760 turbo kickdown cable, I think.? Topic is solved

sharonson74 · Post by **sharonson74** » 25 Jan 2005, 20:23

My wagon runs good. However, at the point where my ear tells me that the engine should shift up (3000-4000 rpm) it just keeps reving up to 4 or 5000 rpms. If I let my foot off the accellerator at 3-4000rpms, the car will shift up but the rpms still stay higher than I think they should (above 2500 even on level ground). In my manuel it says that the kickdown cable at full throttle should measure 50.4-52.6 mm from the cable stop to the housing( at rest the measuremnt is .25-1.0mm). My resting measurment is correct, but my full throttle is a fraction of what it should be. Is this the problem? If not, got any ideas? I feel like I am wasting gas with all this high reving of the engine. Thanks.

dmf volvo freak · Post by **dmf volvo freak** » 07 Feb 2005, 19:36

Hi - I had a very similar problem on my 760 turbo wagon - wouldnt shift down. I brought it to a volvo only shop where they flushed the trans with virgin fluid until clean only coming out. Could just be low fluid - but likely dirty - Apparently you may get fine sucess from a midas type flush where they run filtered fluid through. Avoid "invasive techniques" like cleaning screen etc can lead to more problems. Since the flush - the transmission has been running flawlessly. The kickdown cable if it still goes in and out at the throttle body is fine. Check to see that it is not "hung up" on the trottle body in the engine compartment as this can also cause failure to downshift.

Good luck.

dmf volvo freak · Post by **dmf volvo freak** » 07 Feb 2005, 19:56

When I said shift down, what I mean to say is that it would not go into 2nd from 1st easily and not go into 3rd at all. Since flush - 18 quarts worth - all systems go.

sharonson74 · Post by **sharonson74** » 14 Feb 2005, 18:17

Hey,
thanks for the reply. I tinkered with the kickdown cable and then began looking in the forum search for like topics. I found a lot of diagnostic advice leading me to believe that the Overdrice Relay might be the culprit. I accessed the relay and jiggled it a bit. I also toggled the overdrive switch and the light wouldn't go out for a few days. During that time, the engine was unable to find the overdrive gear so I was at around 3500-4000 rpms at 65mph- wasting gas. After several days, the shift arrow light in the dash slowly faded and later went completely off. Now she's running fine, I suppose. I plan to not touch the od toggle again and hope that the gremlin will stay in its box, so to speak. Any ideas from anyone would be appreciated.

LaRy · Post by **LaRy** » 16 Feb 2005, 11:02

That OD relays has problems. It has been mentioned several times in this forum that the soldering is getting bad inside the relay. If you are rather good in soldering, open the relay and resolder again. I have done it, and it is working perfect after that. I had exactly the same problem as you. When you open the relay you can actually see the "cold" soldering point, the solder is not blank. Resolder all spots not beeing blank and look for small cracks in the solder.

sharonson74 · Post by **sharonson74** » 20 Feb 2005, 18:45

So I think my next tatto will read "LaRay Rules!". Thanks so much for the tip. I just pulled the relay out and found a rather obvious break in one of the soldered points. The panel itself looked charred a bit, but after wirebrush dremeling the spot and resoldering it I reinstalled it. When I went for a test ride, I found that at 65mph I was around 2500-2600rpms. Mother flux! I could have been imagining things, but I even think I was running at lower rpms in first, second and third gears. When I got off the freeway i tried the toggle on the shift nob and the red arrow went completely on and then completely off. This is, as I stated previously, not what has been happening. Thank you so much for your valuable input. I anticipate saving dollars on gas and am elated. Thank you , Thank you!!!!1

LaRy · Post by **LaRy** » 21 Feb 2005, 13:30

Nice to hear that it helped. Greetings from Sweden.

sharonson74 · Post by **sharonson74** » 23 Feb 2005, 23:05

typo "LaRy Rules!!"