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Transmission drain/fill

12K views 50 replies 22 participants last post by  Blue SUV 
#1 ·
Anyone done a drain and fill of the transmission yet?

(Lets not get into the discussion of lifetime fluid/fluid doesn't need to be changed or the confusion of flush vs drain/fill)

If yes, more questions!

What fluid?
What volume drains out?
Where is the drain plug?
Where is the fill plug?
Is there a transmission level dipstick/level?
Is there a serviceable filter? (doubtful)

I've had some car with transmission problems due to self serving manufacturers selling the 'lifetime fluid" BS and have had others where I wised up and changed the fluid (drain fill) every 30-50k and then had not problems - so I will be doing regular drain/fills on my SPA cars.
 
#3 ·
One source of info

Anyone done a drain and fill of the transmission yet?

(Lets not get into the discussion of lifetime fluid/fluid doesn't need to be changed or the confusion of flush vs drain/fill)

If yes, more questions!

What fluid?
What volume drains out?
Where is the drain plug?
Where is the fill plug?
Is there a transmission level dipstick/level?
Is there a serviceable filter? (doubtful)

I've had some car with transmission problems due to self serving manufacturers selling the 'lifetime fluid" BS and have had others where I wised up and changed the fluid (drain fill) every 30-50k and then had not problems - so I will be doing regular drain/fills on my SPA cars.
Go to Youtube and search XC90 transmission . There are a couple of videos that walk you thru the whole process . The drain plug is under car which also has imbedded in it the tube which sets the correct amount of fluid .Volvo in it's infinite wisdom does not provide us with a dipstick . [ another life annuity for the dealer ] Fill plug is under the air filter plumbing . You will need correct Torx socket and a extension. No filter required.. Valvoline Synthetic ATF withstands higher temps than Mobil 3309
 
#4 ·
I don't seem anything on Youtube for SPA platform cars - all the videos I see are for much older XC90's which are a whole different platform. If I'm wrong please post the specific link to the transmission videos for the newer SPA platform cars.

Go to Youtube and search XC90 transmission . There are a couple of videos that walk you thru the whole process . The drain plug is under car which also has imbedded in it the tube which sets the correct amount of fluid .Volvo in it's infinite wisdom does not provide us with a dipstick . [ another life annuity for the dealer ] Fill plug is under the air filter plumbing . You will need correct Torx socket and a extension. No filter required.. Valvoline Synthetic ATF withstands higher temps than Mobil 3309
 
#6 ·
Since there arent any SPA specific videos that any of us can find, what other cars use the same transmission - there may be information we can leverage from them. What transmission model/number do our cars use?

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#9 ·
Looks like this is the transmission our cars us:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AWF8F35

We can probably learn from other cars that use the same transmission...

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#10 ·
I think you'd want to either do a power flush or at least 3 rounds of drain/fill with some driving in-between each round to properly change the tranny fluid.

Doubt you are going to find any tranny how-to's specific for SPA XC90 for at least another year or three, the car is just too new for people to bother with this fluid, and especially to go DIY and document this with pics or videos.
 
#13 ·
I plan on doing 3x drain and fills every 30/50k miles or so. Power flush is typically not recommended by most people (although this tends to be a debated topic) but this probably applies to high mileage/dirty fluid since its stirs up the crud and may block passages. May not be so much of a worry if the fluid is kept pretty clean but I still plan on drain/fill vs power flush.

Anyone know where the transmission fill is? Is there a dipstick (doubtfull)?

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#14 ·
That is one complex transmission. It is amazing to me how complex these transmission are today. I imagine the tolerances are something else given all the machined parts and gears that go into the unit.
 
#26 ·
Just wondering if the transmission fluid has to be replaced or not when replacing the engine? My engine has been replaced. I don't know if the transmission fluid was replaced or not.

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Nope. They are independent mechanical systems with their own fluid replacement intervals.
 
#16 ·
Has anyone tried doing a drain and fill yet? Our XC90 is at 42,000 miles and think it's a good time to do it as we are planning on keeping this car for a long time...plus we are towing with it.

I was planning on draining the transmission when it's cold, measuring the amount that came out and then fill the with exactly what I drained.
I was also looking to fill it with Toyota WS ATF as this is what was mentioned on the Youtube video mentioned above.
Volvo won't supply me any because it's "sealed for life" which is utter rubbish.

Does anyone think this procedure will cause any problems?
 
