Should I buy a new tranny, have the old one rebuilt, or say

arble · Post by **arble** » 12 Apr 2011, 20:35

Thanks but no thanks

I got home from work last Friday and there was a 2001 v70 t5 fwd with automatic transmission wagon in my garage. Its got 120 k miles on it, and looks fine, except it needs a new passenger side mirror assembly. It had been sitting in a garage for 2 years and was dead. I charged it up and it started right up. I called the local dealer who had done some service on the car and found out they had replaced the original motor at 85 k miles with a used one that had 50 k on it, so the motor has about 85 k on it. Then I did research and found the tranny problems inherent with this specific year. The transmission service light is on, and I can feel some issues with shifting...
A friends brother in law owned the car, he didn't buy the car new, it came from a fleet. It was serviced locally by a dealer after that. So I will have access to any service the dealer has done aside from the replaced motor. I do know that the tranny has not been replaced. I read about software upgrades that are supposed to overcome some of the issues. My initial few short trips in the car lead me to believe that major tranny work will be needed soon. I hear there are computer issues with this year and model as well. The dealer will take my money. I'm sure of that. I want to know...

1 Is it worth it to replace or have the tranny rebuilt?
2 Would a new tranny going back into that year and model resolve all those issues?
3 Will these issues plague the car forever?
4 Would the tranny issues fry the motor?
5 If I spend 2 or 3 grand and replace the tranny and maybe a little more to replace the computer is this lemon worth saving?

Right now its a freebie and beside the mirror the car is immaculate. So if I invest a few grand in it and solve all the issues it sure seems like a deal. Any and all advice greatly appreciated

Post by **jimmy57** » 12 Apr 2011, 22:10

There are trans shops that can repair these. The gearbox is used in other makes like Saturn, Nissan, Chevy. There are parts available from transmission parts suppliers and update info and pieces from those same sources. Find a trans shop and see how they price it and if they will back it. Volvo dealer reman's will pretty well consume $5000 or a little more.
Trans won't kill engine. Catastrophic trans failure will cost more for local rebuild.
Getting past trans issue is no guarantee of end of all troubles on 10 year old car.
Correct trans overhaul should end trans issues for 150K miles

arble · Post by **arble** » 13 Apr 2011, 07:12

I wont be taking this car anywhere else than the dealer, what I want to know is if the faults in 2001 v70 automatic transmission have been overcome?

Post by **priapism** » 13 Apr 2011, 08:03

The dealer would be a waste of money--get a good indie shop and you'll save a ton of money. There aren't really any good 01 trannies out there so a rebuild is the only viable option. They have a short lifespan.

Post by **jimmy57** » 13 Apr 2011, 08:04

The reman'd units from Volvo have the upgrades. You can negotiate price with a dealer, what they quote is the MOST they want, what they will do the job for can be much less.

arble · Post by **arble** » 13 Apr 2011, 19:12

Ok, what i have gleaned from this so far is that a tranny rebuilt by the dealer is the way to go, except for the 1 post that say there are no good 2001 v70 tranny's, So let me ask one more time, if I have the dealer rebuild the tranny, will the new transmission with the upgrades hold up, or am I looking at perpetual transmission problems from here on. thanks for the feedback and forcing me to think about exactly the questions i want or need to ask

Post by **JRL** » 13 Apr 2011, 19:29

arble wrote:Ok, what i have gleaned from this so far is that a tranny rebuilt by the dealer is the way to go, except for the 1 post that say there are no good 2001 v70 tranny's, So let me ask one more time, if I have the dealer rebuild the tranny, will the new transmission with the upgrades hold up, or am I looking at perpetual transmission problems from here on. thanks for the feedback and forcing me to think about exactly the questions i want or need to ask

It's usually better as it has the latest valvebody AND software
As long as you keep the fluid clean you should be OK for a long while
..
Dealers do not rebuild transmissions, they buy rebulds from Volvo

machinit · Post by **machinit** » 13 Apr 2011, 19:33

The dealers won't rebuild those trannies, it's a replacement with a remanufactured unit. Your old one will be sent back for rebuild and later installation into someone elses' car. The old parts that can be reused (case) got though an inspection process. Most of the other parts are probably just replaced because of wear, heat and out of tolerance-per the original manufac. spec's.

arble · Post by **arble** » 13 Apr 2011, 20:17

So after a rebuild its a matter of continually having the tranny flushed? how often I ask

Post by **JRL** » 13 Apr 2011, 20:44

30K is a good benchmark
TOYOTA calls for drain and fills every 30K....SAME tranny and most of them do not fail.