Transmission troubles with 850, is this the end?

Post by **srnkanator** » 24 Mar 2006, 07:34

I had the flashing arrow, check engine light come on 3 days ago. The car was stuck in first gear. I parked it and waited awile then restarted it and it drove off fine. Now on cold mornings it is having trouble with that first shift from 1st to 2nd but is fine after that. I took it to an independent shop and they told me the code was that the solenoid was bad and it wasn't worth replacing. Reading these posts I thought it was the PNP switch for the GPS. I took it to the dealer for a second opinion and they said that since the code was reset they can't do anything until it happens again. They told me that if happens again all they can do is maybe flush the tranny again (I just had that done) which may make it worse or maybe make it better. They did not recommnd replacing the solenoid because they said a new solenoid on an old transmission is a bad idea. They also said that rebuilt transmissions from Volvo have not had very good luck and cost $4000. I bought this car 9 months ago from my father who took very good care of it for $7000 and still owe him half of this. It is a 95' and only has 63,000 miles, I was looking to drive it for another 100,000. Is this really the end of this volvo? Beside this problem the inside and out is in showroom condition! Should I trade it in and buy a new car? Or cross my fingers and hope for the best?

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 24 Mar 2006, 07:49

I'd keep driving it until the code reappears then take it to the second dealer you checked with.

Post by **srnkanator** » 24 Mar 2006, 07:57

Thanks, will do, there goes the dream of the ECU upgrade!

Alfred · Post by **Alfred** » 24 Mar 2006, 19:37

Dear Mr. SrnKanator, I read your message and I see that you are really worried about the transmission problem that you are facing specialy if you still owe half of it to you father, well, NO PANIC my friend. I had the same situation two years ago and I fixed it with much less than 4000$ . let me tell you that I do not live in the states and where I live there are no Volvo garages nor dealers because Volvo in my country is a sophisticated car for those who have guts , I have to bring the spare parts form USA with a courier,well, lets try to help you. Let me inform to you that the transmission of the 850 is a AW-5040 Model, same transmission is used by Opel Vectra and Daewood Espero, so my specialized garage here got the master kit for that transmission AW-5040 and the problem was fixed it was between $ 1250 and $1500 appx. When I contacted Volvo in Miami they told me that a rebuilt transmission was $ 1600 giving them the bad one, so do not worry get in touch with some seriour transmission shop and tell them about the AW5040 there are various places that will sell you a rebuilt transmission, let me know , thanks, my email is [email protected].

95autoturbo · Post by **95autoturbo** » 25 Mar 2006, 00:14

this stuff works wonders for many transmission problems! http://www.seafoamsales.com/transTune.htm

Post by **srnkanator** » 25 Mar 2006, 13:22

Thanks for the info on the AW5040 and the Seafome. (anybody else heard of this?). The car is running fine with absolutely no tranny problems although the "service" light now comes on for about 20 seconds when I first start the car. Given all the recent dealer work that has been done I think the tranny is asking for another flush after the recent problems. I still think the cold front that came through Houston messed with my PNP switch. My trip meter has only 1400 miles since the last reset so I doubt the car is asking to feed it money. Any thoughts on the PNP, tranny flush, replacment, wait till it dies, cross my fingers, . . .etc

pcar1947 · Post by **pcar1947** » 15 Apr 2006, 11:41

I have had similar issues in the past.

At 60000 miles Automatic seized and Volvo replaced under warranty. This was mainly done because I had complained about the tranny at 50K and I had purchased about 4 volvos over the years.

at 137K that tranny started giving me problems and I had to replace it with a refurbished unit. Total cost $2986. It was replaced by Volvo Specialist here in Atlanta, whom I trust with all my Volvo's

Now at 167K tranny would not shift out of 1st. Pull oVer Stop andturn off engine. Turn on engine everything is fine.

NO Codes (313) no flashing yellow. Also backup lights will not come on and it will not start in neutral.

Volvospeed recommends that you move the shift lever from park to low about 20 times. If this clears the problem then it might be the PNP switch.

I have done this at that seemed to work. For the past week tranny has been acting great.

Post by **JRL** » 16 Apr 2006, 17:29

Service light comes on because the car IS DUE FOR SERVICE!

l33tDad · Post by **l33tDad** » 17 Apr 2006, 08:33

JRL wrote:Service light comes on because the car IS DUE FOR SERVICE!

That's what I was thinking. I seem to recall a few threads in the past about this happening when the car is due for service... Since the code(s) were cleared, the computer probably thinks that the service was done.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 17 Apr 2006, 18:42

What model year is the 850? Anything before '96, you can clear the service light from one of the black diagnosis boxes under the hood. For '96 and '97 you'll need a tool or the dealer, or some black tape to cover it up, or you can take the bulb out...you're choice.

In regards to Seafoam....someone mentioned here that it's great for transmissions. Actually, it has NOTHING to do with transmissions. It's a way to clean out an engine of some gunk, but in my opinion, not a very safe one. If you want to do that, I would recommend AutoRx instead....do a google search, you'll read plenty. Never read/heard anything bad about it.