Tranny Flush/Bevel Gear Oil/Sell? - Long

[8pack]

1st post hear although I have been reading for quite some time. Performed some of the maintenance items recommended as follows and have some questions overall:

Vehicle 2000 V70 XC, 125k miles, Mobil 1 oil changes every 5k, small stuff fixed which I found the solution for on here:

Rear tailgate lock failed (severed wire, patched and good to go)
Main window switch failed - Replaced
Thermostat Failed - Replaced hoses and Thermostat
Broken Headlight (hit a deer) - Junkyard part, replaced

Big Stuff

Transmission Flush - Purchased case of Mobil 3309 from AVlube for $6/qt with shipping compared to $19 at delaership. Dealership claimed only the Volvo fluid was acceptable. I did not follow the flush procedure as outlined on the site but used the drain and fill procedure, drained the pan, refilled, drove 5 miles running through the gears, repeat 4 times. I had the transmission thunking problem at highway speeds and around town. Seems to have remediated it. Will flush once every 6 months from now forward with 3 quartsto keep the fluid "fresh.

Bevel Gear - Bevel/Angle gear is weeping at the seal where the axle comes in. Seems to be a slow leak. Drained gear box with MityVac as described on here. Only 550ml of fluid came out. Looks like I have lost about 200ml, hopefully not enough to have done any damage...opinions?. Thick nasty brown stuff! Refilled with 750ml of Volvo 75/90 gear oil (they call it transmission oil). No noise presently coming from the gear box. I plan to check the level every 30 days to see how much fluid i am losing and top off verifying to see if it gets worse. I don't see why i can't just keep topping it off. As an fyi, the procedure I found on here says to top off until it runs out the fill hole. If you do that it will be over filled if the car is on ramps. Use the graduations on the bottle and put in 750ml.

I am unclear from the posts as to what success people have had getting Volvo or a tranny shop to fix the seals. Seems like 90% of the time volvo says it is a non serviceable part, but some have had success getting their seals changed. If anyone has part numbers for the seals/procedure or tips on how to get volvo or a transmission shop to replace the seals I would appreciate it.

Intermittent CEL - Occassionally the CEL comes on and throws a code for a bad cat. The dealer was cool and said to change the o2 sensors 1st and see if it goes away. I did that, and went a way for while. Re-pops every few thousand miles, I reset the light and typically good to go.

Basic tune up - Changing plugs and flushing brake fluid this weekend. Volvo wants $725 for the 120k service, but from what I can see that is all that they do beyond the normal oil change stuff etc.

Wrap-up.....Car has 125k miles. 2 known potential major issues, Catalytic converter and Bevel Gear are likely to be failing at some point in the future. In addition, the turbo is an expensive item which I am not sure what the life span is. Otherwise, car runs great and burns no oil. If all those items crap out, we're talking $6k+ in repairs.

Should it stay or go!?!?

Thanks in advance for everyone's comments/opinions....

[mrscullini]

i think you should stay. sounds like you can fix a lot of issue yourself. i have found the volvo to be pretty easy to repair/maintain.

definitely keep an eye on the bevel gear fluid. i cannot comment on the seal replacement.

as for the dtc, what code are you throwing? i would recommend replacing the maf sensor also. i had a similar issue, i replaced the rear o2 sensor and the maf sensor, knock on wood, i have not thrown any new codes. i was throwing generic codes 1171 and 1174.

i cannot really comment on the turbo. it is a low pressure turbo. keep the oil changed often. i use synthetic and change every 3500 miles or so.

[volvoman9]

I slid into a curb last year which broke the right front wheel and necessitated driving on the donut for about two weeks. I began to read on various sites about the failure of the bevel drive gear and was convinced that mine was going. I took it to the nearest Volvo tech in my area (500 mile round trip) and he changed a bearing in the front axle and the drive shaft to the rear. The support bearing was failing and causing vibration and noise that seemed to come from the area of the bevel gear. He also replaced a seal in the bevel drive housing. I too had a leak and was low on fluid. The early generation XC's were thought to be able to survive without any change of fluid in this housing for the life of the car. This was later found not to be the case and Volvo began to install a drain in the housing by drilling out a lower case bolt. They recommend changing the fluid every 30 k. I had my tech do this and he claimed the gear was fine but he did find a dry bearing which he was able to re-furbish. The short of this story (if you're still reading) is that yes this can be done and it is a good idea. As you may know a replacement bevel drive unit re-built is around 2500. My car has 125 K on it and has been the most expensive of six Volvo's that I have owned to maintain. However I think this is a function of buying a first generation model. Later versions seem to suffer less from drive train issues. The seals and installation of the drain cost about $300-350.

[tbrown4x4]

Sorry if this isn't in the right area, but transmission fluid seems to be a hot topic. I was going to buy Amsoil Synthetic ATF for our 2002 with 90K on it. The dealer is going to get me all the info about it so I can compare the specs before I dump it in. Has anyone used this in their trans and how did it go? Great info on the site, I'm glad to have found you. Todd

[JRL]

Sorry if this isn't in the right area, but transmission fluid seems to be a hot topic. I was going to buy Amsoil Synthetic ATF for our 2002 with 90K on it. The dealer is going to get me all the info about it so I can compare the specs before I dump it in. Has anyone used this in their trans and how did it go? Great info on the site, I'm glad to have found you. Todd

Some have, the jury is still out.
You KNOW you're safe with 3309