Purchased the above from a client with 117K on the clock. Had read the forums about the transmission issues and known problems with the vehicle. After the purchase the tranny issues became a little more apparent after I drove the vehicle fully warmed up.

Decided to order the B4 servo cover and do an couple of drain and fills before making a decision about whether this was a poor purchase or not. Pulled the car into the garage today, got on the cold concrete floor and proceeded with
the Servo cover first.

The part ordered from ipdusa.com had good instructions, but they failed to mention that you need baby-sized hands to do this job. Removing the old cover took a little longer than I thought it should because I could not grab the old cover with a pair of pliers. reinstalling the new one was even more fun, because one should have three arms to pry the new cover into place, while installing the snap ring to hold it into place, all the while getting sufficient light on the project. More than a little mumbling occurred while this job was completed. I guess I should be happy I didn't attempt this when it was 100 degrees.

The drain and fill went better, although the drain plug in my tranny was little more than finger tight when I removed it. The drained fluid was dark and thick, and I'm hoping for good things later. I'll report back in a week or so after a weeks worth of commuting and noting flares and slips.

 

What fluid did you use?

 

After a lot of reading and agonizing, and even a trip to a Toyota house to read the label on their T-IV, and walking away, I returned the next day and bought the Toyota fluid.. I put 3.5 quarts in and with blind luck managed to hit the "full cold" mark right on.

Today (Monday) on my commute I did note less flare from dead stops, but there was a noticable lag between putting the vehicle in D and engagement. Only once, but still there was one. Also had a downshift situation that overreved (slow down for light, it changed before complete stop, hit the gas and then a slam into gear). Again, only once, but it did happen.

This is the first day of commuting on the changes, and I'll reserve judgement for at least a week, and maybe even another drain and fill.

 

Not that there is anything wrong with the Toyota fluid, and I haven't used it, but I have been using Valvoline MaxLife. I ran it in my '02 for 65K and loved the result. My '06 was exhibiting some of the same issues you are having so I did a 3X drain/fill with the MaxLife fluid and the issues are all gone. I would highly recommend doing a couple more drain/fills cycles since one only exchanges about 40% of the fluid. Stick with the Toyota fluid or use the MaxLife as it can be mixed with no issue, but I'll bet a couple more helps. As a last resort have the computer reset so the trans knows it has new fluid then it will "re-learn" how to shift.

 

I would recommend a few more drain and fill cycles to clear out all of the old fluid. Or you can use the power flush method via the radiator.

 

So two weeks after the first drain and fill, I did another. Last weekend involved a 700 miles trip, which in my mind anyway, would have helped circulate the newer fluid around and maybe even clean some things up.

I've also noticed a motor oil leak that is presenting below the pulleys on the passengers-side end of the motor. Couple of weeks ago I saw this, and noticed that the power steering fluid line had leaked in the past, and chalked it up to that. Sprayed engine degreaser all over it at that time, car wash trip to clean everything up. While under the vehicle this weekend to pull the tranny drain plug noticed that more fluid had collected on the frame rail under the pulleys. Collected a little bit on finger tip and it appears to be motor oil rather than power steering fluid. Also inspected the p/s hoses and couldn't locate a leak, but did see drips off the passenger-side end of the engine.

Currently looking for a reputable independent Volvo shop in the Fort Worth Texas area. Any suggestions ?

 

So I did find a shop that came recommended in the mid-cities area of DFW.
(PM me if you are interested).

I took the car by there one day last week and spoke with the owner about the leaks. He suggested it might be one of three things, and even gave me a ballpark repair cost for each of the three scenarios.

Tuesday I took the vehicle in, left it, and he promised it back today
(Thursday). He found the intake cam seal leaking, no oil on the one year old timing belt, and the VVT was not leaking. I was impressed that the repair came in under any of the suggested costs to repair, and was completed when promised.

Owner of the shop seemed to know the quirks of this particular model and some of the issues of the vehicle (transmission, for example).

 

The second drain and fill didn't change much. I've been reading multiple forums to try to gather as much information about this as possible. Linear Solenoids replacement has come up multiple times, and that appears to be a DIY if one is brave enough. I did buy a pint of Seafoam Transtune and poured half of it in, in hopes that some varnish could be removed internally and help things along. I'm pondering a third drain and fill just to see if that might be the magic bullet.

 

Like a posted mentioned you can reset the transmission so it will re-learn your shifting tendencies.