850 Transmission in Limp Mode

[JordanW]

Unfortunately, VOL-FCR cannot read Motronic 4.3 as you have found out. Your car is M4.3. Your OBDII code scanner will work fine.

The unknown DTC-2B is odd. You should have something more substantial and certainly readable. After all, the TCU tells the ECU to set a MIL and you previously had said you pulled a P0734. You may want to try removing and reinstalling the TCU just to make sure the connections are clean and secure - there maybe a chance some one was in the ECU box in the past and it may not be seated properly. You may also want to see if you can get your hands on another TCU to swap out - on the off chance it is a TCU fault - rare though possible. The TCU's are mostly interchangable just try to get one from from another turbo 850 95-97. Maybe someone closer to you could "loan" you theirs for you try for 10-15 miles to see if the problem occurs, and if it does if that TCU will let you retrieve codes.

Good Luck.

[1800ES]

I actually already did pull out and reseat both the ECU and TCU yesterday. I mainly went in there to be make sure I had the correct ones for the car and that the previous owner hadn't done something screwy with the ECU. Both are correct part numbers for the car. I did not take it for a drive afterward though, so I'll give that a shot when I get home from work today.

Unfortunately, I don't really know any 850 owners in my area, so while I like the idea of trying a swap, I don't know how easy it will be to accomplish, but I'll keep my eyes open, especially if I still can't pull a code after my test drive today. Thanks!!

It's too bad I can't get the car out to the Carlisle Import show in a few weeks. There will probably be oodles of 850's out there that I could swap with.

[1800ES]

Well, I did take the car out for a drive today after pulling and reseating the TCU. It went back into limp mode after about 4 miles, and VOL-FCR still comes back with an "Unknown DTC 2B" code. Sigh...

Scheduled an appointment to drop it off Monday at European Plus in Pennington. We'll see what they have to say.

[IanF]

Well, we dropped Loki off at the indie shop and told them our story. The next day they ran it through their computer and said it didn't throw any codes that would indicate the solenoids are the problem (so at least we'll be able to return those, hopefully).

Diagnosis: New trans.

Ouch.

It looks like we'll have this car for a long time since it will owe us quite a bit of $$$.

At least when everyone asks us why all of our cars except this one have manual transmissions we'll have a story to tell.

[1800ES]

Just to add a bit more to what Ian posted, they said they could have replaced the solenoids but I probably still would have had the same problem and have wasted even more money. And having already wasted the money on the new PNP switch as well as flushing the fluid, I have to agree. Forgetting about the limp mode issue, there was still the whining noise problem that started this whole thing and I don't see how that could have been solenoid related anyway.

This shop was highly recommended to me by a friend who used to take her Volvo there and judging by the large percentage of Volvos parked at the shop, I'm confident that they have a lot of experience with these cars. Their head mechanic felt that as far as cost, replacing the transmission would probably end up costing just as much as getting it rebuilt. Since they don't do rebuilds themselves, that would have meant finding someone else to rebuild it. Having watched in the past as my brother had a transmission rebuilt, only to have it fail again two months later, I'm not a big fan of rebuilds or the shops that do them. The "new" transmission will be coming directly from Volvo. Between that and this shop, I have a bit more faith that while I may choke on the cost of this, at least when all is said and done, I'll have a reliable transmission for many, many, many miles to come. I certainly better!!!

The original automatic in my 1800ES didn't die until well over 200K miles. I guess they don't build 'em like they used to...

[byeboy]

Would you mind sharing the $$$ it cost for the new tranny and install?? At 172,000 miles I 'm going to have to be ready for either doing that, or passing my 850R to a new owner who has the $$$ to do that....but for now, its running pretty darn nice, and it long paid for!
I agree that a new Volvo trans is probably the only way to go, other than a manual conversion.

[1800ES]

Picked the car up this afternoon. I'm not happy about having to spend all this money on the car, but I am very happy with the service from European Plus in Pennington. They quoted me a price before they started. They not only came in under that price, but they also changed out the rear main seal while they were in there since it was showing signs of leaking and STILL came in under their original quote. Yeah, maybe they quoted me high in the first place, but I'd rather have that than someone who says "Oh by the way, you owe us $$$ more." I will still avoid mechanics as much as possible, but if I ever need work done again, I would not hesitate to use them. Nice to know.

They installed a remanufactured transmission direct from Volvo. There's no such thing as "new" transmission for the 850 so this is about as good as you can get. I'm really hoping with all the work we've done on the car, that it will prove to be reliable for many, many, many miles now. Fingers crossed.

We're heading out to Carlisle on Thursday morning (not in the 850) so I'll have to wait until next week to really start putting it through it's paces.