AW55-50SN woes-easy to repair? Topic is solved

[01_Nautic_V70]

So glad to hear more 2001-2002 AW55's are being kept on the road. Had I known about this repair method, I may not have taken the same rebuild and then replacement route. As it is, I have a spare AW55 sitting in my garage waiting to be rebuilt and then shrink-wrapped.

[vt9000cse]

Well the update isn't as nice as I would like it to be. The first 6 miles and "BING BONG" Saab transmission fault. Now it's only shifting manually in 2nd and 5th. And pretty abruptly at that. So I will attempt to reset the TCM module and run some adaption runs with the Tech2. It has 5 quarts of fresh Type IV fluid in and my inline filter. I will have to pull the codes and see what they are telling us. Enjoy!

[01_Nautic_V70]

Well the update isn't as nice as I would like it to be. The first 6 miles and "BING BONG" Saab transmission fault. Now it's only shifting manually in 2nd and 5th. And pretty abruptly at that. So I will attempt to reset the TCM module and run some adaption runs with the Tech2. It has 5 quarts of fresh Type IV fluid in and my inline filter. I will have to pull the codes and see what they are telling us. Enjoy!

Has this unit had the "Precopster Poke" Mod been done on this transmission?

I had a clogged filter on my 2001 AW55-50SN and they're a real pain.

[vt9000cse]

Yes, as described in earlier posts.

But to be fair I've been experimenting with different TCM's from Saab. They made a lot of different units with a lot of different PN's. I found an interesting thing out last night with my 2003 Saab 9-5 TCM installed in the 2003 Saab 9-3. The TCS/Stability control goes haywire and the PRND never shows up in the SID. But. The TCM never actually goes into a fault mode. I'm not sure if the 9-5 has different Limp Home Modes but the thing will try it's darndest to shift into 1,2,3,4,5 and Lockup. When it's going into 3 and 4 it seems to flair a lot and never actually drop into gear. But if I feather the gas I can accelerate enough to get into 5th gear where the rpms seem to drop around 2000 rpm at 60 mph and feels like it's in 5th. And as long as I am gentle on the gas pedal it never downshifts and thumps a long in 5th and thankfully the Saabs have the turbo to give it the extra torque for hills. So this to me is promising. I'm sure I'm getting closer to having all my gears back. I need to clean the valve body and shift solenoids again.

One thing I am noticing though is the Transmission temperatures are in the 230 F range. This to me seems really high. I know they aren't the same cars but what temperatures are others with this same transmission seeing for temperatures? This is in northern USA in winter now around 30-45 F outside air temperatures.

[vt9000cse]

I'll try and take a video of it.

[firstv70volvo]

I read with interest about the clogged filter and wondered how many transmission problems are caused not only by a completely clogged filter but a partially clogged filter that reduces fluid flow. The previous dealer installed transmission in my car had a whine while cold and now I understand what was likely the cause. The transmission has since been replaced by the dealer due to the whine even though it was beyond the warranty period.
After 70K miles the latest dealer installed transmission started having delayed engagement problems so I replaced the valve body and all has been fine now for 10k miles since VB replacement.

From the valve body work that I've done there is access to the pump suction port (and top side of the filter) when a small cover is removed from the valve body on the lower left side. I'm thinking this access port could be used to back flush the filter while the drain plug is removed. Has anyone ever tried this? It might require a small plate to better seal the valve body opening and then compress air and fluid back flushing could be done. While back flushing what drains out of the transmission will be a good indication if this is effective or not.

sonnax page.jpg (110.52 KiB) Viewed 2594 times

[precopster]

Interesting that I never got the delayed shift engagement symptom when my filter was partially blocked. Delayed shift engagement is a symptom of incorrectly adjusted solenoids not flowing enough fluid for proper operation. However now after almost 6,000kms after unblocking the filter the transmission feels great

[firstv70volvo]

Interesting that I never got the delayed shift engagement symptom when my filter was partially blocked.

Hi Precopster, I didn't mean to imply I thought my filter was partially blocked in the second transmission that was installed in my car. The delayed engagement was just another problem that came up after the previous transmission was replaced, which did have a whine and likely a partially blocked filter or some other pump problem on the suction side. The valve body I replaced on the second transmission installed did solve the delayed engagement and it was during this repair that I learned about the access port to the suction side of the pump. After reading about your clogged filter fix I was just thinking this suction side pump access could be used to back flush the filter. Not sure if this would work to clear the filter but something I would try if I'm doing any valve body work again.

Good to hear your transmission is still working well. It's always good to know about solutions that work and don't require expensive removal, tear down and replacement of these transmissions.

[precopster]

Now 11,000 kms later and no change in shift operation. Too bad the 2G car phone no longer works; Vodafone officially ceased 2G support 8 days ago.

[01_Nautic_V70]

Now 11,000 kms later and no change in shift operation. Too bad the 2G car phone no longer works; Vodafone officially ceased 2G support 8 days ago.

Glad to hear the transmission is holding up. Sorry to hear onboard phone is no longer supportable. Perhaps a landline and a very long cord?