240 Which atf for my 240 aw70

I was looking info for this job but I can't find what I think.

In order of what I've found reading the inet, The synthetics atf drops 20 degrees the operating temp versus the mineral atf oils.
I saw once an DuraDrive dexron III petrocanada atf SYNTHETIC, but I thought "it was a dream" because I never saw it again on sale. Maybe I read it wrong...

So you in USA recommends Mobil 1 atf multivehicle, a product that is not imported by Mobil chile.

And the real options in this side of the world are few... A dexron III mineral (no matter which brand, there are many around there) , an synthetic atf (like the DuraDrive MV) that meets the dexron III spec (but is not precisely an dexron III).
And the question is what do you suggest with this scenario: an synthetic multivehicle atf that meets the dexron III spec or precisely an dexron III mineral?

There are no siynthetic dexrons III on the market..
What can I do?
Gracias nuevamente amigos
Thanks pals

Good clean fresh oil...always better than worry.
But you must be careful with autotragico.. If it has had a lifetime of good treatment and proper oil and folter changes, then you continue that..
IF the poor transmission has suffered like my wife's car from years of neglect, in some transmissions if you suddenly change to an oil which has strong detergent action, it can wash loose all kinds of disgusting old crap--which MAY go and clog and plug some of the tiny passages--and malfunctions can follow..I have seen it..
In that case guys who rebuild autotragicos say just top up the oil as needed..

Hope this helps..

Many thanks John. In my case the atf is clearly red and fresh, but the guy who sold me the Volvo changed the atf and put a wrong one, a dex/merc blend and the shift quality is poor... It has a obvious hard 1-2 shift and if it gets hotter it shifts worse but in R to D but not viceversa. So is urgent change it, I guess...

"autotragicos" hahahaahh

I would first make sure the kick down cable is adjusted correctly.

PardoR said:

"autotragicos" hahahaahh

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Hey it's the best I can do.. Normally I call them transmission autotragique because all my Spansih say unused for 55 years and somehow it was replaced by French...
So 1st language was Spanish, then came English, then I was sale immigrante and had to speak Swedish for years (trabajo en industria en Suecia) then dos anos en Francia, then back to Estados Unidos...Now my beautiful little girls are learning Spanish in school and the pobre ninas ask me to help and it comes out in French which sounds like Italian and I have to warn them not to repeat in class when I saw "merde" and "canaille!" when I can't remember things
Mi pobre Mamasita would hit me on the side of the head and say "Juanito! How can you forget? (BOFF!)" "mais chere Mama, apr?s 50 ans on oubliez quelques choses!'' BANG again! Yeow!

Pobre mio!

nel621 said:

I would first make sure the kick down cable is adjusted correctly.

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That cable can affect the shifting?

Any suggestion on which atf? What do you use?

John V said:

my Spansih say unused for 55 years and somehow it was replaced by French...
So 1st language was Spanish, then came English, then I was sale immigrante and had to speak Swedish for years (trabajo en industria en Suecia) then dos anos en Francia, then back to Estados Unidos...

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Hahaha. That's awesome! Knowing Spanish helped me learn some French more easily; some words are pretty close. "Practicing my French" nowadays consists of four letter words in English when I throw wrenches on the ground.



Use Dex 3/4/5/6/mercon. Don't use Type F.

Hate to break it to ya, but a trans flush rarely makes a trans work better. I have been formally and informally trained to start asking probing questions when a customer comes in asking for a trans fluid "flush". I always follow up with asking WHY they want the fluid changed and 9/10 times they will admit that the trans is starting to act up. THEN I get to inform them that it likely won't fix anything.

I would drain and fill the pan. Maybe change the filter if you are ambitious enough to battle the dipstick tube threads that are always messed up. I have gotten to the point where I will likely pull the starter to drop the pan to avoid damaging or struggling with already damaged threads on the tube.

I have a xc70 2006 and the mechanic who repaired the gearbox put on it dex/merc and the shifting quality was poor . Hard disengages 3rd to 2 nd and hard shifts in 4th to 5th. I put the correct atf fluid jws3309 (in my case I found toyota type- IV) and the improve was noticeably. That is what I'm looking for...
Do I explain?

PardoR said:

I have a xc70 2006 and the mechanic who repaired the gearbox put on it dex/merc and the shifting quality was poor . Hard disengages 3rd to 2 nd and hard shifts in 4th to 5th. I put the correct atf fluid jws3309 (in my case I found toyota type- IV) and the improve was noticeably. That is what I'm looking for...
Do I explain?

Click to expand...

The transmission in an XC70 has different requirements than the transmission in a 240. It makes sense that if the wrong fluid was used in the XC70, the transmission did not operate properly.

For a 240, the Dex/Merc fluid is fine.

For reference, here is a screenshot from the Volvo Greenbook:


The fluid specified is "Dextron II" for year 84 and newer...the Dex/Merc fluid meets the requirements of Dextron II fluid.

If your transmission is older than 84, then the fluid specified is "Type F".

Shift quality can very likely be fixed with the correct fluid. I've been rocking the same AW71L for 7 years now, which came from a severely neglected 940. Fluid smelled like burnt gear oil, looked like engine oil with 20k on it. Flushed with check dex/merc, drove for a week, another flush, another week, then put in the M1, been rocking that since, closing in on 100k in my car, on top of the 180k while in the donor, still shifts great but it's getting some pump noise now.

That said, I've been digging thru Dex3 info a LOT lately in my T5 trans queries. Seems that most of the multi-car ATF's that meet the dex3 requirements are typically a dex6 variant that is backwards compatible. That's great, but they also have to meet CAFE standards now, so they are thinner than Dex3 typically is, by a good margin. I've actually found the Redline high-temp ATF is one of the thicker variants, dex2, 3, and 5 compatible, but not dex6 compatible. It also meets GL4 spec, one of very few ATF's that does. Only downfall is the price, but even here in the states it isn't too much more than M1, only about $2/bottle.

Now, for your case, if you need to daily drive the car now, find a decent non-synthetic, flush it (unhook return line from the trans cooler if you have one), refill with what you have for non-synthetic for now. Unless you're pushing it hard, that will be fine usually. In my case, the car gets beat on and is throwing a good bit of power thru the trans, so the synthetic definitely is worthwhile.