Questions on 2001 transmission failure (planning ahead!)

[fazool]

I have a a 2001 S60 2.4T with 142K miles on it. The car is beautiful inside and out and it drives perfectly. We intend to hand this car down when our daughter starts driving this summer.

I know the notoriety of 2001 P2 transmissions - they are like ticking bombs, just waiting to go off.

Given the flawless condition of this car, I've decided it's way too nice to abandon if (when?) the tranny does fail.

In the likely event of a transmission failure:

Do I find a low mileage used tranny and have a trusted mechanic swap it in?

Do I take it to a trusted mechanic to rebuild the transmission/valve-body?

Do I replace/rebuild the valve body myself?

What should I expect or consider? What specifically will fail? Will it be the valve-body?


All thoughts and comments are appreciated!

[jblackburn]

You have already done the software update that disables the stop-neutral feature and fixes the 2-3 shift flare, right?

[fazool]

I haven't personally done this but I did confirm the stop-neutral feature is absolutely removed and I have never experienced any shift flares at all so I presume the prior owner did this.

[regent]

I would assume you are also up-to-date with the fluid changes (and counter reset), and if so then you have sufficient grounds to develop some more positive transmission-wise thinking patterns

[fazool]

I would assume you are also up-to-date with the fluid changes (and counter reset), and if so then you have sufficient grounds to develop some more positive transmission-wise thinking patterns

Not sure how to answer that one without being a wiseacre


So Volvo recommends against changing fluid from this sealed unit so I am exactly up to date with that recommendation

[jblackburn]

A 2001 transmission isn't sealed like the later ones are. There's a dipstick (it's hidden quite well) and several ways to drain it.

And don't ever listen to that "lifetime fluid" crap either. If you haven't changed the fluid ever, it's definitely something to put on your maintenance list. This transmission uses the 3309 fluid.

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www. ... guRo_b6Qgw

[regent]

I thought Fazool was just kidding about the 'sealed transmission'

It is true though that the Volvo Wizzards who are the authors of the famous recomendation in the manual would love us to have to replace the transmissions at 150k or so (rather than do the drain-n-flush thing regularly).

[fazool]

Well, the transmission is in good condition and suffes no shift flares and no neutral stop slamming. I haven't flushed the fluid. My manual recommends not changing or flushing and there is so much controversy over it. I used to do engineering work in the hydraulics industry so the rationale intuitive side of me says I should change the fluid but I keep reading these horror stories about sludge getting moved around and such and failures after flushing.

What I did do, however, was extract a sample of the fluid and examine it under a microscope. It was clean unburnt, no particulate, etc. I can't check for viscosity and chemistry but, visually it looked very good.

[jda2000]

so, if you haven't refreshed the fluid yet then do a drain and refill x3, 200 miles apart that will refresh your fluid about 95%.

Add a magnefine tranny filter to collect those pesky metal shavings and you should be good for another 30k miles. Then repeat the process.

[jblackburn]

^What he said. A full-out flush (all the fluid at once) MAY hurt a transmission that's used to having the old fluid in there. A drain-and-fill - just a bit of fluid at a time - will allow it to get used to new fluid a small bit at a time and won't hurt it. Spread out the interval to 2 weeks apart if you want.