i have a 2000 S70 with 100k miles on it. i am the original owner and all service required has been performed.
recently i have had what seem like transmission issues. i put the car in reverse and it goes forward, the car revs and the tachometer goes way up.
not trusting the dealer anymore i took the car to a shop that services only volvos and has an excellent reputation. apparently the trans. fluid was REALLY low and the fluid was black. they said it was the worst they had seen and saved it to show me. their thought was the no one had ever checked the transmission levels since i bought the car.
the guy at the shop told me he had to put in 6 quarts of fluid vs. the normal 4 to flush the system, when i spoke with volvo this morning they said you normally put in 6 and 8 if its really bad?? anyone know the correct answer.
my husband wants me to go back to thedealer who did the last big service that required checking the trans.(90k) and ask for some type of refund since they obviously did not do the full service.
has anyone experience never having the transmission fluids checked.
the volvo dealer this morning said that volvo NA tells the dealers that their transmissions are basically not serviceable and no need to check or flush them ever? he did say he has seem an increase in transmission problems.
thanks in advance.

 

So how quick can trans. fluid turn black with normal driving?
2 dealers said it takes quite a while.
the dealer who we believe has failed to regularly check the level said it can go from red to black in just a few thousand miles.

 

It usually does take a while to turn black.

 

tech, so is it possible to turn pitch black in 10k or less? one dealer says absolutely and the other says no way. i just want to know who to believe for future service. thanks!

 

I would say no.

It usually takes like 50,000 miles depending on driving habits.

If you towed something every day and beat on the car hard then maybe yes for 10k.

Normal driving about 50k or more.

 

thanks Tech!

 

Your welcome

 

I've been told temperature is critical in transmission oil. If the volume was significantly less than normal, temperature will rise, as there is a smaller mass for the heat to go and less surface area to dissipate away through. Higher temperature means shorter useful life, which would show in color, smell and consistency (lower viscosity, possible foaming).

 

Tech is right, it should take about 50-60k for it to turn black, unless you just did a drain and fill on a car whose tranny fluid was already in bad shape. On a drain and fill the tranny will take about 3 1/2 quarts, from empty it will take close to 9 quarts but you can't empty it simply by draining it at the drainplug.
As far as getting a refund, let me know how that goes, they are required to check the fluid, but there really isn't a specific interval for changing, although any good tech will tell you 20k miles.

 

i heard back from the dealer that serviced the car most recently. they continue to tell me that in a matter of just a few thousand miles the fluid can turn dark black. they also said they can't be responsible as things do get busy and techs do on occassion forget to check fluids, we won't be buying another car from that dealer.

 

I think that transmission flush requires about 12 quarts of fluid.

It takes all the transmission fluid out including the fluid in torque converter and puts in the new fluid.

If it's dark black, you need to do transmission flush.

Even though you can change 2 to 3 quarts incrementally, it won't help.

 

They forget to check fluids? That's nonsense.
They probably don't know how to check it since the transmission dipstick is all the way down.
They probably don't even care.