s-80 1999 trans stuck in performance mode

firebird · Post by **firebird** » 31 Dec 2008, 09:20

by the way to start,i was looking for info and stumbled on to your forum,glad i did.my wife's 1999 s-80 twin charged t-6 110,000 +/- miles has been showing alot of these signs your forum has discussed.serging,"transmission service urgent" light came on, scared the hell out of me. we had it scanned it said large evac leak with potential answers,transmission stuck in performance modem,running rich, shift module bad?? could this all be potentially from a bad emt?

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 31 Dec 2008, 09:58

Welcome to MVS.
Certainly, what you describe could be the ETM.
If you haven't already been to the dealer, as you may know there is a recall on that particular part and there is also a software download that should be free and could free up the ETM, at least for awhile, so call them to see if this is available for your car (it should be). Evap leaks on the other hand could be a plethora of issues- anything from a loose gas cap to a vent valve either just inside of the gas fill area or further along the gas line at the charcoal canister or even on a small valve that resides on your fan shroud at the front of the car. My suggestion is that when you take your car in for the ETM, have that checked out as well. Not sure if the ETM issue would cause a false Evap code to be set. The "performance" mode you speak of is actually a "limp home" mode- it resets all of the gas/air mixture settings (by the computer) to at least allow you to get home or to a dealer where further probing of the car's problems can be done. My suggestion as a first step is to retighten the gas cap and clear your trouble codes (any auto parts store should be able to do this for you through your OBD-II port near the driver's seat, inside of your cabin). Then see if any of this stuff keeps exhibiting itself.

In the meantime, I'm moving your thread over the the correct S80 section of the forum. A "ghost" link will remain in its original location so you won't have any trouble finding your post. Good luck and let us know how things are going.
-MIJ

Post by **JRL** » 31 Dec 2008, 10:24

I disagree.
While it may need some ETM software too these transmssions are pure JUNK and always fail.
The GM sourced 4 speed (trannies) in these and the XC90 T6 are known failure transmissions, true garbage!
Almost every XC90 transmission has been replaced and I think at least 75% of S80T6's too.
I'm surprised it lasted this long (over 100k)

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 31 Dec 2008, 10:31

JRL may be right.
As I said, I know very little about your particular car.
Take it to the (trusted) dealer- see what they say.

firebird · Post by **firebird** » 31 Dec 2008, 10:34

thank you very much for your time.you were very helpful

Post by **vegasjetskier** » 31 Dec 2008, 13:24

If you want to get the ETM under warranty, get to a dealer as fast as you can. The extended warranty is only until 10 years from the first use of the car. That may be approaching fast for your vehicle. Good luck

firebird · Post by **firebird** » 17 Feb 2009, 07:32

just to reply on the latest info on our 99' s-80 t-6,we took it to the local dealer and for 129.00 they downloaded two fixes for the surging/stalling and told us the transmission was bad. we havent picked it up yet,but were just going to drive till it wont or till i can find another trans.any idea's where i can find an auto trans ??? i want to thank everyone for their help,there is vast amounts of information on this site,that with out it some of us would never know.thank you ,rob

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 17 Feb 2009, 16:48

Do some research if you can on your particular model year S80. Not sure what other transmissions will work in it, but like JRL said, the GM tranny made for it originally is likely to fail again. If you want to keep the car, then begin looking for what (else) will work in it. www.erievovo.com comes to mind (you'll want to call them as they are not good about answering emails). That said, if you can't find a different transmission to work in your car and you're willing to let it go, then swap out the bad for the (not so) good for cheap as you can and sell it. If you really like the S80 design and comforts, I would recommend buying one that is at least an '04 or maybe even an '05 or later model as most of these issues have been ironed out by these model years.

Post by **VCA** » 19 Feb 2009, 05:57

MadeInJapan wrote:Not sure what other transmissions will work in it, but like JRL said, the GM tranny made for it originally is likely to fail again.

Volvo's transmission in this car is a GM 4T65-type transaxle. There are two versions: the 4T65EV and the 4T65EV-GT (GearTronic). My advice: have it rebuilt by a competent transmission shop (get references, shop around, ask for references from other shops; find a shop that works on police cars, for example)...because it's a GM transmission, they've likely done hundreds and, many times, the transmission will be better off than a new one.

I still have to wonder what Volvo did to this gearbox, in terms of loading, to make it fail at these rates--the 4T65/4T65E has a mean service life (in my experience, in sunny Florida; your mileage may vary) of at least 150K on GM cars. My Buick had a 4T65 and it lasted 210K before I junked the car, and it still shifted perfectly smoothly.

MadeInJapan wrote: If you really like the S80 design and comforts, I would recommend buying one that is at least an '04 or maybe even an '05 or later model as most of these issues have been ironed out by these model years.

If I'm honest, I think I'd recommend a post-'03 S60/V70 over an S80 of any model year (unless you're buying a new one with a warranty--and selling it when the warranty's up)...in my opinion, the S80 is still miles behind the other P2 cars in terms of quality and long-term reliability.

stratman3 · Post by **stratman3** » 11 Mar 2009, 14:40

I was also told by the dealer that may tranny was bad. The cars message also read tran service urgent. Well at least in my case it only took about 30.00 bucks and 2hrs of messy work. Turns out the tranny filter was clogged and was restricting flow. the pan was filthy. I managed to get about 2gal of dirty tranny fluid out of my car. Replaced the filter and put fresh fluid and so far so good.