Hi Scotty,
I have a 2005 XC70 with 175K miles on it. I bought it with 110K. It runs great! I’ve heard that changing the trans oil on such an old and high mileage car can do more harm than good. I haven’t changed it yet and not sure if previous owners did. The dip stick color is not terrible, but definitely not super clean either. I drove the car about 3K miles per year and hope to keep it for about the next 6 years. Would you change the trans oil or not mess with it? Thanks for all your help. Love your videos!!!
I dont see anything regarding this transmission on a 2005 volvo in the FAQ. Is there somewhere more specific you can point me towards or let me know what you suggest?
The recommendations in the FAQ are broad and apply to virtually all transmissions of the types covered there such as conventional and CVT.
I've never heard of Volvo transmissions requiring anything special or different in the way of maintenance, except possibly for older models with something unusual such as the Volvo 66 with Variomatic. Perhaps someone else here has information specific to your model.
It shifts fine and doesn't have a burnt smell. The fluid is not terrible. The FAQ says not to change if over 150 miles. I'm only a bit over that and with the fluid looking ok and trans not having any current issues, I'm wondering if it would be better in my case to do the maintenance even though I'm over the 150K mark in the FAQ.
The bottom line is that those are guidelines and no one can predict for certain what's going to happen when changing the fluid in a particular high-mileage transmission with unknown service history, or that has never been serviced.
In general if the fluid is not burnt and/or gritty it is safe to do, but no one can guarantee the outcome. In that case the safest is to do a simple drain and fill (partial change), saving the old fluid in case problems develop. If the transmission has a filter that should be changed as well.