My 92 240 started having a whine coming from the transmission about 3 days ago as soon as the car is started and would get louder if you rev the engine but would go away after it warms up unless engine is reved above 2-3k rpms. The whine would go away totally after about 15-20 min of highway driving untill the car has cooled off. Well today I went to drive it down to the store when I noticed if tried to acccelerate to go up a hill or to speed up it would hesitate or sputter a bit which has never happend before and the transmission has always shifted smooth with no issues. The fluid looks clean with no burnt smell and the fluid level is just a hair above the plastic on the stick.

Right now I have the car parked till I figure out what I should do so I don't do any damage.

I was wondering if I should flush the transmission, drain it and replace the filter or is my transmission about to die?

I greatly appreciate anyone's help :-).

 

Dear zero324:
From Bentley... Volvo 240 on page 400-10 we get some clues if ATF is at correct level consider how may miles it has gone. Flush and replace the filter. A filter and gasket kit is available however the filter I have found is a cleanable screen. The solutions escalate to the torque converter and then to the oil pump in the transmission. I think every Volvo owner should get the Bentley manuals. Are you sure the noise is from the transmission have others heard the noise while in the car and heard it coming from the transmission area ? I have pulled the transmission pan on other vehicles and have found the oil off the dip stick serviceable but in the bottom of the pan a black mess. The 240 dipstick attachment to the oil pan can be challenging get the right wrenches that fit well. There are articles on the net about beating rust and frozen on parts so I will not go into that.

 

time to drop the pan and chnage the filter then do a flush. most likely a clogged filter making a whine cause it's not allowing all the fluid by it and pressure is building up.

 

time to drop the pan and change the filter then do a flush. most likely a clogged filter making a whine cause it's not allowing all the fluid by it and pressure is building up.

 

Well I drained the pan, changed the filter, and did a power flush. As you can see from the pic below I was unable to get the dipstick tube off so I took the support bolt off and let the pan hang from the top small support bracket since it's rivited on.

I found that filter was totally clogged up which as you can see in the pics no power flush could clean out and also there was alot of junk in the bottom of the pan.



After getting thru doing the power flush and getting all the fluid levels right the whine is totally gone and the car drives better than it ever has.

 

Congratulations job well done. I too experienced a marked improvement with smoother shifting when I flushed my transmission but my pan and filter were clean. In a previous post I said I just bought the car and had no clue of recent maintenance. I think the ATF products we get now are superior to the older fluids.

 

Yea I just got mine about a month and a half ago for $500 from a girl who thought the car was told it was about to die and transmission was bad. I drove it from Athens, GA to Charlotte, NC doing only 60-65mph due to the OD relay being bad. Got home resoldered the joints in the OD relay and it worked no problem. The only thing i've had to do to the car is replace the motor and transmission mounts, replace the tailgate wire harness's,blower motor, odo gear, oil change, and the transmission filter and flush. Plus replaced a few broken interior pieces thanks to pull a part. So far i've only put about $150 in to the car but I think i'm gonna get the A/C system going next week which will be a bit pricey for the parts but well worth it so my kids won't complain when riding in it.

I totally agree that the new ATF products are way better than they use to be plus alot cheaper.