I've been looking at a couple different boards regarding changing ATF. I bought my t6 without a manual and I don't know what type of ATF my transmission takes. Is it the dexron III? If it is the dexron III, can I do a cheap drain and fill with that then switch over to a synthetic like amsoil? Is there anything that's comparable to amsoil but a little less expensive?

 

On my S80 I used dexronIII, but I used Royal Purple (full synthetic) on my V70 T5. I like the royal purple better. Hold up to higher temps better. Honestly, for something you change every 60-70k miles, why not spend a few extra bucks and get the good stuff. Your transmission will thank you.

 

from what I understand, they normally recommend synthetic ATF if you have one of the geartronic tranny's but you can just use Dex III if you have the regular.

Now, what I wonder is, is there any posible positives and negatives of using synthetic in the regular (non-geartronic) transmission?
Also, back to the age old argument about the transmission filter.. who changes theirs and who does not?

 

i checked the tranny fluid today via dipstick haha and the yellow plastic plug broke off the stick haha, but anyways it was sorta clearish brown. I have the geartronic tranny and i don't know when they tranny filter was changed so im just going to drop the pan and take down two birds. I'm going to check out the royal purple though thanks.

 

If there is a filter, I will always change it in any transmission I own. I also will always use synthetic fluids even when not required, its affordable insurance for a repair that is never cheap. I am considering adding a trans cooler as well.

 

Get some carb cleaner when you pick up the royal purple. Once you get the pan off, be sure to clean the pan and magnet with the carb cleaner. Then, using a LINT FREE cloth clean any deposits you can see on the transmission. Make sure you clean both mating surfaces of the pan/transmission. You can re-use the gasket.

As far as Dexron III vs. Synthetic:

If you're hard on the transmission using the geartronic, or ever tow, or just hard on it in general the synthetic will handle the heat better and dissipate it better as well. The only disadvantage of synthetic is the price, however it's not that bad if you consider the cost of a transmission failure and the longer life of the fluid. Overheating a transmission is horrible for Dexron III, you can burn it up and be doing further damage to your transmission.

 

I definitely am hard on the tranny.. I just wish there was a way to know what was in there at the moment.. The fluid itself is still in good condition and so is the level, but I have no clue what the prior owner of the car used.. Then of course getting the drain/filter job, no one is really sure about if to do it or not.. calling around to dealers and independent shops, each gives you a different story...

it generally boils down to either.. if you havent done it before, dont do it now, you may dislodge things into the tranny
or
you should do it as often as possible, with variable opinions on the filter..(one dealer even told me there is NO filter... I am pretty certain that there is..)

How much would the fluid for a dex III change cost vs the Synthetic and also what brands in particular would be recommended?
I have heard good things about Amsoil, but I normally trust Mobil1 when it comes to my lubrication...

 

HA! I was just at O'Reilly's and took a look while waiting so I could come back and post. They don't have Mobil 1 but they did have Royal Purple at $10.99/qt which is a pretty good price. They had some other synthetics around the $8-9 range, and most of the Dexron III fluids were about $4-5.

 

and royal purple is supposed to be some of the best as well from what I understand...
I normally order online but I think il have to visit the stores and see what they have.. How many qt's does the tranny take? 12 or something like that?

Considering that, it may just be cheaper to pay the dealer.. I think it was about $230 or so for the entire drain and change including the cost of synthetic...

 

It works out to be about 12 quarts, but I didn't drain my cooler like Volvo says to do in Vadis. As long as what they're putting in your transmission is what you want, $230 isn't bad for a full synthetic job really, since you'll have around $12-13 into the filter as well. If I were to do mine today, parts only with Royal Purple would cost $166, and about 1.5hrs time (could easily do in an hour but filling is slow).

 

nicolaselias check this site out!

http://volvospeed.com/Repair/s80_transmission.html

 

thanks for that.. I'll talk to a friend who is likely to have all the tools needed and maybe we can do this over a few beers..

All I need to do is price out the amount of ATF needed and then compare it to the cost of doing it at the stealership..

Does anyone know how long it usually takes to drain all the atf out?