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Originally Posted by SourDiesel
Good write up... most people only seem to have tackled the 5-speed box. I need to do mine at some point.
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Yes, there is virtually no information regarding fluid changing on the 6 speed in any of the Volvo forums. Most of what I could find is on the US Ford Fusion forum so I realised as far as the auto Volvos go, I was on my own. That's partly why I bottled out to a simply repeat sump dump/fill rather than trying the more involved 'Gibbons' technique in case anything went wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SourDiesel
Did you replace the washer on the level/drain taps?
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Not at this stage as I will be repeating the process again after a week and then again after a further week, 3 times in all, draining 2.5 litres each time. I shall put new ones in after the 3rd and final change for this round. The main drain plug uses a metal washer which is the same Part No as the engine oil sump drain plug washer. The inner smaller level check plug and filler plug both have rubber 'O' rings so it may not be necessary to replace those?
The exact amount I got out was about 2.4 litres but I miscounted and put 2.9 litres back in. So with that, with the car on the drive, I ran the engine and put the gear change thorugh 5 secs in P, R, N & D each then repeated the process in reverse and repeated the whole combination another 2 times. I then drained out 350ml, leaving 150ml more in than came out. Hopefully, the second time round, I'll get 2.55 litres out. After the 3rd dump/fill, I'll do the proper level check procedure for the 6 speed box. This process is exactly the same as is often used on manual boxes rather than the dipstick more usually used for auto boxes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SourDiesel
I assume you used Volvo ATF? Have you seen an improvement in how the box shifts?
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Yes, I used Volvo ATF. With the VOC discount, it is cheaper than either base Mobil JWS3309 (which is what they all are) or Toyota T-IV. There is also a GM version, strangely in the GM case, the Part No for the 6 speed fluid is different to the 5 speed fluid. I don't know why as these autoboxes are made by Aisin AW, a subsidiary company in which Toyota have a majority shareholding and Toyota recommend the same fluid for both 'their' 5 and 6 speed autoboxes. There are other JWS3309 compatible fluids which are cheaper still and others in this and other forums have reported using these without any issues so far. Again, I'm not sure whether these are mainly 5 speed versions though.
Regarding shift, then undoubtedly smoother, especially under load. Even with this first stage fluid change, there is a noticeable improvement. It wasn't bad before, it's just that now, I'm not even aware of some of the changes other than by the engine rev indications and switching to geartronic manual mode to see what gear it's in. It also looks from early indication that fuel consumption is improved slightly. Not too surprising as that old dark worn stuff was higher viscosity than the new clean stuff that went in.
HTH