2001 S40 Very hard shift into Reverse & sluggish in Drive

Post by **alschnertz** » 09 May 2015, 18:16

Not feeling good about this.
'01 S40, 185,000 miles and has been a good car.

Bought at 145,000.
Here's the transmission maintenance that I've performed.
Drain / fill transmission with Dex III at 147,000, 150,000, 156,000, 160,000, and 170,000.
Then flush (not power flush) with and change to Mobil 3309 at 173,000.

The reason I switched to 3309 was on recommendations that said the '01 owner's manual was wrong and that it was supposed to list a fluid spec like 3309. Dex III was not supposed to have ever been recommended according to "the experts".

So today the car started to have a "very" hard shift into Reverse. Then when put into Drive and trying to accelerate away, it felt like the brakes were on. Really had to press on the gas to finally get going.

Gosh I hope it's not the transmission. I was hoping to get another 2 years out of this car. But a broken automatic at 185,000 miles is not unusual.

Thinking I may flush back to Dex III tomorrow and cross my fingers.
Thoughts?

Post by **jimmy57** » 09 May 2015, 21:56

It is in trans limp home.
This happens for a long list of reasons like blown fuse for trans control module, some faults with gearbox, and faults with wiring. If you move gear lever down to L it will take off in a lower gear. If in D it takes off in 4th.

Post by **alschnertz** » 10 May 2015, 05:10

Thanks. I suspected it was in limp home.
I tried to engage "winter" mode to see if that would make any difference, but the arrow would not illuminate on the instrument cluster. Could hear a noise somewhere when pressing the "w" button but it does not appear to have engaged. For some reason, I think you can't engage winter mode above a certain ambient temperature. It was about 80 F or so at the time. I'll check the manual.

I did row the gearshift back and forth to no avail.
Also tried the lower gears, but didn't feel any difference - like the normal slight movement under normal switching. But after feeling nothing, I didn't even try to move away. I'll try that this morning.

My daughter (it's her car) reminded me that this happened about two months ago. At that time the CEL went on. I asked her to read the codes and she inadvertently erased them before recording them down. And the car has been acting normal since. I knew it would happen again sooner or later, so here we are.

Hopefully I'll be able to drive it this morning using "low" to get away from a stop. It's too dangerous trying to pull away in limp home. Especially when on a hill or pulling out into traffic. If I get lucky, it'll set a code.

I should have added that the fluid looks great and is at the proper level. Still bright pink and doesn't smell burned at all.

What do you think about changing the fluid back to Dex III instead of the 3309?
Or do you think it's not likely to be fluid related?

It's crazy how hard it shifts into reverse. I'm afraid it will break a motor mount it is so hard.

difflock54 · Post by **difflock54** » 10 May 2015, 05:45

Is your transmission a 4 speed or 5 speed ?

The 4 speed transmission are meant to have Dex III are they not?
Dex IV is okay as it is backwards compatible if I recall correctly.
The JWS 3309 spec fluid is essential for 5 speeds.

Post by **alschnertz** » 10 May 2015, 07:17

I believe you are correct regarding the 4 speed automatic requiring Dex III.

This car is a 2001 1.9T North American delivery with what I've always assumed is a 5 speed (automatic).
Shifter indicates P-R-N-D-4-3-L. That is the 5 speed, right?

Maybe my Dex III drain / fills from 147K to 173K miles (26,000 miles) destroyed the transmission.
Or maybe the 12,000 miles of 3309 spec did?
Or maybe the transmission just has given up after 185,000 miles.

And I just did a VVT gear, pcv service and new tires within the last 6 months. Bummer.

Post by **jimmy57** » 10 May 2015, 08:23

2001 is a 5 speed. S40/V40 1st gen were 4 speeds -->2000 and 5 speeds 2001-->.
Limp home can be caused by simple things. Many have gone well past 185K. I drive a 2004 V70R and it has 223K and its 5 speed performs flawlessly.

Post by **alschnertz** » 10 May 2015, 08:26

I just took it for a ride. Here's what happened.

Car sat overnight. Ambient temperature 68 degrees F.
Cold start normally and the CEL comes on - P0600 according to my ScanGauge II.
(Edit: I should have added that P0600 comes up as a generic Serial Communication Link Malfunction)
Sitting in the driveway, the transmission acts absolutely normal. Smooth shift into Reverse, smooth shifts into Drive, 4, 3 and L. Creeps forward slowly when letting off the brake and in Drive. Just like usual.

Pull out of the driveway and go up the street. Left it in Drive and it shifts normally through all the gears. Included a few stop and starts and still the transmission is working like it should.

After about 2 miles I come to another stop and I can hear a distinct slight whine coming from under the hood. Shift to Neutral and the whine subsides. Shift back into Drive and the whine starts again and the car is in what I assume is limp mode (appears to be 3rd or 4th gear). I didn't want to try Reverse as that previously resulted in a destructive sounding BANG when shifting into Reverse. Tried shifting to Low in hopes of being able to start off in 1st gear, but that made no difference.
Regardless of where I put the shift lever (in forward gears) the transmission stays in limp mode.

I'm now thinking the problem has something to do with the transmission temperature and that whining sound. I thought the UP arrow is supposed to flash if there is a transmission malfunction, but that hasn't happened yet.

difflock54 · Post by **difflock54** » 11 May 2015, 05:11

The 5 separate drain and fills with Dexron III have gradually diluted the original fluid, presumeably 3309 which should be what was in the car when you purchased it.
As we know Dexron III is not suitable at all for AW55-50 5 speed transmissions.
Given you have run the vehicle for quite a while with the incorrect fluid in staged mixed concentrations at each draining procedure it is highly likely that it has been detrimental.
Changing back to the correct JWS 3309 spec fluid might take the transmission a while to hopefully??? recover but it may be unsuccessful.

Post by **alschnertz** » 11 May 2015, 14:35

Thanks.
The part that really bugs me is that when I was doing the Dex III drains / fills, it was because that's what is listed in the owner's manual for the transmission fluid.
Do you really think that 26,000 miles of easy driving on Dex III could have killed it?
I just don't know enough about the difference between Dex III and 3309.

difflock54 · Post by **difflock54** » 11 May 2015, 17:16

Some of the various Volvo owner manuals have errors scattered thru them for sure.
Whilst your manual may have stated Dexron III it is likely that the vehicle actually had the correct JWS 3309 in the transmission at the time you purchased it.
Unfortunately you would not have known if that was the case.
The gradual staged change to the incorrect Dexron III followed by the sudden reintroduction to the 3309 with a low pressure flush may have shocked the transmission?
Sometimes they do re adapt after a good long run but it cant be a certainty that it will solve the problem.