Please help me read the transmission dipstick... Am I being an idiot?

Rocambolesque · Post by **Rocambolesque** » 18 Jun 2018, 19:36

I have a 2000 S70 5 speed auto. I bought it and it shifted bad. I did the fluid fill and drain via the cooler line with 12 litres of Aisin T4 fluid. The fluid that came out was pitch black and after that it shifted a little better. After a while it started shifting bad again, I thought maybe the detergent agents in the new fluid did their job and cleaned the remaining crap off the insides of the transmission and now they were in the fluid. Did another fill and drain with the same Aisin fluid, this time I did 8 litres. Ever since then, the fluid stays somewhat red. This weekend I did the B4 servo cover update. The old cover wasn't broken but the new one was a different design. After following IPD's procedure for this repair, I noticed a good improvement. I thought the car was fixed. Today I take the car again and the shifting went back to the same it was before. I thought maybe I read the dipstick wrong and the level is not good. I drove the car for about 30 minutes, both highway and stop-and-go. Went back to the house, cycled the shifter 5 seconds in each position and pulled the dipstick:

See that the oil stops at the "D" of "COLD". The picture doesn't show but after that there is still oil but it's thinner. If I put the dipstick on the rag, I have some oil until the second lowest hot mark:

However, between the "D" and the 2nd hot mark, the oil seems thinner. Is it "real" oil or just splash from the tube?

So do you think I'm about 400 ml short on fluid or is it in the right zone? Those auto transmission dipstick always seem to be ambiguous!

Boosted40 · Post by **Boosted40** » 18 Jun 2018, 23:34

When checking fluid, I normally like to make sure the car has been up to temp for a bit. I recently did a flush (I'd recommend this over the drain/refill, if you/your car can handle it) and I drove the car for a bit, to warm it up. The proper procedure to check is to pull the dipstick out, wipe it off, put it back in, and then pull it again for a check. This is to get any sloshed around ATF off of the stick. Also make sure your car is on a level surface at this time.

From what I understand, after your car has been warmed up, and you pulled the dipstick and cleaned it, then reinserted fully and pulled it out again, your level seems to be at the second hot mark. This would mean you have the proper amount of ATF in it.

If the oil is pretty much red, and looks pretty clean, then your transmission might have heftier problems than just bad ATF. But from what I can see in your pictures (see if you can focus better) your ATF looks brownish and dirty. Not clean whatsoever.

Let me share with you a recent experience I've had with my Volvo.

Over the past year, I did a drain/refill or two of my Volvo. I had what was a gear slip between 2nd and 3rd gears, if I remember correctly. After a full FLUSH, I saw that the ATF had come out brown over the course of less than a year and even after being drained/refilled a time or two.

Doing a drain/refill might only be a good idea on cars that need a gentle easing into age (or so some say). But that ATF there, that looks dirty. Consider a flush (it's quite simple really).

Post by **j-dawg** » 18 Jun 2018, 23:40

Add 400mL and see if it helps! I had a Mercedes with an automatic that shifted entirely wrong when filled "correctly" on the dipstick and entirely right when I added a little extra. (More precisely, I'd added the correct amount per the service manual and it read a quart and a half too high on the dipstick.) I fretted about it for a while, then added the "extra" fluid and enjoyed silky-smooth shifts.

This will probably be controversial advice, but if your transmission is shifting roughly or slipping with the "right" amount of fluid, that isn't the right amount of fluid. You might also experiment with other fluid brands; I don't have any experience with Volvo automatics, but an old Toyota manual I had was very sensitive to the exact fluid used. Pennzoil was the only awe transmission fluid that would let me do the 1-2 shift without any grinding.

