after only another 30K miles in my R AWD seem to indicate to me that the trani selected for this car was underrated! The fluid appears dark and burned which in most cars it would look like this maybe after 75K. This is only reinforcing my fears that this model is not a "long term" car as I am normally used to in a volvo (200K) unless I sink in lots of bucks past 100K miles at which I am at with this car on major items.! My brothers 98R AWD with 130K is just now indicating trani problems and he as well is very good on how he drives/maitains his cars! Might be time to unload her!

Back in '99 I picked up a 240 with 42K on it. The tranny fluid was slightly burnt. I took it to a shop and had the fluid replaced. 6 months later it was looking burnt again. I then fully flushed the fluid myself. Again, 6 months later it was looking burnt. Even so, the transmission was still working just fine. I then, once again, flushed the system. Only this time I used a Synthetic ATF. No more burning. I had put in Mobil 1 ATF. After trying Amsoil ATF in my other car and being shocked at the difference, I dumped the still nice and red Mobil 1 ATF after 23K and replaced it with Amsoil. The Amsoil has been in there for almost 20K now...still nice and red.

I hope that this is encouraging for you. You would do well to flush the system with either Mobil 1 ATF or Amsoil ATF. This may solve your fluid problem. Both are excellent. I found the Amsoil to result in a little smoother operating and a little better fuel efficiency.

-Ted

>> Might be time to unload her!


n.s.

For front wheel drive, a prudent tranny fluid change interval is 15,000 miles.
If you start fresh, changing what is in the pan that often will probably keep your tranny going a long time.

Do a flush, and put in AMSOIL synthetic ATF (or Mobil 1 ATF). This will resist oxidation much better, run cooler, and should last about 3 times longer than the non-synthetic (which means you'll change what is in the pan about every 45,000).

at 65K I did the Bay 13 flush procedure with 8 quarts and this time the same!
Amazes me how bad the fluid looks for only 35K miles!! My 740 used to see changes at about the same intervals and it never looked like this. I had 200K when I got rid of that car and it had the original trani that still ran great!

Most rear wheel drive cars have the transmission behind the engine. Front wheel cars have them nestled together, and seems a lot of heat passes from the engine to the transmission. Heat kills the non-synthetic ATF!