I have 243,000 miles on car, trans fluid is full, but dark.

Should I change it? Or leave it alone due to high mileage?

Also what type of transmission fluid does this car take?

 

I got an 86 240 and bought the IPDUSA hose that attaches to the return line ( top hose on rad ) and changed the oil because of it being dark and clunking when shifting.

smooth shifts now but noticed a lack of speed after that....used the right fluid but I guess with high mileage transmissions when you change the fluid it might jack it up.

I only changed 5 quarts so I got to do it again with five more to because of fluid on supply and return lines and rad deposits. You should buy like 10 quarts and do a quart at a time.

 

Change it. Dexron 3 is what you are after for fluid. Don't waste money on the flush kits, just drain the pan, refill, run for a minute, drain, refill and see how it looks.
Using the transmission's pump to change fluid can be bad if you let it run dry, plus it's really slooooooow. Do it properly, drop the transmission pan, replace filter and fit a new gasket.
By draining the fluid, you're replacing 2.5 litres of fluid at once, plus getting a lot of particles out of the transmission pan.

Regards, Andrew.

 

+1...Change it. Your car has the AW71L, arguably the stoutest automatic transmission Volvo used...it's worth changing. If you had an n/a car w/ that many miles on the wimpier AW70 I'd say don't touch it...drive it until it dies and throw another in...they're dirt cheap (free to $150 max).

 

Flush it. The only way to get the fluid 100% clean is to do a power flush. depending on how dirty it is it could take up to18 qts. Very easy to do and will not harm a thing. You can change filter too but not necessary if car is sghifting properly and tranny is not whining...it is a metal mesh filter rarely needs to be changed if ever...

 

It's an hydraulic system, filters should be changed regularly. Just some of the problem an even partially clogged filter can cause are low line pressures, cavitating pump, overheating of the fluid.
WHy not spend the $10 and do it properly?

Regards, Andrew.

 

So it looks like the consensus is to change the fluid? I never know what old tales to believe or not, like people saying never switch brands of oil! Think much of it is apocryphal.

Thanks!

 

?? properly I've been doing this 20+ years. On the Aisin Warner the filter is metal mesh not paper...proper service is doing a power flush at every major service 30k. Filter only ever needs to be changed if it's clogged and tranny is whining or not functioning properly otherwise it can be left alone. Besides you can never get a tranny entirely clean without flushing it when you drain and drop the pan you maybe only get 4 qts if that? When you fill back up you have another 4 qts of dirty fluid sitting inside. The proper way is to flush until fluid is clean and fill appropriately. Now the Borg Warner is a different story...you do not want to power flush that tranny and you want to change the filter each service and do a band adjustment as well.