15 replies to this topic

[CO.T5M]

wondering how hard this is and where the plugs are located?

[Oreo931]

Very easy.

Two 24mm bolts. You need to get under the car with an open ended wrench to get to the lower drain bolt. You need to remove the wheel to get to the upper drain bolt, and you can get that off with a 24mm socket on some extensions. To fill, remove the reverse light switch on the top of the trans. That requires a 22mm socket.

Drain the fluid from the lower bolt, put the bolt back in. Remove the upper drain bolt. Remove reverse light switch. Fill trans until fluid starts coming out of the upper bolt hole. Put everything back and you're done.

[CO.T5M]

thank so you fill from the reverse light switch would have never thought about that

now last question what to use people seem to be all over this topic,

everything from OEM, to redline, to regular motor oil?

[DonutsDemise]

i used mobil1 5w30 in it for a couple weeks but i changed it again to the volvo stuff because i would rather just have the peace of mind knowing the right fluid is in there. the gear oil volvo makes smells like it, not motor oil so it's clearly different.

[yangotang]

DonutsDemise, on 02 January 2010 - 04:47 AM, said:

i used mobil1 5w30 in it for a couple weeks but i changed it again to the volvo stuff because i would rather just have the peace of mind knowing the right fluid is in there. the gear oil volvo makes smells like it, not motor oil so it's clearly different.

Umm... Volvo Oil ain't 5W30.

I haven't ever run Volvo fluid, but I have run Royal Purple Synchromax and Red Line MTL and both did the job just fine.

[CO.T5M]

so really there is no right or wrong method here just make sure your matching the weight so you keep the tranny happy

[Oreo931]

volvodriver2, on 02 January 2010 - 04:45 AM, said:

thank so you fill from the reverse light switch would have never thought about that

now last question what to use people seem to be all over this topic,

everything from OEM, to redline, to regular motor oil?

I used OEM Volvo m56 transmission oil and it works great.

[yangotang]

OrEo931, on 02 January 2010 - 04:56 AM, said:

I used OEM Volvo m56 transmission oil and it works great.

There are two different types of M56 gear oil. You want the newer one for '96+ gearboxes.

[Oreo931]

yangotang, on 02 January 2010 - 04:57 AM, said:

There are two different types of M56 gear oil. You want the newer one for '96+ gearboxes.

That's what I got. You can use it in multiple gearboxes.

[dongle]

yangotang, on 02 January 2010 - 04:50 AM, said:

Umm... Volvo Oil ain't 5W30.

I haven't ever run Volvo fluid, but I have run Royal Purple Synchromax and Red Line MTL and both did the job just fine.

Supposedly you can use 5w30 syn motor oil in place of the 75w90 gear oil.

[yangotang]

OrEo931, on 02 January 2010 - 04:59 AM, said:

That's what I got. You can use it in multiple gearboxes.

Um.... Both the old and the new appeared as a factory fill in M56s and M66s ("in multiple gearboxes").

dongle, on 02 January 2010 - 05:00 AM, said:

Supposedly you can use 5w30 syn motor oil in place of the 75w90 gear oil.

I wouldn't.

Oh, and BTW, the new gear oil (1161745) is Synthetic.

[CO.T5M]

so again don't use motor oil but using oem or royal purple or redline is okay

but whats the most preferred gear box oil to use?

[yangotang]

volvodriver2, on 02 January 2010 - 05:05 AM, said:

so again don't use motor oil but using oem or royal purple or redline is okay

but whats the most preferred gear box oil to use?

Whatever you can get your hands on.

[DonutsDemise]

the volvo stuff is a bit expensive but that's what i would recommend. i am sure royal purple is okay too. i read on this forum that the volvo stuff is equivalent to synthetic 5w30 motor oil. it feels as viscous as the volvo stuff, but gear oil smells much different. there are probably different additives in it. i had no problems with mobil1 but again, switched for peace of mind and you can't go wrong with the volvo stuff.

oh yeah, and get some crush washers for the drain and fill plugs. they are the same size as the aluminum oil drain plug washers.

[98moulvo]

How much fluid does the m56 tranny take? I'm ordering the redline mtl and would like to make sure i have enough, without going way overboard.

[Jardim]

During my 5 Speed swap i ran into situations where i was needing parts that don't really relate to the actual swap like tie rods, control arms, engine mounts, etc. When it came time to fill the M56H with fluid, i cheaped out on buying the volvo stuff and threw in royal purple syncromax....Tranny shifts a little stiff for the first few miles then its all butternut once its warmed up.