Keep it or junk it?

[Mr. Detail]

Heh Volvoman, I mean "manovlov".
Thanks for those screen shots but what I was really hoping for was a pin-point photo under the hood showing where that connector actually is in regards to the rest of the engine compartment. With all the stuff that makes up the engine compartment, I just do not know where to begin.

[precopster]

Remove battery and battery tray then look down. Grey multi pin (more than 4 wires) with depressible release tabs. Probably 2 or 3 connectors at the most. Wouldn't hurt to clean everything you can spot in the general vicinity of the transmission; it can't hurt if you clean a connector that's not transmission related. Most important thing is you use contact cleaner and give it a fair go.

[floodcity1]

*Bump thread* - hello all. I recently bought a nice little one-owner, base '97 850 with 103K actual (the owner actually had the odometer fixed when it broke years ago!), with a shifting problem. When it gets warm, it slips and shifts hard. The warmer it gets, the worse the issue. OBD-II codes are P0740 and P0732. Went to order a reman valve body, and the guy at Reamman.com, who comes across as knowing his stuff, said all you need is a TCC solenoid, about $35 at Transtar. Says it should solve my problem. I only have $500 in this baby, so I'm willing to spend what it takes to fix it. My mechanic says $200 to swap it out and do a full flush with synthetic (I buy the materials). Does this sound like a good plan? Am I overlooking something, or perhaps throwing good money after bad? Any speculation on my chances of success with this fix? Your opinions are highly valued, thanks!

[scot850]

When was the fluid last changed? While no guarantee, many have found by just doing a few drain and fills of fresh fluid is all that may be needed. Don't do it with synthetic just the regular ATF.

The suggested fix may be needed and sounds like a good deal. So if you want to cover the bases, then go that route.

Neil.

[floodcity1]

Thanks scot850! I have meticulous service records from the original owner - three flush and fills had been done in the last 10K miles at the Volvo dealer. Dealer, of course, told him a new tranny was needed. But as cheap as the fix is, I'm gonna do it. Question: is regular ATF preferable to the synthetic in these vehicles? Or is it just so as to keep the expense of multiple flushes to a minimum?

[erikv11]

Regular Dex III spec ATF works really well and is cheap. You can definitely use synthetic if you want though.

[abscate]

Eeks. If it has done three drain and fills in 10k, I would save the money and start looking for a transmission or the solenoid diagnosis.

[oragex]

I wonder how true those 103K miles are, for the transmission to act like this. That said, as above, the fluid was already flushed hoping it will solve the issue, so go ahead with the solenoid stuff at this point. I'm not aware how the solenoids work on your transmission, but on the P2 generation you could also open and clean them so while there (just search on Youtube for Aisin solenoid cleaning), at least pull all suspect solenoids and give them a good shake - they should rattle very easily (if you can warm them up to 80C before shaking them it's even better as the metal expands at the operating temperature and the solenoid may jam even more). And don't forget to test the resistance and all electrical connectors on each solenoids while the cover is out.

[matthew1]

I wonder how true those 103K miles are, for the transmission to act like this.

Agreed. Here's how to read mileage from the ECU on 1996-1998 Volvo 850, S70, V70, XC70. Maybe newer models of P80 Volvos also.

Keep in mind that thread was years ago. Now, cheaper scanners might do this.

[matthew1]

Here's another, more recent, method: viewtopic.php?t=61976