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Bad shifting automatic

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

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d252
Posts: 2
Joined: 27 June 2021
Year and Model: 1994
Location: Eastern part

Bad shifting automatic

Post by d252 »

Dear readers

Im working on a volvo 850 (1994) with a 2.4L and a automatic gearbox, lately its has been shifting very strange.
The first few minutes the car always shifts normal but after that it will sometimes (like 1 out of 3 shifts) not shift until 5000-6000rpm then stay there for about 5 seconds and after that will shift like 2 gears in a row or do a realy hard shift. All the shifts feel kinda hard when its acting up.

the strange part is that if i disconnect the battery the car will shift normal for about 2 days to a week and after that the problem comes back.

what i did since the problem occured.
Checked the input from the sport/eco switch
Changed the automatic oil (old one didnt smell burned and as for the color it was kinda normal to me)
Checked the gear position sensor for blocking from metal shavings (its also a bit magnetic so i guess that one is fine)
The car does not throw any fault code so is assume that its not a bad sensor

does anyone have a possible solution for this problem? My current suspect is the TCM because of the battery part.

thanks in advance
PS excuse me for the bad english

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misha
Posts: 5380
Joined: 7 December 2008
Year and Model: '97 850 2.5 20v
Location: Serbia
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Post by misha »

TCM will not reset itself or reset DTC when battery is disconnected...like ECU.

Since you have a '94 you allready have diagnostic ports (OBDI) under the hood attached at ECU(s) box.

All you need is a pencil and a piece of paper to write down the flash codes from ALL modules in the car.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.matthe ... volvo-850/
'97 850 2.5 20v / fully equipped / Motronic 4.4 from the factory / upgraded with S,V,C,XC70 instrument cluster / polar white wagon
History of Volvos in the family:
'71 144 S
'73 144 De Luxe
'78 244 DL
'78 244 DL
'79 244 GLE
'85 340 GLS

d252
Posts: 2
Joined: 27 June 2021
Year and Model: 1994
Location: Eastern part

Post by d252 »

Car only throws fault code 444 on a3 which means "No power supply to valves in hydraulic unit" the rest of the ports all throw code 111, i have reset the code on a3 and after a big test drive the fault stays clear but the bad shifting continues.

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misha
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Year and Model: '97 850 2.5 20v
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Post by misha »

If there are not codes stored or pending... in A2...yes in A2....because TCM sometimes requests from ECU to turn on CEL....try with re-learning procedure after you reset ecu by removing negative battery cable for 10-15min.

Re-learn procedure:
http://www.volvotips.com/index.php/850- ... rocedures/

I would also check A6 & A5 for stored or pending codes.
'97 850 2.5 20v / fully equipped / Motronic 4.4 from the factory / upgraded with S,V,C,XC70 instrument cluster / polar white wagon
History of Volvos in the family:
'71 144 S
'73 144 De Luxe
'78 244 DL
'78 244 DL
'79 244 GLE
'85 340 GLS

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Clemens
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Year and Model: 96 855 R + 94 855 T5
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Post by Clemens »

Did you drain the ATF once or twice? If never done before, you might need 2 or three drain and refills with at least 100 miles of driving in between.
Summer: 1996 855 R
Winter: 1994 855 T5M
Donor: 1995 854 10V

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Roger_850T
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Post by Roger_850T »

There's a potentiometer on the back of the throttle that is an input to the transmission computer (TCM); it uses that to help decide when to shift. When mine went bad it caused all sorts of weird shifting. If you take it off and turn it by hand, mine felt "crunchy". In reality, the coils on the winding had just worn out. I'd pull it off, see how it feels, test with an ohm-meter, and see if it's smooth or not.

Good luck!

Roger
11 XC60 137k
08 V50 Project... Still in pieces
05 XC90 V8 213k
95 854T 350k Still my favorite daily driver
02 V70 186k+ Gave to my daughter, still going strong
03 S80 111k (crashed, but driver walked away unhurt)
93 945T 217k (gone to be parted out)
87 245 300k+ sold, still going afaik
84 264 Diesel, RIP at 160k
78 242 manual everything.
73 P1800ES, fun until the rust set in...

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