1999 Volvo V70XC No Reverse

[abscate]

That might be a misprint on the TCU diagram

Nice catch!

There are two A54 terminals labeled which isn’t right.

[KKiwi]

That might be a misprint on the TCU diagram

Nice catch!

There are two A54 terminals labeled which isn’t right.

That sucks so bad!! Knew it couldn't have been that easy lol I guess I'll go through and check more wires out and see if I run into any other issues

[scot850]

Man this is getting old! This is the third or fourth time in the last few days I have posted a reply and it has disappeared?!

I pointed out that the yellow outline of a wire abscate made was on a wire labelled as (W)hite and the wire beside it is (Y)ellow. So I am also a little confused on the wiring info.

KKiwi - You asked previously about trying and fitting your PnP switch from your previous trans. Did your trans go into reverse with that PnP switch or did you have the same issue? If you have not tried it and it seemed to be working ok on your old trans, then maybe it is worth a shot on swapping it in. The PnP units are a fairly complex unit that are prone to wear and build up over the years. Reverse is one of the sectors that sees the most wear. It becomes more clear if you look at our friend Robert's video (rspi) on the PnP switch. Near the end he opens a switch up and explains what goes wrong with them:



Neil.

[KKiwi]

Man this is getting old! This is the third or fourth time in the last few days I have posted a reply and it has disappeared?!

I pointed out that the yellow outline of a wire abscate made was on a wire labelled as (W)hite and the wire beside it is (Y)ellow. So I am also a little confused on the wiring info.

KKiwi - You asked previously about trying and fitting your PnP switch from your previous trans. Did your trans go into reverse with that PnP switch or did you have the same issue? If you have not tried it and it seemed to be working ok on your old trans, then maybe it is worth a shot on swapping it in. The PnP units are a fairly complex unit that are prone to wear and build up over the years. Reverse is one of the sectors that sees the most wear. It becomes more clear if you look at our friend Robert's video (rspi) on the PnP switch. Near the end he opens a switch up and explains what goes wrong with them:



Neil.

I'll have to check out that video later today. But yeah, my old trans had the same problem where I can feel it clunk into reverse and the reverse lights turn on but the car won't move in reverse as if the clutch isn't engaging. I noticed yesterday that both my new and old transmission click into 7 different positions while my shift lever only has 6 positions so I'm a little confused as to why it does that as well

[scot850]

So if you have 100% swapped the PnP switch and still get the same issue then it has to be wiring issue whether a speed signal or whatever from the TCU, I am beyond my pay grade!

Neil.

[RosserV70]

Did you ever figure out what was actually wrong? I have the same issue on my 99R. I have bought a different trans but haven’t put it in yet. Your post is confirming my suspicions that it isn’t actually the trans but another issue (all other gears work fine). Interestingly I lost reverse slowly- as in it would go in to reverse at high revs at first before I lost it completely. Would love to know if you fixed it and specifically how.

[KKiwi]

No I was never able to fix it, I've since sold the car and moved on, but I came to the conclusion that it was the shift solenoids. I'm trying to remember exactly what it was and how to fix it. I think you can replace the shift solenoids without dropping the transmission though, just needs to be drained before pulling the cover to replace them. But if you have a replacement trans uninstalled then I would get on ebay, buy a whole new set of shift solenoids, and replace them while it's still uninstalled. Then install the new trans and pray that's what it was. Sadly my V70's entire intake side took a crap and I couldn't afford to replace all the stuff on it and had to sell it before I could figure out the transmission but I hope this helps!!

[RosserV70]

Thanks- that’s a good lead. So you think that both of the transmissions you used had bad shift solenoids? Just extremely bad luck!

[KKiwi]

I tried 3 different transmissions..... It was bs. Although the 2 replacements I got were both priced low and from some shady type salvage yards so it made some sense as to why, but yeah, really bad luck. The third and final trans that I installed had reverse work KIND OF. Similar to what you said you experienced, it worked but it began to go out slowly as if the clutch plates weren't getting pushed together hard enough to fully engage after a while (one of the main reasons I was sure it's the solenoids getting stuck). Looking around online at the specific model of transmission this is, you'll find it's apparently a VERY common problem with them. They used the same transmissions in some alfa romeos and those models had the same "no reverse" problems. It sucks, I really hope you're able to get it figured out though and post it on here for everyone else dealing with similar problems

[abscate]

Did you ever figure out what was actually wrong? I have the same issue on my 99R. I have bought a different trans but haven’t put it in yet. Your post is confirming my suspicions that it isn’t actually the trans but another issue (all other gears work fine). Interestingly I lost reverse slowly- as in it would go in to reverse at high revs at first before I lost it completely. Would love to know if you fixed it and specifically how.

High revs will help a sticking one blocked solenoid get pressure to the plates to help a shift but that won’t last as a fix very long. The correct solenoid configuration for Reverse is s1S2 OFF , so both should be letting pressure through, I think? To be confirmed.

One thing to watch. There is a transition in 99 and 00 years from four speed to 5 speed AT and the PnP and shifter are NOT compatible between this change. Be careful with junkyard parts, match part numbers