Thud when pressing accelerator

[DeadEric]

You want to do drain and fills so you can see what comes out of the sump. There might be a fair amount of crud first time; do not freak.

It will dump about 4 liters on draining with engine shut off hot. Replace with 3.5 cold and then warm it up, then check / adjust level.

Three drain and fills with a week driving in between will replace 90% of your ATF

Repeat about every 15000 miles. This will mean you are replacing your ATF every 50000 , roughly.

Do this. If nothing else to be sure you're very close to the right level.

If you're having trouble getting the dipstick out when it's hot, attach a string to the loop and pull it that way. Maybe have a stick so you can push it all the way back in. Keep in mind, when you pull the dipstick out, fluid from the tip will be left on the dipstick tube walls. This will give you fluid on the sides of the stick but (most likely) not a false solid line of fluid. Give it a minute or two between pulls to let the fluid run back down the tube.

The Cold level marks should only be used when the car is cold and first started. They are a quick check guide to having "enough" fluid to not damage the transmission for the warming procedure.

Lastly...
Enjoy the time with the family for the weekend. The troubles will be where you left them and you have good notes here if you forgot where you left off.

[prwood]

Alright, so over the weekend I did my first transmission drain and fill. My 10yo helped with adding the new fluid - the 'transmission funnel' I bought wouldn't fit into the dipstick tube, so I had her hold the new container while I used a fluid pump to get the new fluid in (the tube for this pump just barely fit into the dipstick tube).

We drained 4 quarts of old fluid and replaced with 4 quarts of Idemitsu Type TLS ATF, which Advance says "doesn't fit" my 2001 Volvo V70, but I'm fairly certain I have read it is acceptable: https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/ide ... 11872369-P

The old fluid was smooth and dark brown/black. No chunks as far as I could tell. The magnetic drain plug had accumulated a layer of crud:

After the change I ran through some city and highway driving, with shifts at various throttle positions. I was able to take a hot reading of the fluid level at this point, and it measured solidly at the top of the hot range.

Shifting and torque conversion seemed good, a bit better than previous, though I did get the "thud" every once in a while. Maybe it still could be an engine mount issue. Although I feel that my mounts are mostly okay, I have noticed that there's a lot of disagreement on this forum as to whether the amount of movement in my top mount is excessive, so I may try out the suggestion from earlier in the thread to stick an extra piece of rubber in it and see if the "thud" is diminished. I'm trying to decide whether it's worth it to chase it down any further, or just live with it.

[XC70Rider]

Getting 4 quarts out from just a drain sounds it was over filled. When I raise the front end I have the left side 4" higher and the most I can drain out is 3.6 quarts.

Take her for a ride up to highway speed shifting via all gears several times for at least 20min. Put on some gloves and long sleeves for protection when pulling the dipstick while the engine is idling.

If the coolant hose is blocking you then take the nut of the bracket mounted onto the engine. I temporarily slide the coolant hose off that bracket when reaching for the dipstick. The hose then easily slides back onto the nut-free stud.

[prwood]

Getting 4 quarts out from just a drain sounds it was over filled. When I raise the front end I have the left side 4" higher and the most I can drain out is 3.6 quarts.

Actually I should have been more specific. Prior to the drain, I had taken out 2 20oz bottles (about 1.25 quarts) through suction via the dipstick tube. I poured that into the pan along with the fluid I drained, and that came out to 4 qt:

1.25 qt suctioned
+ 2.75 qt drained
= 4.00 qt total removed

Would suctioning from above remove fluid that draining from below would not?

[XC70Rider]

Would suctioning from above remove fluid that draining from below would not?

Draining from the plug gets out more fluid and more gunk as well.

You added 4 quarts so check the level asap. When I drain the ATF or any fluid I always follow with checking the level.

[prwood]

Would suctioning from above remove fluid that draining from below would not?

Draining from the plug gets out more fluid and more gunk as well.

You added 4 quarts so check the level asap. When I drain the ATF or any fluid I always follow with checking the level.

I did check the level, after adding the 4 quarts and after a highway drive, and it measured up to the max line of the 'hot' range:

Screen Shot 2019-05-29 at 11.29.40 AM.png (41.08 KiB) Viewed 705 times

[XC70Rider]

Your level is fine.

With the drained fluid being dark I would do a few more sump drains until it comes out with a red tint. Add in some Seafoam Trans Tune then drain in 50 to 100 miles. Also add in a few ounces of Lubeguard per drain.

[prwood]

Put on some gloves and long sleeves for protection when pulling the dipstick while the engine is idling.

If the coolant hose is blocking you then take the nut of the bracket mounted onto the engine. I temporarily slide the coolant hose off that bracket when reaching for the dipstick. The hose then easily slides back onto the nut-free stud.

P.S. I did find an awkward yet mostly effective way to get to the dipstick without scorching myself. Remove fresh air hose, left hand goes down at an angle under intercooler tube, palm up, slides under coolant hose with just a smidge of contact, thumb pulls down on clip, index and middle fingers push up on the dipstick handle to pop it out. Luckily the coolant hose is returning somewhat-cooler coolant to the engine, so it's not as bad as if I were touching the hose leading into the radiator.

[XC70Rider]

Don't forget to reset the fluid counter after every ATF drain.

[prwood]

Update: Last night, I did the following:
- Reset the ATF fluid counter using VIDA.
- Removed and disassembled engine stabilizer mount and bushings, cleaned, and reinstalled with all bolts torqued to spec.
- Inserted chunks of rubber hose into gaps around top engine mount bushing. This reduced movement of the bushing significantly.

I took a few test drives, and the thud is still occurring. I suppose the transmission could need more time to adapt after the fluid change and counter reset.

The one thing I haven't done yet, which a couple of people in this thread have mentioned, is replaced the stabilizer bar bushings. Here is how they currently look after being cleaned:

It looks like I could get new OE mounts from FCP for $17 each. iPD has the previously-mentioned polyurethane stabilizer bushing insert kit for $11, an aftermarket set of the complete mounts for $30, or $50 for a solid aluminum set of mounts to make the bar completely rigid.

I'm sort of getting to the point where I may not chase this down any further, because the problem doesn't honestly impact drivability in any way, it's just annoying.