1998 S70 Volvo branded or Mobil DEXIII ATF?

aong · Post by **aong** » 20 Sep 2014, 12:40

My 98 Volvo S70 reqires DEXRON IIE ATF. Which on the following product is best fit for my application:

In USA,
Mobil ATF D/M
http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/Mot ... TF_DM.aspx

In Canada,
Mobil Super™ ATF D/M
http://www.mobil.ca/Canada-English-LCW/ ... tf-dm.aspx

I found Volvo genuine branded DEX III fluid on FCP:
http://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volvo-a ... ne-1161321

Is the Volvo branded DEX III a synthetic fluid? Or should I go with Mobil?

My ATF was not serviced for a very long time. I want to be very cautious on the type of ATF, especially with the age of my car.

Any advises is appreciated.

Post by **erikv11** » 20 Sep 2014, 15:26

Because it was not serviced for a very long time, you want to gradually change it over to clean fluid. I recommend cheap, non-synthetic ATF for that process. Then, once it is running hassle-free on clean fluid, you can use synthetic if you want. To be honest I don't think synthetic is worth it unless the transmission gets beat on, but it is up to you. Certainly can't hurt though.

To change over:
- drain out transmission fluid by pulling the drain plug. Measure how much comes out, it should be almost exactly 3.5 quarts. Refill with the same amount of cheap DexIII. I would recommend Super-tech from Wal-mart or similar: it is cheap, works very well in these transmissions.
- drive it like 500-1,000 miles.
- drain another 3.5 quarts and refill (this is the second time)
- drive it like 500-1,000 miles.
- drain another 3.5 quarts and refill (this is the third time)

After the third change the fluid is 40% old, dirty stuff and 60% new. Now you can either do a full changeover to 100% fresh, clean fluid (change to a synthetic now if you want), or keep doing the drain-and-fill every 10k or so. I like to do a full flush then do it again every 30k after that. These transmissions are super hardy, with fluid changes they will go a very long time.

Post by **rmmagow** » 20 Sep 2014, 16:48

My 225K v70 has been running with the walmart brand for a long time with zero issues. I did the dran-n-fill 4 times withinh about 2000 miles and now do a drai-n-fill every other oil change, about 10K miles. walmart synthetic 10W30 in the engine works fine too.

Post by **rspi** » 20 Sep 2014, 20:06

I also use the cheap Walmart stuff that cost me about $11 per gallon. I change my fluid every 25,000 miles because I tow trailers 500+ miles every 6 months or so.

aong · Post by **aong** » 22 Sep 2014, 00:13

I know Walmart ATF is a decent oil. However, I read from a forum that Walmart in Canada sources recycled oil from local refinary and named their products Tune-It instead of Supertech. So, I am looking for an alternative choice.

Post by **850 LPT** » 22 Sep 2014, 05:58

I would use the Walmart stuff to start the cleaning out process as others here suggested. Then as the fluid is starting to look cleaner you can switch to a better brand if it makes you feel better. Synthetic is not really necessary IMHO.
I use Castrol Dex/Merc from Autozone, in fact I just did my 3rd. drain and fill this weekend and my tranny shifts nice and smooth.