Transmission flush and other questions (shifting and ball joint)

**zabmasonry** · 12-20-2010, 07:58 AM

Howdy,

I've got a 2001 XC70 that is in desperate need of a transmission flush, I called around and the dealer is about 350 for the flush vs. one of the local lube shops (locally owned not a franchise) for somewhere in the vicinity of $150 bucks. There are tons of volvo's around here and they swear up and down that they know what they are doing and will use only fluid that meets the manufacture spec. does anybody see any issue in having a local shop do the flush?

Also, as I live in a snowy place, I'm wondering it is bad for the transmission to throw it into manual mode and tell it what to do when slippery roads, or if that is more stress to the transmission?

Lastly I'm in need of a new control arm bushing and ball joint, can i buy the whole kit and kabodle and avoid having to press in the ball joint?

Thanks

Ben

**gpzTurbo** · 12-20-2010, 09:02 AM

My local shop is owned by a friend of mine. His guys did the flush for me & the only thing the tech said was the the hose/port sizes were different than most cars so he rigged an adapter of some sort to get a good seal. They also did my timing belt/water pump.
I don't remember what brand fluid he used but I did look at the label and it mentioned toyota type iV & Volvo right on it. He also said his Beamer 3-series uses the same fluid.
It's not rocket science. If you're gut tells you they're competant then let them do it and save yourself a few pesos.

**Forkster** · 12-20-2010, 09:25 AM

I paid $20 for tubes and containers with measurements and did my own flush with $90 of fluid and 35 minutes of my time (and a helpful wife who would run through the gears for me).

I'll be doing it again in a few weeks and it'll take me even less time. The slowest part was pouring in the fluid into the small transmission filler hole. But it's a very simply process if you read the Gibbons method for flushing your transmission.

**Huzer21** · 12-20-2010, 10:58 AM

Originally Posted by Forkster

I paid $20 for tubes and containers with measurements and did my own flush with $90 of fluid and 35 minutes of my time (and a helpful wife who would run through the gears for me).

I'll be doing it again in a few weeks and it'll take me even less time. The slowest part was pouring in the fluid into the small transmission filler hole. But it's a very simply process if you read the Gibbons method for flushing your transmission.

Agreed. I went with this method as well and it was very straightforward. I'd pretty much never let someone else drain/refill the tranny with all of the horror stories about places removing the 27mm bolt to refill.

**gpzTurbo** · 12-20-2010, 11:39 AM

I would have loved to service the trans myself but with three kids, a fulltime job, a thriving small business, ten motorcycles, and two other vechiles there just aren't enough hours in the day for me to play junior Volvo mechanic. I have to decide what I want to do more with my sparse free time - see my family once in a while or service my own car? No brainer.
And knowing the shop owner gets me special rates anyway.

**zabmasonry** · 12-20-2010, 01:26 PM

gpzTurbo - i'm in the same boat. I could do the flush myself, but I really just don't want to deal with it. I'm happy to let somebody else do it. Worst case senario, I end up getting a rebuilt tranny for free. (knock on wood)

On a side note, is it a poor idea for me to have the tranny flushed (first time I believe at 160,000 is it likely that I'm going to disloge junk that will cause a complete tranny failure?

Ben

**JRL** · 12-20-2010, 01:43 PM

Yep (IMO), too many miles for a 1st flush
Do three (3) drain and fills

**billr99** · 12-20-2010, 01:53 PM

Originally Posted by JRL

Yep (IMO), too many miles for a 1st flush
Do three (3) drain and fills

I agree and remember that drain and fills are easy to do yourself. You just need to know which end of a wrench to use and how to safely jack up the car.

Cheers,

Bill

**dpaton** · 12-20-2010, 02:02 PM

The tranny is basically stressed the same same in auto or manual mode.

New control arms can be purchased with bushes installed and therefore it's a bolt on vs. remove and repair with a press.

Ball joints just bolt to the arm.

**gpzTurbo** · 12-20-2010, 03:51 PM

I don't know about transmission innards or what wrecks 'em so I won't suggest you do or don't flush but I will say that the trans-vac machine continually pumps new fluid all the way through until you're happy with what's coming out. It there ever was a 'right tool for the job', that's it. Obviously the longer you pump & vac the more new fluid you have to pay for. If memory serves he used 16 qts when mine was flushed. Fwiw my trans was rebuilt by the previous owner at 80k and had 104k when I had it flushed. The fluid was very burnt and black with only that 24000 miles on it and the trans would start slipping in 1st gear after running errands for a few hours. It feels great now.