Transmission fluid change
 

Hi,

I have a P3 shape S80 with the auto TF80SC gearbox. I'm thinking of doing a tramission fluid change via the drain & fill method, but I'm wondering which of the below is the best method:

1. I've read that some people simply drain what they can out of the transmission (Usually 4l max) using the drain & fill method, then pour the same amount of fresh fluid back in & leave it at that (One drain/fill).

2. Some do one drain & fill, drive a few hundred miles & then repeat the process two/three times over a period of time.

3. Some do multiple drain/fills all at once, but that means you’d have to have plenty of transmission fluid to hand

Do you need to reset the adaptions after changing the fluid?

Thanks in advance.

I'm just taking ours for this EDT service tomorrow (in the section itself):

https://www.hortoncars.co.uk/volvo-n...and-solutions/

I did it with our old XC70 and was really pleased. Probably overkill but hey.

Option 2 is best... 3 cycles will change 90%+ of the fluid.

duplicate post apologies

Thank you for your responses.

Would it make a difference if I completed the transmission fluid change using option 3, but put the car through the gears after each drain & fill for a few seconds whilst the car is stationary to mix as much of the old fluid with the new, which presumably does the same thing as option two all at once (As done in the video below)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAb9p8Wph-M

@bonefishblues - Thank you for the link, an interesting read. Its a pity the garage is so far away from me!

I did the Gibbons method, to multiple drains with it forced emptying from the cooler return pipe, not made any difference to my transmission, actually, thats probably not 100% accurate, it may have slightly improved it, perhaps as much as 10% but probably more likely about 5% max and i have put through about 50L. Although i didnt really drive it during that time, maybe i should have, no telling but i would have thought that if there was going to be any reasonable improvement then 50L would have done it. That was a lot of money that could have gone towards getting the valve body changed i spose but it would have been the cheaper option had it have worked.

Option 2 is good but isnt there a risk of shifting some gunk and blocking a valve if there is nothing wrong in the 1st place?

There is always a risk of shifting gunk and it causing problems but we still change oils. The real trick is to do it often and then there is less gunk to cause problems.

We change our engine oil every year. The gearbox does the same milage because even stationary with the gearbox in neutral the main shaft is turning , other manufacturers useing the same auto transmission recommend oil changes at 40,000 miles, so every 2 years. Why is it not done? Because volvo charge £350 to do it.

I drive a manual, I change my gearbox oil every second year along with brake fluid and power steering fluid. Probably overkill as the car only does about 8000 miles a year but it's the last volvo I will buy as nothing comparable has manual transmission now so it needs to last.

Paul.

You can do that but my personal preference is to drive a bit between dumps, so the gearbox gets fully up to temperature and any crud that the newer, cleaner oil is able to dissolve gets shifted.

+1 👍…………...

Crikey, i have never changed the oil in a manual, never had an issue with a manual box either, to be honest, i didnt even know you could lol