#17 ·
Ours is around the same mileage. I really want to do this on ours. I need to pull the air filter and see if I can find any of those fill plugs that he shows in the video. If so, I don't see any issues opening a fill plug, pulling the drain plug and measuring what comes out and replacing it with new fluid. I would LOVE to hear from someone who has done it already though!
 
#18 ·
I don't think there is any danger (an lots of upside) in doing this as long as you're careful to collect and measure what comes out. I plan on filling through the (center of) the drain plug (as strange as that sounds) with a hand pump and narrow tube. This is a nice design in that its self leveling if you have access to the fluid temperature but refilling what comes out is the simpler method.
Regarding alternative ATF fluids there's a long list at the following link:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...a-ws-atf-automaitc-transmission-fluid.373083/

I can't verify whether this is a valid list or not. Toyota WS seems more mainstream and probably easier to get. It looks like Toyota WS is $9.50 /quart on Amazon.

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#20 ·
Good info. I'm interested in this also and haven't yet heard of anyone doing it - so you may be the trailblazer here!

When you do do it, it would be great if you were good enough to take the time and document via photos/video in order to help the people and community here. As the SPA platform ages and cars go out of warranty, we need as a group to start expanding the library of DIY instructions similar to what exists for older models of Volvo (probably not as extensjve perhaps due to over reliance on software/VIDA but hopefully useful nonetheless)



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#37 ·
Good info. I'm interested in this also and haven't yet heard of anyone doing it - so you may be the trailblazer here!

When you do do it, it would be great if you were good enough to take the time and document via photos/video in order to help the people and community here. As the SPA platform ages and cars go out of warranty, we need as a group to start expanding the library of DIY instructions similar to what exists for older models of Volvo (probably not as extensjve perhaps due to over reliance on software/VIDA but hopefully useful nonetheless)

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I'm happy to do a write up if I get time to do it.

My only concern now is the o-rings. Should they technically be replaced as you would when replacing the oil filter when doing an oil change on the engine?
I can find the o ring for the small T40 screw but nothing for the main drain plug.
Any advise would be appreciated.
 
#22 ·
Agree in general regarding the combined drain/level plug but I believe the challenge is the level/overflow needs to be at a specific fluid temperature as determined by VIDA. Since we DIYers don't easily have access to VIDA I think it's still safer to replace the volume that comes out with the same amount of clean fluid which depending on the temperature may/may not be the same as the overflow point. I would think filling to overflowing of the drain plug at room temperature would be overfilled at operating temperature due to expansion of the fluid.

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#24 ·
Agree in general regarding the combined drain/level plug but I believe the challenge is the level/overflow needs to be at a specific fluid temperature as determined by VIDA. Since we DIYers don't easily have access to VIDA I think it's still safer to replace the volume that comes out with the same amount of clean fluid which depending on the temperature may/may not be the same as the overflow point. I would think filling to overflowing of the drain plug at room temperature would be overfilled at operating temperature due to expansion of the fluid.

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I hope they have some tolerance of fluid level...
If this is a concern, just go for a short trip (depends on how hot you want it to go) and open the center drain plug to drain the overflow out.
 
#23 · (Edited)
"sealed for life" aka after warranty expires ;)
 
#25 ·
Based on my experience with other cars, modern transmissions are built to tight tolerances and are more sensitive to precise fluid levels that ever before. Most modern cars have very precise procedures to measure the fluid level at exactly the right temperature, a specified time after specified transmission gear changes. So when my time comes, since I don't have free/easy access to Vida to do the transmission drain/fill ( I assume Vida has facility to measure transmission fluid temp) I will be measuring precisely what comes out. I have/use Vida 2014 on a virtual machine on my laptop and use it on my older generation Volvo's but Volvos attempt to limit its use to dealers thru its more locked down subscription Vida for newer cars forces more people to the dealer even for basic maintenance.

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#30 ·
If car manufacturers were willing to give a lifetime warranty on the transmission then I'd believed in their lifetime fluid marketing hype. The reality is the fluid and the transmission will last thru the power train warranty period and then problems caused by dirty fluid are in the hands of the owner. At that point Volvo would be happy to replace your transmission at your cost. I will be changing my transmission fluid on a regular basis. I've done this on several other Volvos and have never got less that 250k miles from a car/transmission. Unfortunately I suspect the electronics in SPA platform cars won't last that long but I'll still treat the transmission well.

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#32 ·
Do any of the Volvo techs who frequent this forum have the procedure for transmission fluid change for the SPA platform?

