Hi,

Does any have trouble getting the correct oil filter for their AW71 transmission? The ones I get have a completely different shape than the one I removed.

Thanks

the aw70 aw71 have different shaped filters. be careful, the manufacturers have mixed them up. the aw70 filter will be almost rectangular (one corner will be a diagonal). it will have 5 bolt holes. the aw71 filter will have a more irregular shape (have a right-angle inset along one side) and have 7-8 bolt holes.

it sounds like your transmission oil has never been changed. it should be flushed every 100,000 to 150,000 miles. you should drop the pan to see if there are metal parts in the pan (including fine shavings).

to drop the pan. the later 940's have a muffler support. you have to remove this to drop the pan. to remove that support. get a small jack. using a 2x4 beneath the pan, support the transmission. from the u-joint side, remove the 4 bolts that attach the rear trans support to the transmission. you can now pull the metal support towards the drivers side to remove it completely. you may have to raise the transmission slightly. Replace the bolts and remove the jack.

find the dip stick tube. loosen the two bolts that attach the tube to the transmission (do not remove the top bolt - hard to put back in). now unscrew the tube connector nut where it attaches to the side of the pan. it will take some mussel to unscrew this nut. you can now easily remove the pan and filter. inspect and clean the pan before you put it back. it has two small magnets. the base of the pan should not have metal debris. if so, you may need a new trans. the reason you loosen the bolts that hold the dip stick tube in place is to allow you to more easily re-attache the dip stick nut to the pan. if you do not loosen those nuts, you eventually will. that nut has to be orientated just right or you wills strip the threads.

amounts- when you drain the pan through the drain hole, you will get about 1.8 quarts. when the dip stick tube is removed about another 1/2 quart will drain. when you drop the pan, another 1/2 quart will drain. when you remove the filter another 1/4 to 1/2 quart will drain.

how to flush the trans. go to wall mart and get 3 to 5 gallons of the cheap trans oil (dextron III) is what it uses). make sure the pan is in place. do not drain the pan.

look at the left side of the radiator. the upper metal hose is the return line for the transmission. undo the nut and detach the line from the radiator. get a rubber house (~3/8 id and 1-2 feet long) and push it over the nipple. put a large pan on the ground below that area and put the end of the hose in it. remove the trans dip stick and put a long neck funnel into the top of the dip stick opening. get 4 empty one quart containers. fill each container with about 1 quart of trans fluid. place them on top of the radiator or on a table that is in easy reach. turn on the engine and immediately pour a quart of oil into funnel and keep pouring oil until you run out. you can see the old oil flowing into the pan. If the draining oil looks foamy, stop the engine and add oil to the trans. when you are out of oil and the funnel just empties, turn off the engine. drain the pan beneath the radiator, and refill your 1 quart containers. this time, pour one quart of oil into the trans before you start the engine. (the trans can pump out the oil faster than you can pour it in.) do this until 3 gallons have flowed through the trans. then re-attach the return line and refill the trans. it is messy but not hard to do. you have now replaced 90+ percent of the oil in the trans.

you should also drain and refill the differential and the coolant at the same time.

Dear BooBoo,

Hope you're well. I presume you mean the filter, that is exposed, when the transmission pan is removed.

Ordinarily, this filter does not need to be replaced (unlike an engine oil filter). If the transmission filter is clogged, that suggests coolant - from a failed, in-radiator transmission fluid cooler - has damaged the clutch packs. Even so, clean the filter and re-install it.

If the filter has been damaged to the extent that it cannot be re-installed, the part is #1239829. It costs about $20 at a Volvo dealer. This filter is rectangular, about four inches wide and six inches long.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

Spook

Sorry for the long delay to your prompt response. I looked at the filter #1239829 and it is the one I received with my kit. My transmission is clearly labeled AW71 L, but the filter that matched the one in it was for an AW70 or AW72.

The filter was clearly clogged. I have been told that if the coolant mixed with the transmission fluid it would be white in color and bubbly. The fluid was very dark in color and had a burnt smell. I often check the fluid and until that day it refused to shift it was darker than a year ago, but not odor has ever been present. Have you ever seen transmission fluid contaminated with coolant?

The transmission was flushed until the clean fluid started to come out. Hopefully the transmission will shift correctly when I test it this week. Should it prove to be a leak from the radiator, I will replace it with a used transmission and an exterior transmission cooler.

Thanks

Dear Gus123,

Hope you're well. It sounds as if: (a) at some point, coolant contaminated the automatic transmission fluid (ATF) and (b) someone changed the transmission filter, but used the wrong filter.

ATF contaminated with coolant will be a milky pink. I know this from reading posts from those, who have had a failure of the in-radiator ATF cooler.

Because the ATF in your tranny was very dark - but clear - it sounds as if the ATF in your tranny was simply old and/or contaminated with clutch pack fibers, that had been loosened by exposure to water in the coolant.

Inspect the coolant in the cooling system overflow tank. If the coolant has atop it a layer of pink liquid, that's ATF. That means the in-radiator ATF cooler has failed. Replace the radiator at once!!! ATF won't harm the cooling system, but coolant must not get into the ATF.

If the coolant in the overflow tank shows no signs of ATF being present - and presuming the most recent flush has removed all remaining loose clutch pack fibers - I'd go 1,000 miles and re-flush, using Wal-Mart Super-Tech ATF, simply because it is low-cost.

If after going 1,000 miles, the fluid is a clear, rosy red, I'd replace it with Brand Name ATF.

Presuming that the tranny shift smoothly, I'd not replace it, unless you find a low-miles unit at a bargain-basement price. A tranny swap is best done by a transmission shop. I'd ask that the rear main seal be inspected. If it shows signs of leaking, replacement is cheap, once the tranny has been pulled.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook