2002 V70XC - valve body purchase options

[SuperHerman]

2002V70XC - Until the valve body cover is actually removed you will not know which valve body you have. Yes, it is most likely an "A". I suppose it is possible that a VIN search and a few phone calls may tell exactly which valve body was put in your transmission. Based on my research and playing around with an "A" and my "unmarked" version the differences are slight. I would speculate that any valve body would work (other than the extended wire harness) - why do I say this? From what others have written and what the dealer installs appears not to be "A" "B" or "C" - they put in the latest. This leads me to believe that each different version is an update which fixes prior problems in the prior model. Nissan uses the same valve body and transmission for the most part. The solenoids appear to be interchangeable. The difference is in the software - and even this seems to be the same between Volvos as the latest is installed from what I can tell. I may be wrong here. My educated guess is that doing an adaptation after the change will train your computer to properly modulate the solenoids. One thing here, if your solenoids are outside of the required parameters then they will not be able to produce the required range. This is why during a rebuild they are set to what should be the correct setting, by turning an allen screw, which pushes on a spring - and that sets the proper pressure. If the place you are getting your rebuild done is good and set it correctly, you should have zero problems.

You also ask if I think it may not fix your "D" delayed shift - I think it will. The way I see it - because one of the solenoids is sticking it builds up improper pressure that when released, breaking the binding of the solenoid's internal shaft, it thumps. Now if your problem is not in your valve body that is another issue, but I don't think that is the case unless you find a huge amount of metal sludge or splinters when you open it up and drain the fluid. From what I have read, automatic trannies should go 300,000 miles without disc wear causing problems.

Finally, the prices you mention seem fair. I think I could do the job in 4 hours if I just had to change just the valve body. One last item, I elected to use a gasket the second go around rather than RTV, the first was a failed attempt using RTV, in the event I messed up. Nissan uses a gasket rather than RTV and it is an exact fit - if it is good enough for Nissan it is good enough for my Volvo. Removing the RTV is time consuming as space is limited. Fortunately I did not need to do it a third time.

[2002V70XC]

@vtl:
I'll need to get another job to be able to go 2 x Cross Country :J
@xHeart:
I'm pretty sure mine has the orginal Valve body. I'll summarize my research once I get the results after the replacement of the valve body. Basically you can fit Volvo newer valve bodies into older models of Volvo (B5 spring has to be removed) but I wanted to go with the safest option. If your valve body doesn't have a B5 spring then you shouldn't replace it with 1 that has the B5 spring (reference I found online: http://vanmatic.com/files/aw5550vb.pdf)
I believe that the B stamp VB is from 2004 or newer Volvo. Here is 1 reference example: http://www.centralvalvebodies.com/CVB_C ... N_2014.pdf

@SuperHerman:
I'm not 100% sure that my car has an A stamp VB but its most likely (I know a few forum users that did their VB replacement on 2002 XC70). Even if I have B stamp VB on it, it would be ok for me to put an A stamp into mine since that B stamp on my car shouldn't have a B5 spring. If my car has B stamp VB, the shop would be able to modify the wiring harness so that the unreachable wire would be able to reach the required solenoid.

You can source brand-new B stamp VB almost anywhere because thats the new style VB from Volvo but I think thats risky as well because of the B5 spring design. You gotta take the B5 spring off if you put the VB on the car that came with no B5 spring VB.
Thanks for all the replies!

[xHeart]

The reference CVB catalog is an attractive source, thank you! Here is Volvo/Aisin page 65/72 http://www.centralvalvebodies.com/CVB_CATALOG_JAN_2014.pdf?page=65.