2003 XC70 Tranny Swap

[nicksorg]

I have an 02 XC70 that my daughter had at school this year. While there the check engine light went on and I had her take it to the dealer. They said the transmission was failing and gave me a few options - all of which were ridiculous as far as $ goes. Other than the check light for the tranny, the car runs strong. It has 180K on the odometer.

I have the car home now and my question is this. Do I need to any special tools to do a transmission swap? Can I drop the tranny below or does the engine need to come out?

Thanks
Nick

[jonesg]

I have an 02 XC70 that my daughter had at school this year. While there the check engine light went on and I had her take it to the dealer. They said the transmission was failing and gave me a few options - all of which were ridiculous as far as $ goes. Other than the check light for the tranny, the car runs strong. It has 180K on the odometer.

I have the car home now and my question is this. Do I need to any special tools to do a transmission swap? Can I drop the tranny below or does the engine need to come out?

Thanks
Nick

viewtopic.php?t=53437

Good photos, yours is probably slightly different but this gives you a real good idea what you'll be doing and tools/equipment needed.
Subframe is removed and tranny can drop out the bottom.

[nicksorg]

Thanks for the info!

[chrism]

"...Other than the check light for the tranny, the car runs strong...."

Does it shift OK? What fault description did the dealer tell you was causing the CEL? Has the fluid been changed (Mobil 3309)?

[nicksorg]

My daughter had the car at school when she took it in to the dealer for something else. I had them look at the trans but didn't get all the info- probably because I was shocked about the price quotes I received over the phone from the service manager. Most of the time the car drives pretty well. The car seems to have shifting problems when it is hot outside driving locally in stop and start traffic. Usually the shift issue is from 2nd to 3rd. The car will hold a high idle and then hit hard.

The car now has 176,000 miles. After doing some searching on this site and others, I decided to replace the transmission fluid using the "Gibbons" method. I ordered a case of Mobil 3309 and ran 10 quarts through it. The first fluid came out black as night. By the tenth it had a much better pink color. The fluid change definitely helped. The shifting issues happen less frequently.

I also learned that tires are important. Unfortunately, the tires on this car weren't good and may have lead to the start of my problems. I had been holding out on new ones, not knowing how long this car would last. However, I broke down today and put 4 new tires on. It drives great.

Funds are tight with the kids in college so I'm holding off on serious transmission work and keep debating about doing it myself. Since temperature seems to make it act up, I'm thinking about running some more Mobil 3309 through the transmission and installing an after market cooler.
Thanks
Nick

[01_Nautic_V70]

Here's my swap with photos. I put an 02 trans into my 01. If you have an 03, the procedure is identical, but your replacement transmissions has to be a 2003 or 2004 only.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=75588&start=50

[abscate]

Nick...I'm in the middle of a clutch job on my 2005 and bought a Harbor Freight engine hangar.

The sub frame drop and trans drop isn't bad with these tools

I'm in Albany but cruise by your way weekly. Could give you an evening or two if you can crash a fellow empty nester

[precopster]

Our 2002 XC70 was coding daily P0700 if I recall and being reset with a ELM327 almost every 60-100kms. Symptoms were identical to yours.

Since fluid change and adaptation reset we've had ONLY one transmission code in almost 5,000kms. I used a synthetic name brand fluid.

Total fluid replacement and adaptation reset should be the first thing to do before considering any repairs.