As a reminder from my other posts, I purchased a 2002 S40 with 100,000 original miles on it a 1 1/2 months ago. I am wondering about doing a trans service on it. The trans works fine so I assume do not mess with it?? I am just looking to be proactive with service issues before there is a major problem. Any thoughts? Thank you.

 

Good time for a drain and refill then. Just drain the trans into a couple of small graduated, semi-clear paint buckets like you can find cheap at Ace Hardware. Then refill the trans with fresh fluid using the amount that was recovered from the drain procedure as your reference. You will get about half the total fluid out of the drain plug. So a drain and refill gets you 50% fresh fluid. Now drive it for a day or two and do the procedure again and you have about 75% new fluid. This is where I give up and call it enough but you can continue with this as many times as you have the money and desire to bring the percentage closer to 100%.

I would not recommend the power flush from a trans shop. Although I have no personal experience I have read of others having problems after the procedure. Maybe just an internet rumor but I'm not going to be the Guinea pig that finds out for sure. I know the above drain/refill works.

 

Drain and fill is the easy way to go - its easier than the "flush" which requires opening the transmission cooler lines. My dealer quoted me $300+ for a transmission flush... when I can do a double drain and fill for under $100. Just make sure you check your owners manual for the correct fluid to use (ie JWS-3309 for the 5 speed autos). Not sure of the exact amount that will come out - the transmission holds about 8 quarts so you'd want to buy 4 or 5 quarts for each drain/fill. Also read up on the procedure for checking transmission fluid levels (it varies by cold/warm/hot on the dip stick...).

 

I threw this together to supplement an old post they had that was lost. I have more pics / a vid somewhere if you need it.

Transmission Fluid Drain and Fill DIY - General S/V40 - Volvo V70R