You're welcome, Reno. I'm sure you'll be able to isolate the source given everyone's good advice.

Yes, Super Dave Osborne of Smothers Brothers fame, a running gag that turned into a comedy career for him. You're not the first to tease me. To give you a chuckle, I was once given a Super Dave coffee mug with my mug of a face photoshopped over his. It's a large photo mug that my artistic bro-in-law once made up as a gift. I only use it when I need a massive amount of coffee or all the rest are dirty. The photo makes me cringe as he said the only photo he could find of me with my face at the right angle was an early 1970s wedding photo with me in longish hair, a moustache and mutton chop sideburns, yecch -hey, what can I say, it was the trend.

As much as I don't like the label, admittedly over the years of observing and doing a variety of interesting things in life, I'm now blesssed and/or cursed with knowing a little bit about a great lot of things, and a lot about only a little. Some 25 years here on the Brickboard and maintaining my own Volvos for over 50 has turned one of the 'littles' into a 'lot'. I'm pretty sure this all stems back to me as an impressionable little kid and my grandfather. A bit of an old fart Brit, he would always say it's better to be a jack of all trades and a master of none, rather than a master. He would also say that a job isn't worth doing unless it's worth doing right. He wasn't being OCD, just brought up a bit strict and trying to pass it on. Didn't manage to have it stick with my father so that he'd pass it on, so I guess he felt obliged to try harder with me.

You mentioning a cut up plastic funnel to try catching the oil at a filter change is rather a propos me today. Refilling after a trans fluid change and using one of those cheap, long thin funnels didn't go as well as planned. That flimsy funnel has always been bad luck. Years ago, the funnel once popped off the flexi plastic stem during filling, a funnel full of trans fluid going everywhere. Today, with the funnel now secured on the stem with heat shrink, I was filling from a large five litre jug of trans fluid. I slipped my grip a bit on the heavy jug. It knocked the lip of the funnel and again it flopped over with a funnel full of fluid plus what I was pouring going everywhere, including half the intake manifold, everything PCV, back of the alt, front of the starter, belly pan and a big pool on the floor. It took more than a few expletives and half a roll of paper towels to clean up that side of the engine compartment and underneath. Eventually regaining my composure, I did what I knew I should have done first and switched to an intermediate smaller jug for filling. I knew full well I was taking a chance. Spec says I'm supposed to only need 3.9 litres after a brief shop drain, so hopefully enough left in the jug to top up to the level once it's back on the road. Mine had a chance to sit for a week, so a bit more than a shop drain came out. Good synthetic trans fluid ain't cheap so I'm in no hurry to buy more.

Last time I did a trans fluid change was some years ago. I was doing three Volvos at the same time, so bought a 25 litre pail as I was only doing a flush at the trans cooler line and you need double the fluid. After over 100K, the fluid I just drained out, the bottom of the pan and the trans filter screen were remarkably clean. Count yourself lucky having a 240 as I don't recall they had this problem in order to drop the trans pan. On the 940s, the bolts for the back of the trans pan are obstructed by an exhaust bracket sandwiched between the tranmsission mount bracket and the back of the trans. You have to jack up the trans, remove the cross member and the trans mount bracket to get it out of the way so you can drop the pan. I can see why Volvo stopped recommending changing the trans filter, which requires dropping the pan. Doing a flush at the trans cooler line should be plenty good, as confirmed by this last pan drop. This time I dropped a little rare earth magnet in the bottom of the pan so the next person can see how much wear metal it picks up.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now