Tranny drain & fill - now won't run in reverse?

cabrown1121 · Post by **cabrown1121** » 01 Aug 2012, 16:46

OK Guys question here, had my tranny fluid drained and filled, no big deal right? Get car back, 2000 Volvo V70 XC, can shift into reverse and idle in reverse but when I give it the gas it just revs won't engage? Garage says all they did was drain and fill it but took them 5 hours to finish the job? Whats up with that. They have no clue whats wrong - anyone have any ideas or had this happen to them?

thanks in advance for any advice or replies,

Craig

Post by **jblackburn** » 01 Aug 2012, 18:22

Ask how they did it (machine?) and what fluid they used (dex III or 3309?)

krudge13 · Post by **krudge13** » 01 Aug 2012, 19:15

Sounds like they either used the wrong fluid and/or didnt fill it properly,like its low on fluid.
For the fluid level(automatic AW50-42) to be properly checked the fluid should be 80 C (176F),according to volvo.
Please consult the attached pdf i made from vadis,it will show where on the dip stick the fluid should be at what temp.
Please make special note about "Extra cleanliness must be observed".Use lint free cloths(not reduced lint).I like cheese cloth or lint free cotton gauze.
The procedure is the same in vida and vadis with cars as old as ours.
If you have a manual (M56) im not sure on the refill procedure.
I went to the dealer and they botched a tranny flush like a bunch of amatuers,took my car to my house and flushed it the volvo way(Aisin-Warner) and i have had no problems.
The first time the dealer overfilled the tranny by 1/2 half a quart and just contaminated new fluid with old fluid.They used some crap fluid they have to add additives to instead of the volvo fluid.A true synthetic needs no additional additives.
Went back and they couldnt figure out how to use their machine properly.
They underfilled the transmission the second time by 1 and 1/2 quart AFTER wasting 9 (ish) quarts of volvo fluid at $21.00 per quart!
They gave me a $300.00 refund.
Flushed it myself for like $150.00 and it was done right (the volvo/Aisin-Warner way).I flushed it with an additional 6 quarts beyond what volvo said.I used mobil synthetic atf,its very similar to the volvo synthetic fluid.
Either way they are lying to you,obviously they botched it.
It happens frequently when "tranny shops" do an improper refill and claim "sometimes you knock out a transmission when you service it".

cabrown1121 · Post by **cabrown1121** » 01 Aug 2012, 21:30

The garage was suppose to flush it but could'nt because they could not figure out the tranny cooling radiator and stated that it ran through the tranny but I still dont see how that is a problem, the radiator lines are contained and should have just flushed through just like any other tranny job. I asked about fill levels and they claimed they were correct. Gonna bring the temp charts to them tommorrow and possibly have another mechanic who knows volvos to look at it. Either way they should pay for it!

Post by **rspi** » 02 Aug 2012, 09:40

I would drive it around for 30 minutes and check the level as outlined in the owners manual. The flush should have been easy but maybe some flush instructions from a Volvo site forum would help them. Hopefully they didn't damage something in there and they make plenty of money flushing tranny's to pay for the damage.

If it drove fine before they got a hold of it, there shouldn't be an issue with them paying for it. I'm surprised they didn't bring it to your attention before you left and offer to keep it until it was right?

Post by **rmmagow** » 02 Aug 2012, 11:04

FWIW, I have been finding that general shops can screw up greasing a bicycle chain. I had my GMC truck worked on by a Firestone shop, they broke the ABS, didn't fix it right the second time around, I fixed it in 10 mins. Another shop put tires on my kids car, the wheel studs snapped off after a couple of months, all the wheels were over-tightened. OTOH, a good indy told me he didn't want to align my Mercedes because he said he just didn't have the right equipment. My Volvo indy tells me to buy the parts from FCP, IPD etc and bring the car in.
I wouldn't let Jiffy Lube wash my car

Post by **j_cd** » 02 Aug 2012, 12:30

I totally agree with rmmagow. This is why some mechanics are smart enough to say "I don't wanna mess with that Volvo, take it to a Volvo mechanic". But those guys are few and far between. More often than not, you'll find someone who just wants the money. They don't really care about your car, so they make costly mistakes and hope you don't notice.

There is a BF Goodrich sticker on my air box that says something about transmission service at 87,000 miles. So apparently my mom (she gave me the car) was having a tire changed and they sold her a transmission service. Luckly they didn't mess anything up. 155,000 miles and the transmission seems fine.

Best of luck with it. I hope your transmission is either not seriously damaged, or they pay for it to be fixed/replaced.

Post by **tjts1** » 02 Aug 2012, 16:20

Mobil 3309 ATF is NOT synthetic. Same goes for the Volvo branded stuff, Toyota T-IV, JWS 3309, etc. Its not that special, many oil companies sell a version of it. I used $5/qt Castrol on the 02 S40.
http://www.castrol.com/liveassets/bp_in ... portMV.pdf

In this case it sounds like the clowns didn't know what they were doing.

KlubMarcus · Post by **KlubMarcus** » 02 Aug 2012, 19:23

rmmagow wrote:FWIW, I have been finding that general shops can screw up greasing a bicycle chain. I had my GMC truck worked on by a Firestone shop, they broke the ABS, didn't fix it right the second time around, I fixed it in 10 mins. Another shop put tires on my kids car, the wheel studs snapped off after a couple of months, all the wheels were over-tightened. OTOH, a good indy told me he didn't want to align my Mercedes because he said he just didn't have the right equipment. My Volvo indy tells me to buy the parts from FCP, IPD etc and bring the car in. I wouldn't let Jiffy Lube wash my car

I had a Firestone shop who couldn't figure out how to properly connect a ABS wheel speed sensor, threw a code. They had to pay for dealer service to reconnect the cable. Ha Ha!

Had a TreadQuarters fail to fix my parking brake and couldn't get the right Nivomats after 3 tries. They paid the difference to cover the work done by Barry's Performance, and didn't charge anything for the Nivomats. Never going back there again.

Best bets are to find a local Volvo specialist, DIY using help from MVS members, or cough up the money for dealer service.