1995 850T How long do the 95 trannys last?

[Ben850]

A drain/fill is helpful. Do not power flush.
I have foot tested all of the vehicles in possession with no problems. I do not baby my shifts.
Sorry to hear otherwise, Robert.

There is still a dip stick to check the said "maintenance free" automatic transmission. A drain bolt as well.
There was not an over confidence in the closed system. Not to be confused with any other automatic transmission.

[tryingbe]

Actually....Volvo doesn't recommend transmission fluid change if there wasn't some kind of intervention on transmission.

It's in the owners manual.

This guy sums it up best.

Ifetime is the design life of components before the unit is considered to be end of life. That end of life is, say, 100-150k miles.

OEMs dont care if a rebuild or failed unit needs to be replaced at that kind of mileage. That is sufficient longevity per their design space.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ub ... /2785195/1


Here's a 90k oil sample on a VW.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ub ... ETIME_fill_

[ChiNorm]

The Volvo community began the 'flush at 30K miles mantra' after numerous tranny failures in the early 90's. I even had to explain to the dealer service writer why this must be done. Do it.

Good luck.

[scot850]

It is interesting that Volvo in their wisdom in the 90's had that opinion of no need to change the trans oil. When we had our 06 XC70 in for it's 96k km (60k mile) service they to a tranny oil change as part of the $1200 service, also the angle gear and rear axle. Where the temperature variation (up here can be up to 80C over the year) it is hard on all vehicle lubricants. Add towing to that mix and at the cost of an oil change every 100k km or so, it is still a lot less than a tranny replacement!!

This is a case of prevention over cure in my opinion.

Have I heard of people having problems after an oil change, the answer is yes, but not often at dealer. Like others have said, no power flushes!

All 3 of my last 4 older Volvos have shown significant improvement in shift quality after a flush.

Neil.

[CamZH]

I just flushed the tranny on my '94 850 T5 at 270,000km (~165kmiles)
The old stuff was chocolatey brown. (no idea if it had ever been done before)

I had an issues where it would thump rather hard into reverse, forwards shifting was fine.
Now the thump is much better, still need to get some more k's into the new fluid to make sure everything is good.

I used the IPD kit to exchange the fluid (just a piece of hose)

[skloon]

I think they last as long as a piece of string, err whatever, my 94 had the gearbox rebuilt at 90000km and is fine now at 325000 my 95 has never been opened and is at 435000 but they have both been flushed at 50000 intervals the 94 is getting a manual swap so I may keep its box as a spare for the 95

[mecheng]

+1 they are extremely robust especially when given some basic love in the form of a fluid change every 50,000km. Anything more than that is a waste of resources/time/money IMO.

I don't like the fluid flush because you don't get to remove the magnetic bolt and clean it from the metallic debris. After 220,000km, there was a decent amount on the bolt and now its clean to capture more debris. Further, it may shock the system. If you change the fluid 50,000km you should never have any serious issues. Japanese typically make good automatic transmissions and this is no exception.

[Redvolvowagon]

I got 227k out of my original trans my 1996 850T. The original owner who I bought it from took good care of the car but for some reason ignored the ATF. It was changed at 30k and 90k but that was it. I bought the car at 170k and the ATF was brown and nasty so I flushed it. I changed the fluid again at 190k and 210k, but it started having issues at 226k and finally lost reverse at 227k, at which point I installed a used trans from a 97 850T that had 80k on it. So far so good, but I intend to keep changing the fluid out every 20k miles. I am not very hard on my car and it's not really modified so I believe the original owner neglecting to change the fluid often is what did it in.
TLDR - they can last well over 200k even if neglected, but don't take any chances, change the transmission fluid often and make sure it is always at the proper fluid level.

[Ben850]

I don't like the fluid flush because you don't get to remove the magnetic bolt and clean it from the metallic debris.

I can only trust that to be true, as I had done the drain and fill method to my '93 several times, while needing to clean the magnetic bolt each time.
The transmission seems to be a very nicely shifting automatic, up and down.

Sure it had lasted for 160,000 miles until I took possession. There were still no real issues, but I could tell it could be better.

After seeing the coffee colored mix come from it, I had done some reading, (this site mostly) and began a drain and fill procession.
The '93 shifts better than any old Chevy, even the 700 series, than I can imagine.

The abused '95 T-5R that I am working on as a project, still shifts as it has not been tortured. The fluid is dark, and will get the same treatment.
I understand Robert has dealt with more abused and neglected cars than I, Although I am hoarding them at this point. I must believe, you have to try to kill these transmissions to effectually do so.

Drain and fill. No flush.
Others on this site have seen much more than myself, and know the failure point as well as Robert.
I am speaking only from personal experience.
Standing upon the shoulders of others.
That is all.