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2006 Volvo XC90 2.5L Turbo Auto

2006 Volvo XC90
Trim Info:
Front Wheel Drive, 4 Door, Special Purpose Vehicle
17 mpg city / 23 mpg hwy
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February 12, 2013, 7:09 pm

Rich G
 

Question: Servicing Transmission

I bought a 2006 Volvo XC90 V8 about a year ago. The car now has 140,000 miles on it. I recently contacted my local Volvo dealer to price a transmission service. I have no paper to indicate if the tranny was ever serviced. He stated to me to leave it be. That changing the fluid would do more harm than good.I was taken back by this answer. I always read that changing fluids was a good thing. any thoughts on this matter?


February 16, 2013, 3:11 pm

Ron W
Expert Mechanic

Well, there are 2 schools of thought.

One is servicing should always be done. (Which is mine for the most part).

The other is if the trans has high mileage and hasn't been serviced, don't touch it. the reason is that the stuff floating around in the transmission may be all that is holding it together, and if you service it, the transmission may fail quicker. I serviced a Jeep used car once, and right after servicing it stopped shifting. There was a ton of clutch material in the pan so I do know first hand that there is some truth to this idea. But there shouldn't have been so much material in the pan unless the transmission was worn.

What I will say is if the transmission is weak, serving can finish it off, but if it does, the transmission wasn't going to last much longer anyway.

I still stand by servicing because if it is going to fail, I'd much rather it happen in a shop, than on the road somewhere.


1/1 users found this helpful.

February 17, 2013, 2:14 pm

Rich G
 

Hi Ron W
Thanks for giving me an answer on the Volvo XC 90. The transmission is running and I want to keep it that for as long as possible. Since this dealer didn't want to touch it. I'm kind of leary of going to a shop that doesn't specialize in Volvos. I read a number of things on line about these transmissions going bad. Guess I'm going to have to take my chances on servicing.


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