my wife called today to say the car was driving like shift and the orange arrow was on. I figured the trans was finally shot after 147,000 miles and no service. Then I called back and asked her to push the W button and try drive it again. All clear! It seems she took it to be cleaned and someone put it in Winter mode. The trans is okay (so far).

You have 150k miles and ~13 years on your original trans fluid - time for a flush ASAP despite it's current good working condition. You're past the end of the service life of that fluid.

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1998 V70 AWD->FWD->AWD Turbo 215k+

Thanks for the advice. Should I flush the system, drop the pan and change the filter, or change the the fluid a couple of quarts at a time?

The tranny has no filter that you can get at without complete disassembly. You could dump the 3 quarts or so from the sump, measure what comes out so you can put in new for the same amount.

And, or, remove the top cooler hose from the radiator, attach a clear hose that leads to a milk carton, start the engine and pump out 2 quarts at a time, refilling with two new quarts before you start the engine again. Keep doing the 2 out/ 2 in until the fluid is nice and red. Takes about 30 minutes total and 10 quarts of ATF.

Klaus
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Always willing to listen, just not able to take direction.

LOL. No harm done. It only is bad when driven like that daily in stop and go traffic or climbing hills from a standing start. The 4 speed trannies are a bit better than the 2000-2002 5 speed.

Klaus
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Always willing to listen, just not able to take direction.