1998 Volvo s70 t5 automatic

happydayholly · Post by **happydayholly** » 12 Jan 2018, 15:53

Boy I love my Volvo, but unfortunately I have to do all the work myself. Car is in "limp mode". This happened after I replaced the radiator/intercooler and one of the clips came off (lower drivers side). All the transmission fluid leaked or I should say sprayed all over the engine while my daughters boyfriend was driving it home. They bought like 5 qts of ATF Dex3 to get it to my house and now it wont go into reverse. If I put the ignition on but not running I can roll the car out the drive in neutral. Any Ideas ? pnp switch?
Thanks

happydayholly · Post by **happydayholly** » 12 Jan 2018, 15:54

Boy I love my Volvo, but unfortunately I have to do all the work myself. Car is in "limp mode". This happened after I replaced the radiator/intercooler and one of the clips came off (lower drivers side). All the transmission fluid leaked or I should say sprayed all over the engine while my daughters boyfriend was driving it home. They bought like 5 qts of ATF Dex3 to get it to my house and now it wont go into reverse. If I put the ignition on but not running I can roll the car out the drive in neutral. Any Ideas ? pnp switch?
Thanks

Post by **FLXC90** » 12 Jan 2018, 16:19

Okay, you say it is in limp mode. Is the Up Arrow on the dash flashing or steady? Is the check Engine light on with a trans related code? If you try to drive away, does it start in third gear?

After a large fluid loss, you must determine actual fluid level. Since you don't know how much was lost, adding five quarts is not congruent to "filled". Use the procedure in your owner's manual to check level. If the level is very low, the car may have a bubble of air in the pump, or just lacks sufficient fluid to build required pressure.

Let us know after you have that baseline measure taken.

happydayholly · Post by **happydayholly** » 12 Jan 2018, 16:34

Thanks ...my first post ever and a response in less than 10 min.
So I bought 8 more quarts and had filled it to level while idling and in park (if I had it in neutral it would slowly inch forward). Tested the car and still limp mode. I did a drain and fill approx. 3 quarts. still in limp mode. Let it sit overnight and regrouped. Checked the fluid for the hell of it before anything else was done and it is really high...is it supposed to be high while it is parked and cool out?
The arrow is not lit or is it flashing..but I seem to remember it was initially

happydayholly · Post by **happydayholly** » 12 Jan 2018, 16:58

Any ideas as to what to do next...
I am going to disconnect the battery till tomorrow, and in the meantime I will contemplate steps to take. Sure could use some sage advice here. Drain the transmission all the way? Have it towed to local mechanic not fluent in Volvo to diagnose it with an odbc2 doohickey. Or Just start replacing the pnp switch etc. I really hope its not toast.

Post by **FLXC90** » 12 Jan 2018, 17:01

Trans fluid expands (a lot) as it warms up, so, no it should not read that high. too much fluid can cause seals to blow. What color was the fluid from the drain and fill? Did it look burnt? Anyway, remove enough fluid to return to Full. Drain and fill is good method if you need to. Catch fluid in a clean container, and add same fluid back in only to reach full. Store the rest in a clean bottle, or discard it.

For PNP, first checks, does the start inhibit keep it from starting except in P or N? Do the reverse lights come on with the key on and only when R is selected, or is it a wiggle away?

Post by **FLXC90** » 12 Jan 2018, 17:08

When young man was limping car home, did trans act up then, or only after? Battery disconnect is not necessary, and will dump stored OBD codes.

I'm not an auto-trans guru, but first things to rule out are fluid inconsistencies, like level, aeration or foaming, and cavitation.
Let's not go worst-case scenario yet

Post by **cn90** » 13 Jan 2018, 16:37

- Check to be sure but the retainer clip has a WIDER side (which goes to the radiator side). Add a zip tie or scalp to hold it in place.

- Standard drain-Refill is about 3.3 qts of ATF (Dexron-III). Chec ATf level with car in P and after a drive, so the fluid is HOT.

- Turn key to II (no need to start the engine), put in Reverse, if the reverse lights are ON, then unlikely PNP issue.

- My 1998 S70 GLT with 187K miles just developed a slipping reverse today. I also have a burned valve #3, so this may be the "beginning of the end"...

Post by **jtp** » 13 Jan 2018, 17:04

happydayholly wrote: 12 Jan 2018, 15:53 Boy I love my Volvo, but unfortunately I have to do all the work myself. Car is in "limp mode". This happened after I replaced the radiator/intercooler and one of the clips came off (lower drivers side). All the transmission fluid leaked or I should say sprayed all over the engine while my daughters boyfriend was driving it home. They bought like 5 qts of ATF Dex3 to get it to my house and now it wont go into reverse. If I put the ignition on but not running I can roll the car out the drive in neutral. Any Ideas ? pnp switch?
Thanks

I made this exact same mistake on my last wagon, a 95 850. When I stopped the car the transmission was literally smoking. And kept smoking for a while.

For the rest of the life of the car I would do a drain and fill of the tranny fluid at every oil change, as time went on I learned that additives or the quality of the fluid didn’t matter (still has to be compatible Fluid obviously), just the frequency of the fluid change made the difference.

I got rid of the car two years later as it just had a lot of issues, but the transmission was fully functional that entire time apart from hitting a bit hard into first from a stop when I would be approaching the next fluid change interval (5K miles).

If I put off the fluid exchange I’d get the arrow back and limp mode.

Everything breaks a little different but I doubt they damaged the tranny worse than I did that one. Try changing the fluid and see what it does.

Edit: +1 on securing the clamp with zip ties, we put one around the connection at the tranny cooler and one around the hose behind the clamps and then a third zip tie to hold those two zip ties together.

Now that I think about it right after it happened I probably did 2 or three drain and fills right after the issue occurred, basically just kept going until there were no more metal flakes coming out in the fluid.

Whole incident made me both extremely cautious about getting in over my head on a repair ever again and amazed at the tankiness of those transmissions.

Post by **wizechatmgr** » 13 Jan 2018, 18:25

Pull the hose off the radiator again and check that you still have transmission fluid flowing from the pump in the transmission - if you don't, you're likely screwed if the level is correct. At the same time, you my as well pump that fluid into a jug to swap that fluid out. Go about a quart to a quart and a half or so, then shut it down and put the same amount back in. Try to not let it suck air.

I like the Castrol and have had excellent luck with it thus far. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Castrol-Tran ... /17253576?
That's a link to it at wally world, but I know pretty much all auto stores in my area carry it. I used about 2 gallons the last time I swapped fluid this fall. I plan on doing it again in the spring as I was getting out some fluid that made me cringe. It was like a chocolate frothy milk shake. The transmission has been good to me since. Once you revive it, then maybe in 3 months if you're thinking of synthetic then maybe make the switch. Otherwise change it once a year or so - which is far more than it would typically need but you want to get any varnish, etc out of there sooner rather than later.

Does it drive forward successfully at the moment? If so, there could be a single passage or solenoid that is gummed up.