I have read many many opinions regarding this. I believe it is lifetime per Volvo. I am sure others will chime in.

 

This has been discussed much in this forum with varied opinions. As a retired professional auto tech my experience is that the auto trans fluid should be replaced at no more than 50 k miles. The fluid undergoes tremendous stress and gets dirty and its lubricating qualities break down. Volvo has made it difficult to easily check your fluid because there is no dipstick anymore. Some better class shops will not change the fluid because Volvo said not to. That is horse hockey. Personally I have never have had much respect for Volvo's dealer network and shops. There is something basically wrong with a auto company that charges about $500 to replace an XC70 remote key fob! But I regress; for many years of owning a Volvo I have used this process to replace the ATF. Drain the ATF fluid when it is warm. Measure the amount drained (about 3-4 quarts on an XC70) and refill with that amount. Drive about several hundred miles and drain and refill again. You can not drain all of the ATF because several quarts are in the bottom of the torque converter. This method has worked for me for many years and I have never had any transmission issues. Three to four quarts of ATF are wasted, but it is wasted when a system is flushed too. There are several reasons why I do not suggest flushing such as dealing with tapping into the hydraulic system and breaking seals. If you want to see a sample of your ATF you can remove the gauge tube cover in the center of the drain plug and some fluid should spill out. If it is reddish-pink in color your fluid is fine. If it is dark red/brown it should be changed. I notice when I change ATF my transmission shifts smother.

 

My advice is to follow the advice in the owner's manual. It's what I'm doing with our cars.

 

From what I understand, the P3 transmissions need to be flushed via a special process or equipment, which may be why some shops won't do it. Have you used your above mentioned process on those cars? That's how I would have done it on earlier cars that didn't require special processes to do it. The good old manual transmissions are my favorite to swap trans fluid on. Doesn't get any easier than those!

I do agree that no transmission fluid is "lifetime" but they definitely make it difficult to even check the fluid, let alone swap it out.

 

Volvo P4 have 6-speed Asin TF80-SC (Gen I, later Gen II.)
Look this doc:
http://www.aisinaftermarket.jp/en/products/atf/images/atf_a2_CFEx_AFW+.pdf

 

But these are P3 cars...

And of course you'll have a transmission fluid manufacturer telling you to change it more often. Every 20K seems like overkill.

 

Yep, sorry, my mistake :facepalm: P3 platform

Yes, 20K overkill and on russian forums we think to change fluid on about 50-60K. Not a big problem to change! Only one thing: you need VIDA and DiCE for controlling Transm.Temp. Many "how-to" in internet.
For Gen.I - Toyota T-IV, for Gen.II - Toyota T-WS. (the same as original).

 

Maybe the VIDA and DiCE thing is the "special equipment" part I was thinking of. Either way, I heard you really can't do the swap "properly" in your driveway on the P3 cars.

 

In one step - no. Full capacity - about 7 liters. On unscrew fastener at the bottom of the gearbox - escape about 3.5-4 liters. Procedure like here:

, with some modifications (no oil dip, example)...

We buy for full change 12 liters... Enought volume for this operation

 

To flush any auto trans you must remove the low pressure line from the transmission (usually at the radiator), pump the fluid into a container while at the same time replacing it with new fluid until you have removed all of the old fluid - about 13 quarts on an XC70. There are several ways to do this. I have found my method of drain and fill, drive several hundred miles and drain and fill again is just as effective as a flush. I have done this on my '13 XC70, my 2008 C70, and my 2009 S60 and various Volvo models. Something else to consider is installing a ATF filter since the later model Volvo does not have one. A simple inline ATF filter on the low pressure line will work well.

 

Police and taxi spec Volvos get the trans fluid flushed and changed regularly.
About "filled for life", it's true if you mean the tranny is dead when it breaks down (as Volvo obviously does).
But you will definitely postpone death with tranny flushes at least every 100k miles

 

Great info guys.

Gorj...have you installed the trans filter yourself? If so, do you have a brand or part # you used? This would most surely void my CPO if any trans-related issues showed up, so I may just try the flush without the filter addition. I can't believe they didn't put one on there.

 

Our technicans often says about "Magnefine" filters.

UPD: found by "Magnefine" keyword: http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?12169-The-BIG-Transmission-Posting-Gibbons-method-other-goodies!

 

I have installed a magnefine filter on other Volvos, but not on my present one. Not only did they leave off an ATF filter they only put a fuel gauge in the instrument cluster-a bummer! Yes, I am sure any mod you made to your Volvo would void the CPO warranty.

 

They also used solid plastic hoses for both trans lines making it much more problematic to install a filter or a trans cooler for that matter. Very annoying.

2002 V70XC, 2003 V40, 2004 S60, 2010 V70

 

To do drain and fill it seems to me no VIDA needed. Just drain cold, measure amount and put that amount back into the transmission. I just did a drain and fill on my 2010 V70 with 60K miles recently. The fluid that came out was still red and looked good as far as color is concerned, still bright red. 3.5 quarts came out and 3.5 quarts of genuine Volvo fluid 1161640(JWS 3309) put back in. I had the Volvo dealer identify the correct fluid for my vehicle by VIN number, since sometime in 2010 Aisin and thus Volvo changed to AW-1, so if you want the same fluid delivered by factory, you will have to identify by VIN number.
While I was not having any issues with the transmission, after the D&F it does seem to be smoother and I am glad I did it. After several hundred miles I will probably do another.
Incidentally, you can get the Toyota T-IV, which Aisin says is the same as 1161640(JWS 3309) for much less. I bought 3 quarts today for $6.10 each plus tax from the Toyota dealer and will mix it with the remaining 1161640(JWS 3309) left from the first D&F.

 

Incidentally, you can get the Toyota T-IV, which Aisin says is the same as 1161640(JWS 3309) for much less.

See Easy S80 T6 transmission flush for more discussion on this topic of replacing the transmission fluid on the Aisin TF80-SC and whether or not Volvo OEM AW-1 is the same as Toyota ATF T-IV and Mobil ATF 3309.

 

What about the fluid retained in your torque converter? That won't come out with a simple "cold drain".

 

It will be 50% new with one drain and refill, even the TC after running the car. Next drain and refill it will be newer. Even so, there was nothing wrong with the fluid that came out, but I drained some wear materials and replenished about half of the additives with new.

 

Thanks all, anyone have experience with a tool like this? Seems like if I can vacuum it all up through the dipstick it would save a bunch of time.... I know these are good for oil changes, should work for trans fluid too?

http://www.tooltopia.com/mityvac-mv...4BRD-oYi3y5_AhZ4BEiQAzIFxnx5un2y48JsE0nh_MCKKSsJsa02mkQMTmBR46_cWo6YaAk8p8P8HAQ

 

There is no transmission fluid dipstick on these cars.

 

I used the Gibbons method on my 2010, the procedure is well documented for 2001-2007s. My write up is here: http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?27494-DIY-Transmission-Flush-the-Gibbons-method-works-on-2008-XCs

Tom