JWS 3009 vs Dex III - AW55-50

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Hi All,

Following on from my thread the other day...

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/foru...ected-aw55-50-plan-of-attack#Post5329373

My week has turned out a bit different and I've not started what I've planned.
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My Wife is now using the car full time doing around 100 miles per week.

I was having a look through my stash last night and buried in the back, unopened and covered in dust I found 5 litres of this...

https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/triple-qx-atf-dexron-iii-1-litre-522776012

I'm wondering if it would be remotely suitable to start off my drain and fill procedure as a sort of pre-flush before I use my intended fluid being Comma MVATF Plus.

I'm thinking of weekly drain and fills as...

Week 1 - Check current level (assumed current fill is factory fill after 13 years and 134k). Top up as necessary. Wait for gearbox to cool, drain, measure and refill with the same quantity compromising of 1 pint of Seafoam Hydra-Trans and Dex III.

Week 2 - Drain & Fill Again with remaining Dex III.

Week 3 - Drain & Fill with Comma MVATF

Week 3 - Drain & Fill with Comma MVATF

Week 4 - Drain & Fill with Comma MVATF

Week 5 - Drain & Fill with one 10oz bottle of Lubegaurd Red and Comma MVATF and double check final level.

Anyone think of any reason the Dex III may cause any issues as a quick flush only?
 
Don't use the DEX III in this, even for a flush. You'll make things worse, because you'll have close to 40%* DEX III in it for a while. Pretty certain that Aisin says not to use DEX III in this transmission.

*8 liter capacity, 3.5 liter drain each time.

You've got enough JWS-3309 fluid to do a cooler line exchange, and personally, I would just do that vs. the several D&F...

You've already got problems with it, why ask for trouble by using the wrong fluid?
 
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Saab recommends a line off fluid exchange and are adamant about using mineral oil only 3309/T IV. Do not use a synthetic, dex or multi vehicle fluid in these units, the older 4spd units took dex III not this one.
A line off is very easy on these and gets pretty much all of the old fluid out, the lubeguard is fine and may help clean the valve body, forget the seafoam or solvents.
 
Originally Posted by Kira
You can find a home for the 5 quarts of DEX III fluid through a car club.


It will go in the manual gearbox and power steering system in the Defender so all is not lost. I just like getting rid of old stock in my collection.
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Nothing annoys me more than an unfinished thread.

I took the car for a good 50 mile drive on Saturday morning, got it home and checked the fluid level. The enigine oil cap has been weeping oil for some years prior to me purchasing the car so the gearbox was covered in old dried oil. I will eventually give the engine a thorough clean, but for now I just cleaned the filler/dip stick area. To my surprise, the level was bang on the maximum mark!

The oil drained out was dark and had a brown tinge to it. No burning smells though! I don't think it's been changed before but I was surprised to see how clean it was. I do think the drain plug was missing a magnet though? I posted a picture below, anyone able to shed any light if there's supposed to be a magnet in it?

I let it drain for around 2 hours while I had some new tyres fitted to the Volvo. When I got back home the fluid drained out had cooled down to ~20°c so I began measuring what had drained out. Surprised, 4.1 litres drained out! I was expecting 3 to 3.5 litres.

I measured out 4.1 litres of Seafoam Hydra Trans and Comma MVATF. What I also found odd was in my 473ml bottle of Seafoam, I measured out 590ml! Maybe my jug is out?
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I know people on here say the Seafoam Hydra Trans is little different to the standard Seafoam but I can confirm it is significantly more viscous, smells different and is dyed red.

I used some garden hose flushed out with a little IPA on the end of a funnel to fill the gearbox back up. It worked surprisingly well! The 4.1 litres of ATF/Seafoam mix went in with no issues.

The dipstick had a hot and cold scale which was handy. The Saab WIS seems to suggest there is only a hot scale on the dipstick. The oil level was a smidge under the max mark on the cold scale.

Took it out for a drive and instantly the 1-2 shift is much much smoother, as smooth as the AW71-SC in my V40 with only 10k on the clock. There's a delay going from 2nd to 3rd to the point where by the time it gets into 3rd it's almost changing into fourth within a second or two, it's not improved by much and I'm starting to wonder if it's a characteristic more than an issue. Shift flares on downshifts have been reduced significantly, if they happen then the RPM jump is around half of what it used to be and it slips for less time.

I'll be leaving this mix in for the week, my Wife will be doing around 100 miles in the car this week. I'll do another drain and fill next weekend. I'd like to do a total of 4 drain and fills but I only have 11.5litres of ATF left. Even with the 300ml of Lubeguard Red, I'm going to be slightly short. I think I'll do one more drain and fill next weekend before the final drain and fill with 10oz of Lubegaurd Red. Or maybe I'll just stop being so tight and buy another 5 litres of ATF for £23.

Anyway, it seems there's a little life in the gearbox yet and hopefully and I can nurse her along for another 3-4 years.

Annoyingly, after I took it for a drive again yesterday I got the car home and noticed a trail of rainbow oil rings that had followed me home. I assumed I'd left something loose on the gearbox, but found the PAS cooler had rusted through!
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I've got a couple 06 saab 9-5s, but with the Aero engines. There is a way to get all the old fluid out in 1 go, and its the way that is written in the saab WIS. Id recommend giving that a try, it definitely beats doing a drain and fill 5 times.

1. undo drain bolt on the transmission and drain atf.
2. undo the return line from the atf cooler on the transmission, and plug the hole. If you have a spare engine oil drain plug, thats what I use.
3. Fill the transmission with 4 liters of atf
4. Start the engine and wait for 1.5-2 liters of atf fluid to be pumped out of atf return line
5. Refill the transmission with as much fluid as your pumped out.
6. Do steps 4 and 5 again
7. Put everything back together and fill transmission to proper level
 
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Originally Posted by Speedinsweede
I've got a couple 06 saab 9-5s, but with the Aero engines. There is a way to get all the old fluid out in 1 go, and its the way that is written in the saab WIS. Id recommend giving that a try, it definitely beats doing a drain and fill 5 times.

1. undo drain bolt on the transmission and drain atf.
2. undo the return line from the atf cooler on the transmission, and plug the hole. If you have a spare engine oil drain plug, thats what I use.
3. Fill the transmission with 4 liters of atf
4. Start the engine and wait for 1.5-2 liters of atf fluid to be pumped out of atf return line
5. Refill the transmission with as much fluid as your pumped out.
6. Do steps 4 and 5 again
7. Put everything back together and fill transmission to proper level


Yeah, I seen this on the WIS but I feel better doing the slow and steady method of fluid exchange.

I measured out the ATF I have using my very inaccurate jug. I've measured out enough oil for 3 more changes and added Lubegaurd Red to the last change. 4.1 litres measured out with my jug seems to get to ~3.7 litres on my ATF jugs which seems far more reasonable. Time to get a new jug!
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Can't wait to get the next change in now!

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