740 won't go into high gear...

jeblen · Post by **jeblen** » 05 Feb 2004, 23:04

My automatic 740 just decided not to shift into high gear. It didn't give me any hints or warnings before this - just stopped shifting out of 3rd. Everything else seems fine... Do I need a new trans, or is there (please!) some cheap, simple thing that could be wrong - I already checked the oil and fuses...

petershen1984 · Post by **petershen1984** » 06 Feb 2004, 05:19

I believe you have a malfunction in the overdrive solenoid, which is a electromagnetic switch that activates the fourth gear. Try toggling the overdrive switch and see if the car responds. I don't think the red arrow flashes to indicate errors on our 740s - it lights up when it's turned off.

Volvord · Post by **Volvord** » 06 Feb 2004, 13:52

If it is not going into 3rd it is probably just the kick-down cable. Take a look by the throttle body where the accelerater cable connects to the bell crank. Connected to this bell crank will be at least two cables, one is the throttle cable the second will be for the transmission kick-down, if there is a third cable it will be for the cruise control. Make sure the trany kick-downcable is not binding or catching on anything, I have seen this cable get "sticky" with age and if it does not fully return the trany will not shift into the higher gears.

Roger 745T#455 · Post by **Roger 745T#455** » 18 Mar 2004, 17:37

Same problem with my 85 745T. Could it be a relay or a problem in the shifter button itself?

LaRy · Post by **LaRy** » 19 Mar 2004, 11:32

It could be the relay, but then this will also be indicated by an orange arrow at the dashboard.

jeblen · Post by **jeblen** » 22 Mar 2004, 23:18

Thanks for the responses - I had the relay checked, and the o/d solenoid, and the problem hasn't been fixed. Mechanic said it's probably something within the trans. I'm just driving it as is, sucking up gas on the freeways... if anyone has any other suggestions, I'm up for them!
Aloha!
Janet

snichols29 · Post by **snichols29** » 24 Apr 2004, 10:28

I have an '88 740 that has the orange arrow on. The car shifts into fourth gear whenever it feels like it and other times the orange arrow will never come on and the car will shift fine. Could this be a relay and if so where would the relay be located on the car?

Thanks so much!

LaRy · Post by **LaRy** » 26 Apr 2004, 13:58

It sounds definitely like the relay! It is placed behind the ash tray. Take the ash tray out and loosen the plastic square cover around the lighter opening and loosen the hidden screw behind. Then you can take out the shelf carefully including the lighter and you will find all the relays behind the fuses. This relay is especially made for Volvo by Hella. My relay was placed in the second raw most right, it is higher and my relay is gray. I noticed with my relay doing exactly the same thing, that some soldering on the PC board inside was bad by age, it was cracked. So I re-soldered all bad loocking joints and it is working perfect. So I suggest that you take out the relay and give it to someone that is rather good in soldering and it will work again. Good luck!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 06 Nov 2004, 12:54

On my 89 740 Turbo the overdrive was kicking out intermittently with the orange arrow coming on. This indicated an electrical rather than a mechanical problem. I had heard about the relay but couldn't get to it since my hands are bigger than a five year old. I found on another site that by removing the square plastic trim around the front of the cigarette lighter it exposed 2 screws that could be removed and the lighter and storage area could be removed giving unfettered access to the relays. The OD relay is on the right. It is white, 1"x1"x3" made by Hella, part number J9010-23997.