 miles) I can not find anything regarding the ATF. All the updates on the transmission have been done and the unit has been shifting normal ever since I have owned it. Changing the fluid was next on my list of preventative maintenance, especially since there is lots of talk about 2001 Volvo transmissions.
Once again, I did all the research I could do on the topic and made the decision to go with the Toyota Type IV ATF going with the simplified drain and fill method. We have a local dealership here in town with plenty of the fluid readily available and since there is not too much money coming into the pockets to our friends from Toyota I thought that would give them my business; the parts guy was actually surprised that I was not inquiring about another recall item.
My father in law helped me in the process and it surely made things easier.
I bought 14 qts of ATF for $75 and a long neck funnel for $2.99 from Auto Zone (make sure you get one with a very small opening).
In addition I already had a 10 qt oil drain pan (the image was taken after I drained the transmission the first time, it was clean and this is indeed the old ATF in the pan, not oil).
Tools required were a 9mm (for removing the lower plastic cover) and a 15/16 inch (for the transmission plug) socket wrench.
And of course one can not forget the ole milk jugs for calculating how much ATF you got out of the unit...and yes that is teflon tape wrapped around the one gallon jug for each quart, I had no marker in my entire house...
I first drove the car on the ramps and removed the lower engine cover.
And here it is off.
Next I identified the ATF dip stick...kinda tricky to find and watch out for hot engine parts when you just ran the vehicle...ouch. It is just to the left of the air filter dug verry deep down in the engine compartment, just below to the left of my hand one can see the yellow top of the dip stick.
A little closer...
I pulled the dip stick out and placed the funnel into place...kind a tight, but make sure you insert as much of the funnel end into the opening as you can and make sure it fits snug.
Next I crawled back under the car and found the plug. The transmission is located on the drivers side and the plug is on the right side of the unit. It faces towards the passenger side; unlike the engine oil plug which faces towards the back.
Next comes the fun part...I tried being extra careful by holding the drain pan right under the plug while unwinding it...and yes, lets have a big mess, the fluid comes shooting out like crazy. I had some towels protecting the floor, but what can I say...you see the mess on the picture.
Although not knowing what the history of this fluid was, it by no means did it look terrible. It had a reddish hue to it, but was certainly very dark in color. I was able to drain 4 1/3 qts outta the transmission and here are the two jugs with the ole stuff.
After I finger tightened the plug back into place, I filled 4 qts back into the transmission. I did not like the idea of only refilling 2 qts back into the unit and leaving some air pockets while running it.
I kept a good look at where the funnel was connected to the dip stick opening and sure enough the last quart went in very slowly, otherwise the fluid was backfilling out of the funnel/opening connection...one can see the ATF starting to come out. Be very patient with the last quart.
Here is what the funnel connected to the dip stick opening looks like from underneath the car; just looking for any fluid escaping the replenishment process.
I then replaced the funnel with the dipstick and had my father in law start the car while I inspected the transmission. He engaged R after 10 seconds and I noticed a jerk in the unit; he then engaged N, D, 4, 3 and L after 10 seconds in between and then reversed course with the same time interval, smooth as silk. He then repeated the process one more time for a total of 2 cycles from P to L and back to P (always 10 seconds in between shifts).
After shutting off the car, I attempted in draining the fluid a little more careful and voila, no spill and the ATF looked almost totally clean.
I only removed 3.5 qts on this drain and filled 3 qts back into the transmission (remember not to overfill the unit) and followed the above mentioned steps cycling through all the gears, except that this time we waited 1 minute before engaging R and sure enough we did not encounter the jerk from before. I was then able to examine the fluid drained out of the unit and found it to b almost flawless and decided that is it...job done, it cant get much clearer. I tightened the plug installed with a new washer and put the cover back on/or under.
I drove the car off the ramps to get an accurate reading from the dipstick and after a 15 mile test drive I found out that the quantity was right where it belonged when the fluid it HOT; even though I calculate that I replenished the system with 0.75 less qts than what I drained out. To be honest, not quite sure how much was in the system to begin with according to the dip stick.
I am taking 2 qts with me to Indianapolis tomorrow morning (250 miles) and check the fluid upon arrival, maybe a little earlier. But from the test drive, I can tell already that the transmission is shifting smoother, especially in the lower gears. I was recommended to do this preventative maintenance by several people and I am glad that I did.
As mentioned before, I am not a professional mechanic, but lots of research and reading (especially from this website) I can only recommend folks to be proactive about the life of their transmission, especially the dreaded 2001 models. I will keep you up to date on the drive when I return from my up coming trip; OK Philadelphia here we come, nothing but winter weather advisories...fun fun. Please add comments on what I could have done better, different or not at all.
BTW, I have 7 qts of TYPE IV left over, which the dealership told me I could return, great.
Jan