2005 xc70 transmission fluid counter reset & adaption

[mrscullini]

i have 146k. did my first drain & fill of 4 quarts with mobil 3309 fluid. wondering about the fluid counter reset and adaption. is a reset and something with adaption necessary when doing a drain & fill? i have vida/dice so will i can do both. the reset seems straight forward. just not sure what to do with adaption? any insight is appreciated.

[JRL]

If it's shifting fine no need for the adaptions, but you MUST get those fluid counters reset ASAP after new fluid.

[mrscullini]

If it's shifting fine no need for the adaptions, but you MUST get those fluid counters reset ASAP after new fluid.

thanks jrl, shifting is fine. changed fluid yesterday, put just a couple miles on it with a drive around the neighborhood. will reset today before putting any more miles on.

not doubting you, just wondering why the counter reset is so important?

btw, this is the car i bought from you 4 years ago

[JRL]

I forget which Volvo, remind me.
The answer is that the transmission still thinks it has XXX miles and may do odd things, even with new fluid.
My mechanic thinks this is very important

[mrscullini]

I forget which Volvo, remind me.
The answer is that the transmission still thinks it has XXX miles and may do odd things, even with new fluid.
My mechanic thinks this is very important

thanks. there was a brief explanation in vida before resetting. basically what you said.

the car is an '05 xc70 in crystal green on black. when you sold it to me it had 96k on the clock. it was a bad winter for you guys 4 years ago. there were some challenges getting a truck in there to ship to the west.

[regent]

Basically, the counter reset is not that critical but if you do not do it, you could get false positives like 'TRANSMISSION SERVICE REQUIRED'

[SuperHerman]

Tranny reset as I understand it just allows for two "overheat" fluid encounters. If you have had none then it does not matter. I would do another flush and then reset, I don't think one is enough unless you do it every 15k. I know from experience - I saw what came out doing only 4-5 qts every 15k.

[mrscullini]

Tranny reset as I understand it just allows for two "overheat" fluid encounters. If you have had none then it does not matter. I would do another flush and then reset, I don't think one is enough unless you do it every 15k. I know from experience - I saw what came out doing only 4-5 qts every 15k.

thanks. i bought a case of fluid. i figured i would drain and fill with 3 successive oil changes. that should give me "just about" new fluid by about 15000 miles.

[regent]

Tranny reset as I understand it just allows for two "overheat" fluid encounters...

If I may chime in, Yes... and No:

The TCM actually does a bit of Math to keep track of the fluid’s ‘age’.
What it calculates is products of the fluid’s working temperature multiplied by the time it has spent at that temperature, so the result is an ever-growing integral sum of adding up those products. That is the so called ‘fluid counter’ and it will grow slower or faster, depending on duty. (The longer the fluid has been at higher temperatures, the faster it ’ages’.)

Eventually, the counter will exceed a predetermined value, and the computer will decide that 'the fluid is too old’. The usual outcome is a DIM message like ‘TRANSMISSION SERVICE REQUIRED’

(I would sincerely hope I did not create more confusion )

[andybbrown]

It's odd that you read of Volvo's 'lifetime fluids', yet we know that all fluids must get changed.
My tranny does weird things sometimes. I have Vice and am seeking to install it asap.
Once you are in is it simple?