Hi folks,

Just want to say... wonderful forum you've got here, it's a plethora of info!

Well, I have an 88 760GLE with the V6 engine and the AW-71 box. I bought the car about seven months ago, gave it a tune up (plugs, filters, etc) but what I didn't check until a few weeks ago was the tranny fluid. It's brown but not not black, but it does have a few flakes in it. I'm not sure if the transmission was ever serviced (I don't have the records). I want to do a drain and fill with some Valvoline MaxLife ATF... some say drop the pan, others say just drain it through the plug and refill. The only thing I worry about with the latter is that if there is any junk on the bottom, it may be stirred up by the new fluid, however I also worry about opening a new can of worms by dropping the pan. I'm also worried about the possibility of slipping afterwards... I've asked in a few places, but I'm just trying to make an informed decision.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

One of my mottos:
Why not both?

As in, drop the pan to get at any dropped crud (maybe put a magnet on the pan from the outside for a few hundred miles prior) and replace the filter, then do a complete flush.
I flushed mine a couple years ago after having it "professionally" done with a dropped pan, and it's time to do it again.
I'll be going to mobil1 this time. Or perhaps some dino oil, with some *kerosene* (tranny doctor?), then the mobil1 a few days later.

Good luck,
Will
--
1990 740 Turbo, on its way to stock specs, maybe beyond

Here's the problem. When you drain the pan you get less than half the fluid.When you disconnect the trans line to the radiator,attach a clear hose running to a bucket you can get it all. I was slipping severely and sure I would have to have a rebuild, but I was able to save the old tranny on my 87 and it still drives like new.225k.I bought a few feet of clear hose from Lowes, a clamp, 5 gal bucket,2 cases of trans fluid from Costco and 2 quarts of TRans-Medic. The slippage is from a build up of baked on crap.The slippage occurs because the internals are seizing and the Trans-Medic (old timers used kerosene) removes it. Remove the upper trans line from the Rad.(14MM I think) and attach the hose.Run the hose into the bucket. (You can mark the inside wall of the bucket at 1 quart intervals.) Place a funnel in the trans dipstick tube with the first case of fluid nearby.Start the car.The old fluid will of course flow into the bucket.When the 1 Quart level is hit in the bucket start pouring the fresh fluid.Continue until the fluid in the clear hose looks fresh and red. (9 quarts minimum) If slippage is mild add 1 quart Trans-Medic. ( There are other brands available that will probably give similar results.) If the slipping is more pronounced use two quarts. The trick is to drain and refill AS SOON AS the slipping stops. I also added an inline magnetic filter available from WIX filters. Hope this helped. Good luck.

Thanks for the tip...

Even if I don't have any slipping issue at the moment, is it still advisable to use the Trans-Medic? Still, I have a nagging worry that a sudden flush of all of the old fluid rather than a gradual change could be a crapshoot. However, if I did decide to do the flush method in the FAQ, is it okay to leave the pan alone? I just don't know if I'd be able to get that darn filler nut off.

Thank you!!
Darrell

Hey all,

I still haven't had a chance to do any transmission maintenance or look at my right wheel (still need to figure out what's grinding)

Anyway, I've decided that I probably want to do the flush as outlined in the FAQ. I figure I will flush with some cheap stuff, drive for a few weeks, then put in mobil 1. I don't have any leaks currently, what are the chances of starting them?

Thanks, all the help is appreciated!
Darrell

I would vote for simply drain and re-fill. Drive for a month and repeat, drive for two more and repeat again. My rationale is simply that any accumulated crud
is trapped on the pan side of the screen anyway. Anything "stirred up" will almost certainly drain. Unless you are seeing "big" chunks of stuff I'd leave the pan intact as it can be a B!tch to remove. My 2cents.

Thanks for the replies guys.

Hopefully I'll get to it this weekend: I may drop the pan in the future (maybe the Spring) but for now I think I'll do the drain and fill over the four months. Is there any kind of additive or conditioner I should use, or does the Valvoline Maxlife stuff take care of that?

Thanks fellas, really appreciate it...

Hey guys,

Sorry for the double post... but

got a few things done last weekend in regards to the car, changed out tstat, updated the radiator cap to the new green one. Didn't get to the transmission, hopefully this weekend, will just have to pick up some more Dex3 Maxlife! Just while I'm thinking of these things (and I don't want to sound like a nag) has anyone had any trouble with slipping after a partial fluid change such as the one that mmal231294 proposed? I just feel as though the brown stuff is going to eventually cook the box but on the other hand, I don't want to break a working autobox or start leaks, etc.

Thanks in advance :)

Hi Darrell,

I've always had the same concerns you do about changing transmission fluid. Unfortunately, I think my concerns have been realized! Check out my post from October 15th.

http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/volvo/1308084/740/760/780/torque_converter_wont_lock_aw70l_transmission.html

Michael
Melbourne, Fla

1985 740 460k
1988 780 Coupe V6 190k
1992 745 200k

Hi Mike,

Yikes, that sounds like a nasty problem. Thank you for your input, I really need to weigh the options. In trying to do something good for the transmission, I don't want to inadvertently break it in the process. Unfortunately, it seems you had to take the pan off as the KD cable was shot.

Good Luck m8
Darrell

While dropping the pan is normally not done on regularly maintained transmissions, in your case you might consider it due to accumulated crud. The only pain will be the almost certainly frozen fill tube nut. Don't bother trying to loosen this (after twenty years it is impossible): drop the pan with the fill tube in place and maneuver it down. Clean, reinstall with a new gasket, and then flush the fluid per FAQ instructions. MaxLife is fine.

BTW, if you do this make sure your kickdown cable works well and is not frozen. You need to drop the pan to replace that too.
--
See the 700/900 FAQ at the select shortcut button on the top right of the screen.

Hello,
I recently purchased a '88 740, with about 145k miles. The tranny fluid was brown, like yours. I ended up dropping the pan, cleaning the filter and replaced ALL the ATF, as per the FAQ. Everything went well, and the tranny has been working perfectly since. A little extra time to replace/flush the fluid is well worth not having to replace a burnt tranny. Just my .02

Regards,
Chris