Valvoline Maxlife ATF vs JES-3309

[Astro14]

I'm going to go OT for a second, and recommend that you check the following on this car:

1. Chassis: lower torque mount on the transmission, upper engine mount and front lower control arm bushings. All fail relatively quickly on the Volvo P2 chassis.

2. PCV: You should check the PCV system...on a Volvo they're called "Flame Trap"...and if the PO didn't change the oil often enough (let the TBN get low) they sludge/plug up quickly....this leads to oil leaks that become very expensive to fix.

3. Oil: Volvo specs an ACEA A1 oil in this, but there is a TNN on sludged "white block" motors that requires an A3/A4 after the sludge is cleaned out. I would use a good extended drain A3/A4 oil...M1 0W40 is a great choice, so is the Pennzoil Ultra that's in my XC at the moment...it says 5W30 in the OM, but then goes on to say that a synthetic is recommended for severe use and a 5W40 is recommended in high temperatures...so you've got a wide range of choices in viscosity, but use an extended drain oil...

4. Timing belt: it's an interference engine, interval should be 105,000 miles on your year...make sure it gets done on schedule.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Great post, Astro. I appreciate your comments about other items I should pay attention to.

I bought 3 gallons Maxlife, siphoned and refilled 1 gallon and transmission seems to shift a little better. The fluid is a little less black then before.

Bought 12 liters Genuine Volvo 1161540 ATF from an Ebay seller (bryan8725 with perfect 100% positive feedback) for $60 shipped with USPS priority mail (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Volvo-1161540-Automatic-Transmission-Fluid-/151081580468?ssPageName=ADME:L:COSI:US:1123).

Will do the flush with flush kit from IPD.

Just have a car checked, the mechanic said that engine/transmission mounts are bad and all 4 are needed to be replaced, he recommended OEM engine mounts only (aftermarket parts especially ones made in China is to avoid). The car jerks hard when shift from Park to Reverse and then to Drive, the car is also shaking when it almost get to a complete stop at red light.

Will look into the PCV system "Flame Trap", How hard is it to replace ?

I'm thinking checking spark plugs soon, do a gentle flush with 3 oz Lubegard engine flush and drive normal for about 400-500 miles then replace the oil.

Anything else I should look ?

Thanks a lot for all inputs from everyone, I think I can count on many member experiences to gain knowledge about Volvo.

PS Checked engine and cabin air filter, they were a little dirty so I vacuumed the dirty side a little and put them back. The previous owner bought the car from an Audi dealer in San Diego less than a year ago, so the dealer did some fluid and filter exchanges.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
I'm going to go OT for a second, and recommend that you check the following on this car:

1. Chassis: lower torque mount on the transmission, upper engine mount and front lower control arm bushings. All fail relatively quickly on the Volvo P2 chassis.

Astro,

Since you know a lot about Volvo, especially the problem with engine/transmission mounts, if you know the part numbers of all the mounts I will appreciate it a lot.

I tried to search and a little confuse about what are the 4-5 mount part numbers. My mechanic told me I need these mounts:
Right, Front, Rear and Upper.

I found these parts:

Engine Mount Upper(Rear) Part# 30680770
Engine Torque Strut Mount at Transmission and Crossmember Part# 30680750
Engine Mount(Front and Rear) Part# 30778952

Volvo Engine Mount(Driver) Part# 8666205 ???

Is Hutchinson an OEM supply ? How about Vollig ?

Other than getting parts from Volvo dealer, what are good brands I should get ? And what brands I should avoid ?

I'm a little confuse about Volvo parts, so if I asked some dumb questions please understand.

TIA

 

[Astro14]

Here is some of my response to your PM, for the benefit of others who might have the same questions:

Howard posted a picture of the mounts for the P2 chassis on his site: http://www.freewebs.com/howardsvolvos/motortransmissionmount.htm

I've never heard of Hamburg Technic...so, I can't recommend them...they look like German parts, but I wonder if perhaps they're from another country of origin, and the distributor is in Germany...or perhaps they're just another Chinese importer of parts with a fancy sounding name.

The Volvo forum doesn't think highly of them: http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=21137

I have not heard of Hutchinson, so they're an unknown to me, but IPD and FCP carry them, which is encouraging...Febi is good, so is Lemforder...I would recommend going with OE parts for engine mounts...these things last about 75,000 - 100,000 miles and the rear mount is a PITA to replace. You don't want to duplicate the job in a year with cheap mounts. For the record, every Volvo I have ever owned needed new mounts at about that interval...it's a Volvo thing, I guess, perhaps they're stressed so that the engine breaks away cleanly in a severe collision...

Same goes for Lower Control Arms - I've had good luck with OE. Folks have had aftermarket bushings wear out in less than a year, and have to pay for installation and an alignment all over again...so saving $40/arm becomes a false economy. Incidentally, replacing just the bushings is really hard, special tools/jigs to press them in. By the time you buy bushings and pay to have them pressed in, OE arms are cheaper...though it's frustrating to pitch perfectly good arms with worn bushings...

FCP has some OE parts: http://www.fcpeuro.com/Volvo-parts/V70/Mounts?year=2006&m=1278&e=153&pt[]=307172010

Volvo of Dallas and Darrell Waltrip Volvo sell OE at a good price, worth a phone call...

http://www.darrellwaltripvolvo.com/parts/index.htm

http://www.volvoofdallas.com/parts/parts-and-accessories-request.htm

I've been through a couple of transmission torque mounts on the XC...so I upgraded to the IPD mount here: http://www.ipdusa.com/prodtype.asp?CAT_ID=1065&numRecordPosition=0&categorycrumbs=986

I got the polyurethane insert for the big bushing and the polyurethane small bushing...the billet mount is too pricey...

I would avoid the polyurethane upper engine mount - too much vibration transmitted through for my taste...

For sparkplugs, there have been mixed reviews on use of aftermarket. The OE plugs are pricey at the dealer ($70 for a pack of 5) but IPD has them for $50/pack....I am pretty certain that they're just rebranded Bosch Iridium...but I keep it simple and I have had great luck with OE plugs in both P2 cars.

Flame Trap replacement is a 3-4 hour job including removal of the intake manifold...no other way to do it really...and I would just get IPD's kit that includes all new hoses, clips, trap and fittings...trying to clean brittle plastic or old hose is just too likely to result in failure.

For oil, here is the TNN on sludged up engines (the fault of Volvo NA...when the OCI was extended, they didn't tell the dealers that bulk 5W30 was no longer acceptable...and a lot of this work was done under warranty. My local dealer uses Castrol Syntec blend, and oil has gotten better since this issue came up a few years back.

http://www.volvoxc.com/0/resources/how-to/pdf/01-23-09/TNN,%20Lubrication%20System%20Contamination%20Cleaning.pdf

BITOGers will find the sludged up engine pictures fascinating...

Bottom line on the oil, at the end of the TNN: ACEA A3/B3, viscosity SAE 5W-30 Synthetic oil...if they had only required that of the dealers in the first place, they would have saved everyone quite a bit of trouble...

 

[HTSS_TR]

Thank you for taking time posting these recommendations. It's really helpful for someone like me who know nothing about Volvo and it's parts. Also, thank you for the links. It's very helpful, I will analyze these parts from these links more careful and will post what I end up buying.

After some searching so far I found that the two websites IPD and FCP seem to be reliable and they seem to know Volvo well.

Hamburg Technic seems to be a China knock-off, many complaints on the net about their qualities.

Pelicanparts.com has some Volvo parts at reasonable price, I bought some parts for my E430 from them last year, most parts were made in Germany.