Boosted40 · Post by **Boosted40** » 18 Jun 2018, 23:46

j-dawg wrote: ↑18 Jun 2018, 23:40 Add 400mL and see if it helps! I had a Mercedes with an automatic that shifted entirely wrong when filled "correctly" on the dipstick and entirely right when I added a little extra. (More precisely, I'd added the correct amount per the service manual and it read a quart and a half too high on the dipstick.) I fretted about it for a while, then added the "extra" fluid and enjoyed silky-smooth shifts.

This will probably be controversial advice, but if your transmission is shifting roughly or slipping with the "right" amount of fluid, that isn't the right amount of fluid. You might also experiment with other fluid brands; I don't have any experience with Volvo automatics, but an old Toyota manual I had was very sensitive to the exact fluid used. Pennzoil was the only awe transmission fluid that would let me do the 1-2 shift without any grinding.

Controversial indeed. If you put too much ATF in the transmission, you risk overheating it. Guess what happens when you overheat a transmission?

I doubt Volvo engineers were this sloppy (you'd probably hear about it if you did some searching).

The fluid looks dirty. I don't think the issue is volume, but fluid quality.

Post by **j-dawg** » 18 Jun 2018, 23:59

Boosted40 wrote: ↑18 Jun 2018, 23:46 The fluid looks dirty. I don't think the issue is volume, but fluid quality.

Agree that the fluid itself is the first solution to pursue.

Post by **Clemens** » 19 Jun 2018, 00:39

What I usually with the tranny diostick is as follows:
I pull it out, wipe it off. Insert with the side with the fluid level marks up. Pull it out and see where the level is. Then i wipe it off and insert with the marks facing down. Then read again.
This helps me to decide if the high mark is actually the high mark or just some splash from the tube. Especially after adding oil there is usually quite some thin fluid on the stick that makes it hard to read correctly.

Boosted40 · Post by **Boosted40** » 20 Jun 2018, 17:41

I forgot to add the car should be on and in P when checking. I made the mistake of not doing this and thought I overfilled.

Rocambolesque · Post by **Rocambolesque** » 22 Jun 2018, 20:09

All the details you guys are describing, I did them. The car was running, warm transmission, in P, on level ground, dipstick pulled out twice, etc...

Today I drove the car again. It was maybe the 5th time driving it since installing the B4 servo cover. IPD's instruction mentioned that the TCU adaptation will be reset and that normal shifting might only occur after 2-3 driving cycles. Seems like for me it was 5 cycles, the car never ever shifted this smooth. I was amazed, I couldn't even feel most shifts. Hopefully it will stay like that now.

Post by **wizechatmgr** » 22 Jun 2018, 20:21

Rocambolesque wrote: ↑22 Jun 2018, 20:09 All the details you guys are describing, I did them. The car was running, warm transmission, in P, on level ground, dipstick pulled out twice, etc...

Today I drove the car again. It was maybe the 5th time driving it since installing the B4 servo cover. IPD's instruction mentioned that the TCU adaptation will be reset and that normal shifting might only occur after 2-3 driving cycles. Seems like for me it was 5 cycles, the car never ever shifted this smooth. I was amazed, I couldn't even feel most shifts. Hopefully it will stay like that now.

Awesome news. You can actually force it to start the process earlier using VIDA if I remember correctly.

Rocambolesque · Post by **Rocambolesque** » 22 Jul 2018, 16:06

Sad news, after a little while the shifting started getting harsh again, especially the 2-3 shift. All the other shifts feel fine, but the 2-3 is sometimes terrible. It usually happens after sitting in traffic for a while with a lot of stop and go. It feels like the transmission shifts from 2 to 1 then realizes the mistake and shifts into 3rd...

I know the transmission can shift smooth as it did it for a while when I last posted. I just want the TCM to use those settings all the time. How can I do this? I read in another thread that you can do a regular Adaptation Reset using VIDA or you can do a "CMA" which seems like a long process where you drive the car a different throttle openings until the shift arrow flashes... I think the guy who wrote about this had a S60, maybe it is not applicable to S70's. Do I have to bring it to a dealer or independent Volvo garages might be OK?