Do I listen to the dealer about the tranny fluid?

Old Blue 66 · Post by **Old Blue 66** » 27 Jan 2010, 15:54

I was told it doesn't need to be changed at all. What do i do?

Post by **jblackburn** » 27 Jan 2010, 16:06

Bullcrap. Jeep says the same thing, and the fluid in ours was BURNT. They just want your money when the transmission blows up. Either take it to another dealer, or find a good independent Euro mechanic that will do it for you, or do it yourself - it's really not hard, I promise.

Keep it far away from transmission flush machines - they are very very bad evil things.

If the transmission download has not been done on your car to deactivate the stop-neutral function, find someone that can do this as soon as possible. This in itself ends up killing most 2001 transmissions.

We have a write-up for the transmission flush method here.
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... php?t=8767

Your car will use the JWS-3309 fluid, not the Dex-III that S70's use, that you can buy from your dealer. Alternatively, the Mobil or Toyota fluids are acceptable if you can find them.

Post by **cattledog** » 27 Jan 2010, 17:05

What dealer would say that? Idiots!
Absolutely replace the fluid.
240's used to be on a 20k interval.
Your manual gives an interval, no?

Post by **vegasjetskier** » 27 Jan 2010, 17:42

cattledog wrote:What dealer would say that? Idiots!
Absolutely replace the fluid.
240's used to be on a 20k interval.
Your manual gives an interval, no?

On some of the newer models the manual says "lifetime" or "change at owner's request."

billr99 · Post by **billr99** » 28 Jan 2010, 06:01

vegasjetskier wrote:
cattledog wrote:What dealer would say that? Idiots!
Absolutely replace the fluid.
240's used to be on a 20k interval.
Your manual gives an interval, no?
On some of the newer models the manual says "lifetime" or "change at owner's request."

Yep that's what they say. And they are still wrong if you consider "lifetime" to be anything over about 70K miles.

Cheers,

Bill

Post by **jblackburn** » 28 Jan 2010, 07:52

And they are still wrong if you consider "lifetime" to be anything over about 70K miles

And here we see Ford's influence! That's about as long as most Ford's last before they start breaking down

rbodor3 · Post by **rbodor3** » 28 Jan 2010, 21:10

Old Blue 66 wrote:I was told it doesn't need to be changed at all. What do i do?

ignore the dealer. "lifetime" means the lifetime of the warranty, it's a logistics/legal thing. Change the fluid.

Post by **JRL** » 28 Jan 2010, 21:13

jablackburn wrote:
And they are still wrong if you consider "lifetime" to be anything over about 70K miles
And here we see Ford's influence! That's about as long as most Ford's last before they start breaking down

We DON'T see Ford's influence.

This has been the same Volvo crap since 1994, "lifetime fluid".

CHANGE or flush (depending on your mileage) you transmission fluid or soon enough you WON'T HAVE A TRANSMISSION

Post by **polskamafia mjl** » 28 Jan 2010, 23:30

Simmer down, simmer down.

Post by **confused_al** » 29 Jan 2010, 08:56

polskamafia mjl wrote:Simmer down, simmer down.

People get upset when they talking about ATF issues...

Well, this is what I know:
My 95 850 had first ATF changed (65k) at dealer as "recommended service";
My 06 V70's manual states ATF should be changed when "instrument panel display the msg". My interpenetration is "get ATF changed before see that msg".
M-B (Mercedes-Benz) was very proud about their "seal for life" trannys up to five years ago. At 50k mark on my ml320 I called M-B asked if I need an ATF change, the guy with the typical German attitude told me that their technology was so advanced that no ordinary rules could be applied. About 6-7 years into their usage (around 85k miles), these trannies (766.XXX) started to fail in a mass and owners were very upset. Two years ago, M-B officially changed their "seal for life" to replace ATF every 60k miles (more frequent if towing is involved).
I will replace my V70's ATF once I hit 60k, same mileage I did for my ml320, which still has silky shifting at 100k.