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#33 · (Edited)
Do any of the Volvo techs who frequent this forum have the procedure for transmission fluid change for the SPA platform?

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They don't do drain and fill. They always disconnect the cooling hose, turn on the car and pump and fill. I think this method should be fine if done every 60k miles.

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#38 ·
What is the diameter of the drain plug?

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#39 ·
What is the diameter of the drain plug?

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Not sure on the diameter, I obviously don't want to unscrew it :) Looks like it's the same as the previous XC90 drain plug but the main difference is that they have moved from the crush washer to o-ring.
I'm just a little concerned if I do change the oil and then get a leak because I didn't replace the o-ring
 
#40 ·
I have a 2017 S60i and found this cool video for changing the transmission fluid



I think you need a 17mm hex and a Torx 40, 50. I am not sure though if its correct for my car since the video is for an older volvo.
Does anyone know if the tools are still correct for a 2017 S60?
 
#41 ·
As far as I'm aware it's exactly the same process. Although I don't have VIDA so I'm not sure what the implications would be in not resetting the counter and also checking the temperature of the tranmission.
I was thinking about using a IR gun and reading the temperature of the casing and also the oil when it comes out of the level plug hole.
Anyone got any thoughts on this?

You may want to replace the o-rings on the transmission. I still haven't changed the transmission oil on my XC90 but have finally found the part numbers for the o-rings for 8-speed transmission (3520718,1233068)
 
#45 ·
I can't imagine the temperature of the casing will give you the same reading from the sensor inside the transmission.
The only way to do it correctly is to get a scanner that can read transmission temperature, or buy a 3 day VIDA subscription and use it instead.
 
#46 ·
I use the Car Scanner app on my phone to check ATF temperature.
 
#47 ·
Thought I'd do a post to let people know that I chickened out of doing the transmission drain and fill myself (I will be doing it in future myself now I've seen Volvo do it), I had to get a couple of things done at the dealer and they did a good deal on price to do it for me.
Volvo UK suggest draining the transmission fluid every 5 years if you tow.

They did two drain and fills and replaced the o-rings (part numbers 3520718,1233068), not sure if they reset the ATF counter or not but the fluid was pretty dark.
Now it's changed there is a very noticable change in smoothness of gear changes...so I'm rather happy it's fresh again
 
#48 ·
Volvo UK suggest draining the transmission fluid every 5 years if you tow.
"Take a shower 1x per week."
Doesn't make sense, right?

Do not use calendar years as a measurement criteria for the time between transmission fluid changes. Mileage and type of driving (stop and go, frequent towing) are the metrics you want to use.

As a general rule, you can't go wrong with a fluid change every 40,000 miles for normal mixed used driving.
If you tow often and are hard on the transmission, 25,000 miles.
 
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#49 · (Edited)
Reviving an older thread but adding my history to the record:

have about 60K kilometers on my 2017 XC90 and decided that I don't like the idea of "lifetime fluid".

This service is very easy, you don't need any software - If you do oil changes you'll be fine.

Followed the basic guide published for SPA platform vehicles by FCP Euro. They also sell a handy kit with all the bits you would need - they give you new O rings, the appropriate fluid etc.

You do need some space to get under the vehicle and make sure it's level for the final fluid level set - I used ramps and then jackstands to level it.

Result:

Old fluid was fairly grungy. It's common for the red appearance of trans fluid to disappear quickly (it's just a color added to distinguish from motor oil). That said, the fluid that came out was pretty murky - less translucent that I expected.

Seat of the pants shifting felt smoother but realistically, this is anecdotal and nothing scientific to back it up.

Overall: took about 3-4 hours from getting the car on jacks to finishing tidying up the mess.

Would do it again? Absolutely. If you want to keep your car in tip-top shape, this is an easy service to keep your trans happy. Too bad we cant easily access the filter, but this is better than nothing.

Edit for Update:

After driving the vehicle for a couple days, I have had the chance to experience city driving as well as highway. I would say that I perceive less "shudder" under medium load acceleration with boost. Car seems happy!
 
#51 ·
After driving the vehicle for a couple days, I have had the chance to experience city driving as well as highway. I would say that I perceive less "shudder" under medium load acceleration with boost. Car seems happy!
I did 3 drain and fills of 4 qts each. Fluid was dark red at 50K mi., but not really that bad. The shifting is so much smoother, no doubt. Surprised me because I didn't think it was shifting bad at all before the d&f. Highly recommend everyone do this if you plan on keeping your car.
 
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