99 s70 transmission shifts hard

[powertrip56]

Hello, i am having issues with my volvi. To start, i have a 1999 S70 base modle. Recently the transmission has been acting weird. Whats going on is it seems like im driving at really high rpm, for the speeds im going, only in 4th gear.. the transmission shifts hard somdtimes, other times it shifts smooth. The fluid is dark pink. Any ideas on this issue?? Im getting no fflashing arrow, no light on the dash at all.. i thought it could be overdrive or sometjing.. driving down the highway at 70mph being at 3000 rpm sucks, especially with the exhaust leak that i have.

[mercuric]

I'm assuming you have the 4-speed auto? I can't remember exactly what models/years got the new 5speed auto, but it's 99-00 or so. Gear selectors with D-3-L are 4-speed, D-4-L are 5speed.

Anyways, get her going 70 mph in D, and then move the gear shift to 3. This will downshift to 3rd gear, of course. You should see the RPMs jump up. Then back to "D", and the RPMs should drop again. This confirms your ability to shift between 3rd and 4th ("overdrive").

Next, assuming you are actually getting into overdrive, check for torque converter lockup. Do this on a highway without traffic and fairly level grade -- At a cruise at about 70, release the gas pedal. This will ensure the converter is unlocked. Engine RPMs should drop. Re-apply enough gas pedal to maintain speed or maybe accelerate just very slightly. Engine RPMs of course will increase, but watch your tach carefully. After a second or two at steady state cruise or under very slight acceleration, the torque converter should lock up. You'll see the tachometer drop slightly, maybe a few hundred RPMs, indicating the torque converter lockup function has engaged.

My guess is your converter isn't locking up as it should -- the above test for RPM drop on throttle application to maintain speed will test for that.

Anyone have a properly working 99 s70 base model that could comment on what the RPMs at 70mph with the converter locked up should actually be?

[powertrip56]

ok ill check that out. also when im crusing in 4th gear, steady at 70mph, ill let my foot off the gas , and the rpms ride down, on the transmission.. for instance, figure driving a 5spd, your driving down the street in 3rd gear, let off the gas and you fel how the rpm's ride on the transmission while going down.. thats kind of what it does. on my s70

[powertrip56]

ok ill check that out. also when im crusing in 4th gear, steady at 70mph, ill let my foot off the gas , and the rpms ride down, on the transmission.. for instance, figure driving a 5spd, your driving down the street in 3rd gear, let off the gas and you fel how the rpm's ride on the transmission while going down.. thats kind of what it does. on my s70



ALSO - when i go from park to drive, i get a small shake / squeek. like it needs a mount ossomething. and sometimes ill take off from park, and it makes a funny noise, its the noise that you get when your wheels spin with traction control on.. i get that noise slightly sometimes while taking off, in the morning when i first start my car.

[mercuric]

ok ill check that out. also when im crusing in 4th gear, steady at 70mph, ill let my foot off the gas , and the rpms ride down, on the transmission.. for instance, figure driving a 5spd, your driving down the street in 3rd gear, let off the gas and you fel how the rpm's ride on the transmission while going down.. thats kind of what it does. on my s70

Interesting. The converter is supposed to unlock when you let your foot completely off the gas, which results in the RPMs dropping faster than the vehicle decelerates... and then lock back up after the throttle is lightly reengaged for a second or so. It does, however, also unlock once you get past a certain throttle position, giving you a boost in RPMs without actually downshifting.

Then again, I've never drove a 99, which now that I think about it, was a transition year -- Can you confirm if the car has the 4 or 5 speed, and if it has coil on plug ignition? You might have the new engine management system (motronic 7 distributorless) with the older 4speed auto transmission? Might behave differently?

I sure wish my AW50-42 4speed (97 850) would let me engine brake on the highway like a stickshift!

Then there's also the factor of having an electronic throttle module -- Never driven one of those either, so it may be normal for the engine management system to cause the ETM to ride the engine RPMs down, matching vehicle speed? In that case, you'd see the RPMs fall with deceleration, but not feel the "pullback" of the engine braking. I forgot the 99's are ETM-controlled, so you have no direct input to the throttle position. There's reasons I refuse to own a "drive by wire" car!

