2001 S60 Auto Transmission trouble

machinit · Post by **machinit** » 23 Feb 2011, 21:53

I need as much information on this as possible.

I have a 2001 Volvo S60 2.4T with the automatic transmission without geartronic. The car is front wheel drive with approximately 115,XXX miles. The car has been regularly serviced at the Volvo Dealerships in WA State.

About 1 year ago, the HUD indicated "transmission service needed" or something to that effect. The car was taken into the dealer and I was told that the transmission was shot. The car displayed hard shifting and would "surge" at a stop with the car in drive and the brake pedal engaged. I can't remember the specific "fault" codes but the car was out of warranty and the cost was astronomical. This car has been driven by my wife and has progressively gotten worse as she continues to drive the car. We were told by the dealer/mechanic that driving it would'nt necessarily hurt anything, although the condition would progress until complete failure. The car would shift pretty good under hard acceleration, but this was'nt the standard "driving mode" that my wife drove the car, I would occassionally step on it just to see if the car displayed any characteristics at different speeds. I'm convinced the tranny is about done.

Two weeks ago, I purchased a used transmission from a salvage yard. I was told that the transmission only had 85,XXX miles (documented) and that the tranny was good and the seller offered me a 60 day warranty, although this only covered the cost of the tranny. No TCM - Trnasmission control Module was included in the transaction. I paid a reputable - independent Volvo shop/mechanic to swap the transmissions within the 60 day warranty timeframe.

The mechanic does not have access to the proprietary software that the Volvo Dealerships have - VIDA - VIGA SP? Anyway, the mechanic called me and said that the 2nd tranny was no good. Very, very slow to accelerate- he said that the car felt like it was'nt using 1st -2nd or 3rd gears. I requested that the car be taken to a Volvo Dealership and reflashed to see if that would help and i've been told that this step only "optimizes" the transmission and that reflashing wouldnt resolve the operation of the 2nd transmission.

Now i'm starting to question that information. Does anyone here have any first hand knowledge or recommendations on what I should do next. Buying a remanufactured tranny is really out of the question because of the cost. I've been told that the car's electronics could be in "limp" mode and need to be optimized???

I need some solid advice/information

Thanks

Post by **priapism** » 23 Feb 2011, 21:57

Are the revs going up when you accelerate from a stop? It should be obvious if it's using 1st & 2nd or not. Stop on it and see if it revs up to 6 before shifting.

I'm going through this right now. Sadly I've come to the conclusion that rebuilding the trans is the only good solution despite the astronomical cost. 01 trannies are pretty much all crap by now.

machinit · Post by **machinit** » 23 Feb 2011, 22:02

the original tranny would rev up when shifting from 2nd to 3rd and then "clunk" into gear. I've heard some say that this is called a flair/flare - not sure.

On the 2nd transmission install I have'nt driven the car yet, I'm just going off of what the mechanic has told me. He did'nt indicate that it was slipping.

Post by **priapism** » 24 Feb 2011, 07:50

I think I would find out what the problem was and if it was bunk, ask for a warranty replacement.

machinit · Post by **machinit** » 24 Feb 2011, 11:57

I'm expecting to be refunded the cost of the used transmission. I think thats covered.

I'm out the cost of installation by the independent mechanic. I may persue legal action against a party to recoup the money spent for the installation. My intuition is that I was sold a bad transmission from the beginning, proving that in a court of law could be challenging, but I may have my attorney take a look at my documentation and see what he thinks.

I'm thinking that as a last ditch effort, I will take the car with the 2nd transmission to another Volvo dealer and get a second opinion. If the transmission is no good, then a remanufactured unit is my only option. I may even trade the car in even though its not in "normal" operating condition.

This is likely the last Volvo that i'll own.

Post by **JRL** » 24 Feb 2011, 16:50

No real way to tell until it's installed
You did not do your homework, you bought a 2001 don't flame every Volvo model and model year, many are just fine.
There's enough posts all over the web NOT to buy any 2001 Volvo (automatic)

machinit · Post by **machinit** » 24 Feb 2011, 17:08

As a rule of thumb I don't pay much attention to what I read on the web. It's a coin toss as to the validity of some of the compalints on vehicles. Now if a vehicle is re-called by the manufacturer for a mechanical problem, that gets my attention. Sort of what Toyota has gone through over the last year.

In 2005 when I purchased this vehicle, I studied and researched the vehicle pretty well before I made the purchase. I thought I was pretty informed as to what I was buying. JD Powers and Consumer Reports really did'nt raise any "widespread" transmission problems. I don't trust any dealer or manufacturer, but Volvo of North America won't even admit that there is any problems with this particular model year - go figure.

Post by **JRL** » 24 Feb 2011, 18:01

They were sporadic then. 4 years old with an average of 60K miles
The major problems started a year or so later as these were hitting 90-100K miles

Post by **EstVolvo** » 24 Feb 2011, 23:22

Probably all you needed was a new ETM and new transmission fluid. Just a guess.

machinit · Post by **machinit** » 26 Feb 2011, 17:13

EstVolvo wrote:Probably all you needed was a new ETM and new transmission fluid. Just a guess.

Yeah, I wish it were just that simple. Those recommendations will only have very minimal effect. With this particular year and model - there are major - MAJOR - transmission design flaws. It's an engineering - design flaw/problem. The fluid change was done before install, that was the least amount of cost roughly 50.00 bucks. The transmission is crap. Like I said earlier, this will be the last Volvo I ever own.