Hi everyone, I am doing an oil change and tranny fluid swap, including changing the filter, pan gasket and installing an in-line filter ont he atf cooler return line..

I wanted some advice on what to do with the tranny and probably oil pans once I drop them. I really want to clean both and get them to a nice clean new shine, but I am not really sure about what procedure and what products will be safe to attempt this..

Advice will be greatly appreciated...

Thanks
Nicolas

 

Once you have the tranny pan out use brake cleaner to clean it out good.

 

Thanks for the quick reply tech.. what would you use to wipe it? Should I get a pack of those disposable shop rags, or will I be better off with something stronger, non-disposable rag maybe?

 

The brake clean will flush most of it out then it will evaporate.
You can use a rag or even paper towel to wipe it.

 

what tranny fluid will you be using ?

i need to do a drain and fill or even drop the pan and do the filter. manual says its a variant of Dexron 3 but some say on a T6 you should use synthetic,

since i dont have the history of the car i dont know what oil is in there now, mixing synth with regular dex3 makes no sense

also i heard full power flushes are not recommended, what do you guys think ?

 

No power flush.
The fluid should be normal dexron fluid. If you call Volvo they will say synthetic but they say that for all of the cars.

 

so regular dexron 3 off the shelf at any store will do then , thanks
BTW the manual says this exactly:
"Volvo synthetic gearobox oil #8708770, or Dexron 3 G"

whats the G Stand for ?

 

Im not exactly sure.

 

Hey Andrei, about to do the work on the car..
Bought the elring tranny filter and gasket from eeuroparts for about $12
Then bought a magnefine inline transmission filter for about $18 (have one on the accord, wonderful device)
Finally, I decided to go all out on the ATF, got a special on some Amsoil Synthetic ATF on ebay, bought 15 qts. I know I dont have the t6 but I figured I would try to protect the tranny as much as is possible.
If you were wondering the procedure to follow,

http://www.ipdusa.com/Volvo-S80-1999...p-76-586-1056/

read the instructions there.. I pieced together my own kit using the same hose retainer and seal for $5 and some hose for $3.. why pay over$25 for the same thing..

Going to do the job in a few hours so i'll let all of you know how it goes... Cant really document it with pics though as it'll be just me and I doubt i'll be able to use a big SLR cam with my nasty hands..

PS. Apparently any tranny which reccomends dex 3 can also use dex 4 with better results .. everywhere I have read has claimed this

 

I couldnt begin to express how much trouble I am seeing to do this.. Using this as a guide
http://volvospeed.com/Repair/s80_transmission.html

Firstly, whoever was the last person to torque those 20 trans bolts, they halfway stripped them all... none of the auto parts places had more than 4 in stock so we had to drive around everywhere to find.. leading to some serious mix and match...

Next issue, as you would note from his guide, his seal/holder came separate on the new filter, and also he didnt have to replace the original. In my case, when I was taking out the trans filter, the seal/holder came with it already on the filer which is a big problem as it is almost impossible to get off.
The problem is now, that the new seal/holder will not fit into the transmission body properly, so once I try to place the filter onto the seal/body it never seats and pops back on. I managed to get the seal off, but same issue, never really fits properly..

At this time, I tried reuisng the old filter to see if it fits onto the trans body, and it fits fine... Something about the new seal/holder just inst 100% right.. slightly too large i suspect despite it being clearly the right part.

At this point, I managed to put the pan back on just to keep the car like that for the night so I can continue work tomorrow. I have 3 options really.. 1. Go to the stealership to try purchasing a new seal/holder if they will provide it...
2. Give up and re-use the old pan filter.. but I question the wisdom as this seeing as I am putting new fluid in for a reason...
3. Just save my synth ATF, put some cheap dex 3 in for now, and take it to a indy. volvo shop to have them do it for me. Option 3 is not very attractive to me I will admit after all the work I have done to get to this point..

The main problem is clearly the issue of the seal/holder.. do any of you have any experience with this?
thanks

 

If it will not fit it might be the wrong one.

 

Thats the strange thing tech, it appears exactly the same, is pretty much the same dimension but refuses to go up into the trans body like the older one would...

I'll try early tomorrow to get the seal/holder off the old filter, get it up in there and slide the new filter (without the new seal/holder) onto it.. I cant guarantee this will work but its def. worth a shot.

On a side note, how much do you think a new splash pan will run me because apparently I dont have one...

 

They are pretty expensive.
I hope it works for you.

 

I really hope so as well, I guess a splash pan isnt essential so I will pass on that one..

I took a look through VADIS and it looks like I cant buy that seal/holder seperately.. I will have to get a new filter if that is the case, something I really want to avoid doing..

I guess if I start the work early, i should finish earlier...

The only plus of today was that the tranny pan was very very clean, and the brake cleaner finished up the rest...

 

Go to your local auto parts store (AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts, or Pep Boys) and tell them you want a trans filter for a 2000 Chevy Impala 3800 (3.8 liter). They will give you the exact same filter that fits the Volvo since the transmission is the same. Costs about $13. The box should have the seal and a new pan gasket in it. Reuse the old pan gasket if it has the ridges on it longitudinally and around the bolt holes as that's a reusable gasket.

 

Oh damn vegas, I really wish I saw that earlier.... eventually I ended up in advance but they said they didnt have the filter but they were able to knock the seal/holder off the old one for me.. I fit it up into the trans body and then slid the new filter on..

The main problem today was that whoever had this car before me is a complete as*hole! Whoever last dropped that pan used an airgun on everything and clearly overtorqued it. Im talking all the threading for the bolts was shredded, not the actual bolts. So i'm missing half the grooves so I really really had to improvise, mixed old bolts and new for whatever held best and couldnt even use a ratchet or it would overtorque and just cut even worse. Basically tightened everything by hand and using one of the small handheld socket wrenches. No where near as much torque as is specified but no leaks so far, I will continue praying..

Dropping the pan removed about 8 qts of ATF so I began by topping that up. I was smart enough to put it fromt he drain pan into some empty tide bottles so I could get a rough idea of how much was needed. Next step was to do the drain and replace on the atf from the trans cooler line.. this went like clockwork ...
So now the s80 has some beautiful new Amsoil ATF.. and it may just be the placebo effect but in my mind it seems smoother already...

Now I just need to install that magnefine filter on the ATF return line next to the radiator and im good to go.. Those volvo hoses seem like some serious quality though, quite thick..

Thanks for all the help and advice..

PS. Chose not to use the new rubber gasket, stuck with the old metallic reusable one as vegas mentioned..