2001 XC 70 transmission cooler and gauge

[eastbay]

Hello, long time lurker, 1st time poster......
I'm planning on towing a 2500 pound boat from Wyoming to California next week, I've been wrestling with the decision to use my Volvo or rent a U-Haul truck. I changed the transmission fluid on the XC using the Gibbons Method (I spilled fluid all over the place- next time I'll source an o-ring fitting into the radiator to the drain hose), and now I am thinking of putting in an aftermarket external cooler and/or a temperature gauge so I can keep track of how we're doing as we go. I'm thinking that if it can't tow without overheating the trans then I could leave the boat in a storage along the way and come back with a truck or whatever.
My question is- has anyone mounted either or both of these? It seems like the cooler and gauge would be a natural given all the concern over these tranny's but I can't find much on it.
TIA!

[BiasedWaffles]

2500 pounds sounds like a ton of weight for an xc70

ba dum tishhh

[eastbay]

2500 pounds sounds like a ton of weight for an xc70

ba dum tishhh

One in every crowd.............

The manual says 3200 lb tow capacity. (or is it 3300?- one of those)

[XCHauler]

I installed a supplemental cooler in front of the radiator and tapped into the lower tranny cooling hose a few years ago along with a Magnafine filter and it seems to work fine. Also if you wrapped some teflon plumbing tape on the hose that you used to drain the tranny fuild it will seal quite well with no leaking.

[eastbay]

I installed a supplemental cooler in front of the radiator and tapped into the lower tranny cooling hose a few years ago along with a Magnafine filter and it seems to work fine. Also if you wrapped some teflon plumbing tape on the hose that you used to drain the tranny fuild it will seal quite well with no leaking.

Thanks for the response! When tapping into the tranny cooling hose, did you cut the rubber part of the return and install hose barbs on each end, so that the auxiliary cooler is in series and downstream of the radiator cooler? Any observations on the mounting of aux cooler- between the grill and the radiator I presume?

Thanks Again

[sjonnie]

I cut the transmission return line, place a Magnafine filter on the end coming from the radiator and ran a hose to a medium sized Hayden Transsaver Plus (http://www.bulkpart.com/2/product/hayden-transaver/OC-1677.html). The cooler is mounted sideways so the tubes can run between the radiator and the bumper (inlet at bottom, outlet at top) on the left hand side of the radiator using the plastic tabs provided with the kit to hold it to the radiator. Cut the back side off as flush as you can so you can wiggle the fan shroud back into it's slot. I used a 3/8" dual barb to join the return hose from the transmission cooler to the transmission return line although a 5/16 would have fit better. No matter, it's been on there for 3 years now without a problem. I have towed a bunch of trailers of at least 2500lbs without a problem. Just use the manual gear selection to keep the car in 4th, inflate your tires to 36psi and you're good to go. Usually I use a tongue weight heavier than than Volvo recommends, but then I don't stick to 50mph either. Make sure you're running a good synthetic. Expect around 14mpg [thumbup]

[eastbay]

Thanks again for the replies.
I wound up putting in an external cooler on the front of the radiator using the rods supplied, a remote filter above the left side wheel well, and a transmission temp gauge. All by B&M.
The trip went fine, no issues, no transmission overheating. The 25' boat towed well although the trailer swayed and moved around some and if I was going to go that far again I'd consider a load equalizer hitch with anti sway.

[sjonnie]

Thanks again for the replies.
I wound up putting in an external cooler on the front of the radiator using the rods supplied, a remote filter above the left side wheel well, and a transmission temp gauge. All by B&M.
The trip went fine, no issues, no transmission overheating. The 25' boat towed well although the trailer swayed and moved around some and if I was going to go that far again I'd consider a load equalizer hitch with anti sway.

Where did you mount the transmission temp gauge? I don't think you'll find a load equalizing system that can work with a 2,500lb trailer or a class II hitch but anti-sway is certainly an option. Usually if it's swaying around too much it means the load is distributed incorrectly but I guess there's not much you can do about that with a boat.