The Transmission on my 1999 V70 Wagon died! Is this common?

ewilson · Post by **ewilson** » 31 May 2005, 18:53

A few days ago the check engine light came on and the up arrow started to blink. At the same moment the car seemed to slip into winter mode: accelerating from a stop was very sluggish, but the car would get going.

I took it to my local mechanic who said the transmission fluid was burnt and that the computer was presenting a transmission solinoid error code.

I had it towed to my Volvo dealer (the one who sold me the car and who has done ALL the maintenance on it since). They said I needed to replace the transmission for $3400!

Now, this car is barely 6 years old and only has 75k miles on it. I was shocked!

The dealer told me that they don't see this happen very much. I asked them to see if Volvo would help with this. I'll find out tomorrow.

Is this a common problem with Volvos? I was looking forward to driving this ca for a loooong time. Now I'm nervous about it.

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 31 May 2005, 20:03

Never heard of one going that early. What I'm wondering is if anyone has ever flushed the fluid on the car. Failure to use the Volvo specific fluid or Mobil type 3309 can lead to transmission death on the '99 and newer cars.

Phil · Post by **Phil** » 17 Jun 2005, 08:18

We just had the automatic transmission die and the dealer is saying $3900 to replace as well.

We had the transmission fluid flushed by our local dealer at 60,000 when the car felt like it was shifting roughly between gears. The fluid change smoothed out the shifting problem and now 40,000 miles later the transmission just quit.

I don't know what we will do at this point

ewilson · Post by **ewilson** » 17 Jun 2005, 09:15

My Volvo dealer worked with Volvo to reduce the price. We ended up paying $2100 instead of $3400.

We've been a customer of this dealer since we bought the car from them. Both Volvo and the dealer threw in some $$.

We had $85k instead of your $100k.

Also, we shopped around and found a local Volvo mechanic who could do the work for $2800, which is alot less than the dealer's original $3400. We were considering this when the new price came from the dealer.

Good luck getting yours fixed!

Dukespapa · Post by **Dukespapa** » 08 Dec 2014, 09:51

Is this low mileage transmission failure issue a common problem for the '98 V70XC model ? We have 130,000 miles, which I thought was a youthful age for a Volvo. Having been just recently thrown a curve by the drive shaft going out, I'm getting a little skittish with this car.

Post by **j-dawg** » 08 Dec 2014, 11:43

The AWD system on the early XCs is known for being failure-prone. Many of the XCs on the road today are FWD.

Once that's gone, the transmissions are not more unreliable than the regular FWD models, as far as I'm aware.

Post by **abscate** » 08 Dec 2014, 11:48

Ancient thread revival warning - 9 years old. I guess that answers this question best.

Post by **850 LPT** » 09 Dec 2014, 10:35

If maintained properly these transmissions will last a very long time. AWD or FWD doesn't really matter.

What matters is if you let the fluid get too old. Or if you overheat the fluid, which could really only happen if you tow something (too heavy) in hot climates. That can kill a tranny even at a very young age (ask me how I know)

The Transmission on my 1999 V70 Wagon died! Is this common?

Is it common for Volvo transmissions to need replacing before 100k miles?

The Transmission on my 1999 V70 Wagon died! Is this common?