94 850 transmission

mirae1 · Post by **mirae1** » 05 Jan 2010, 12:37

Yesturdy my wife calls me and she is stuck in traffic with her 94 850. The transmission is acting like it is in neutral. I have her turn it off and restart it and this works long enough to get her to a parking lot. I go get a trailer to get her and the car. Test drive it around the lot...It will lock up and go a short distance then kick out and act like it is in neutral. Turn it off and restart and it will engage and go for a shor distance. Loaded it up on the trailer and took it home and started searching the forum for simialar issues. From what I have found it doesn't sound promising.

I will check for codes tonight but the flashing yellow light never came on. The car has 250,000+ on it. I replaced the engine and tranny with a wrecking yard one a couple of years ago. The odometer don't work so the actual milage is unknown.

Is there a sensor or something that may be causing my issue??

Post by **jblackburn** » 05 Jan 2010, 13:09

I suppose that could be the PNP switch, but it sounds like a bad solenoid to me. Try rowing the shifter between P and L 15-20 times and see if matters improve any.

On another angle, how does the trans. fluid look? If it is burnt, brown, etc. flush it immediately and you may still yet save the transmission.

Mine has 'dropped' out of Drive about 3 times, usually in really hot weather when it's been shifting a lot. I flushed the fluid, and it seems to have solved the problem.

mirae1 · Post by **mirae1** » 05 Jan 2010, 13:33

I read in another post that the solenoid could be replaced. Is there a way to test to be sure this is the issue? Swapping the solenoid don't look too hard.

Post by **jblackburn** » 05 Jan 2010, 13:46

See if you have any codes stored in port A1 of the under-hood diagnostic box. That will be the closest clue you have to the car actually knowing the solenoid is bad.

http://www.volvospeed.com/CheckEngine.php

Try other things first before you go about trying to fix the transmission - it was quite an endeavor when I worked on my Honda's.

I wrote something somewhere about replacing another a torque converter solenoid, let me see if I can dig that one up.

Post by **jblackburn** » 05 Jan 2010, 13:51

http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/tech/servic ... gnosis.pdf

Here you go. Scroll to page 15. There are several tests you can perform there to test the components of the transmission. I suggest #3, and then read the codes.

Let us know what happens!

mirae1 · Post by **mirae1** » 05 Jan 2010, 14:39

Funny, I had already located the paper and downloaded it as a reference. I will do some checks and let you know.

mirae1 · Post by **mirae1** » 05 Jan 2010, 22:12

Checked the fluid and codes this evening. The fluid looks fine but is overfull. Not sure why it would be over full but a change out of fluid will be in order. The only transmission code I have is a 232 which indicates a vehicle speed sensor. The best I can recall this sits on the back side on my '94 and I can reach by jacking up the left side and sliding under behind the front tire. What is the best way to test this sensor and can it be the cause of my problem or am I looking in the wrong direstion???

mirae1 · Post by **mirae1** » 06 Jan 2010, 20:39

I think I found my problem...I just don't know the extent of the damage yet. Like I said the transmission fluid looked fine but was over full. I also found tranny fluid in the radiator reservoir. Drained the transmission and sure enough I have antifreeze in my tranny. How much damage will this cause the transmission? And can I loop a piece of hose from one line to the other to test the condition of the transmission?. If the transmission is shot I will likely just part it out or sell it to someone who likes to work on Volvo's more than I.

Post by **jblackburn** » 06 Jan 2010, 20:47

Yeesh. Not good. Sorry for not getting back to you before. The radiator has developed a crack in the trans. cooler, and has allowed the two to mix. My Expedition had a separate oil, radiator, and transmission cooler, as do Jeeps - I don't understand why they wouldn't make all cars like that to prevent that from happening.

The loop of tubing sounds like a good idea to me - that's something I wouldn't have thought of. I'd do a full 12-qt flush on the transmission (can't hurt it anymore anyway) and see if it will work again.

If you're in luck and it does, get that radiator out of there!

mirae1 · Post by **mirae1** » 06 Jan 2010, 21:08

Working on the flush...I need to look up which is the presser line top or bottom? I know I read it just the other day.