ALSO - when i go from park to drive, i get a small shake / squeek. like it needs a mount ossomething. and sometimes ill take off from park, and it makes a funny noise, its the noise that you get when your wheels spin with traction control on.. i get that noise slightly sometimes while taking off, in the morning when i first start my car.

So many things that could cause that, from mounts to suspension to drivetrain, to even exhaust -- I had a squeak problem on acceleration/decceleration that I recently traced back to the exhaust! The movement of the motor on accel/decel would cause the exhaust to move slightly, which was causing the exhaust pipe to rub against the end of a bolt, causing a weird squeak. Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to go over all the mounts for the engine, transmission and exhaust to see if anything is suspect. They'll all get soft or otherwise malfunction after enough time/mileage.

[jblackburn]

ok ill check that out. also when im crusing in 4th gear, steady at 70mph, ill let my foot off the gas , and the rpms ride down, on the transmission.. for instance, figure driving a 5spd, your driving down the street in 3rd gear, let off the gas and you fel how the rpm's ride on the transmission while going down.. thats kind of what it does. on my s70



ALSO - when i go from park to drive, i get a small shake / squeek. like it needs a mount ossomething. and sometimes ill take off from park, and it makes a funny noise, its the noise that you get when your wheels spin with traction control on.. i get that noise slightly sometimes while taking off, in the morning when i first start my car.

ABS check happens @ 12 mph or something like that. It's a brief "clunk/whirr" noise.

Yeah, the top one is normal.

I sure wish my AW50-42 4speed (97 850) would let me engine brake on the highway like a stickshift!

Try engine braking with a 1.4L engine. Nothing but the brakes helps

[powertrip56]

ohh ok the ABD check had me worried, didnt know it was ment to happen. good to have that cleared up.. ill tell you that i knoy i have an exhaust leak, and i think i do need a tranny mount or something of that nature. my car literally jumps when i put it in to drive, like a small shake, so im thinking it may need a mount or 2.. i checked to make sure its going in over drive, and it is, i did what mercuric said to do, inorder to check it, and that seems fine.. so the problem must be something with my torq converter.. there is that located? and is it hard to replace if needed, and expensive?

[jblackburn]

The RPM falling when you let off the gas on the highway is completely normal for a 4-speed S70.

The smashing into gear is likely a collapsed lower engine mount.

http://www.atthetipwebs.com/technologyi ... _right.htm

[mercuric]

so the problem must be something with my torq converter.. there is that located? and is it hard to replace if needed, and expensive?

I doubt it, I'm not completely clear what the exact problem is besides hard shifting... I was curious about the torque converter lockup as you had thought the RPMs were higher than normal. Honestly 3K @ 70 doesn't seem unreasonable, but I've never driven a 99 s70 w/ the 2.4 non-turbo. The non-turbos do generally have lower final drive gearing (more RPMs), so the RPMs may be totally normal. Based on you getting good results for the converter lockup test I described, the converter is probably fine.

I'd start with the mounts. That lower engine mount does indeed routinely fail, and will result in various annoyances including harder-than-normal shifts and excessive engine vibration. The upper torque mount on top of the motor can also result in harshness / clunks on motor twisting action, but the lower mount is the more common issue -- Lots of weight on it. You might rethink if you actually have a problem after taking care of the mounts.

Whatever the case, the converter is where the clutch is on a stickshift car, if that is familiar to you -- in the transmission bellhousing, between the motor and tranny. It's an absolute pain in the rear to get to, of course requiring dropping the transmission -- which on these cars I hear is a real PIA. Luckily most transmission-related issues on these cars are caused by something ancillary or simply expired fluid.

Speaking of fluid, regardless of apparent condition, with hard shifts if you haven't flushed it in 4yr/50k, it wouldn't be a bad idea. its sure to help the tranny live longer.

Try engine braking with a 1.4L engine. Nothing but the brakes helps

LOL I bet. I'm guessing you are referring to your Cruze? I bet that poor thing is set up to purposefully prevent engine braking to wiggle out the best possible fuel/emissions numbers, sort of like the FWD volvos are. ugh, my next project is going to be from the 70s before cars tried to get smart on me... register that sucker as a "classic", no emissions inspection needed, no computers, no worries... I saw a beautiful 164 today, man that got me thinking!

[powertrip56]

Ok the fluid Is dark pink and smells bad. I've owned the car for 19k miles..so anything before that old what was serviced on it