Car sticks in low gear on freeway.

[billofdurham]

You are turning the right way but these nuts are notoriously hard to remove.

Bill.

[Tiki]

I have a 1990 740 that has about 227,000 miles on it. Recently replaced the fuel pump and a week later, though it functions normally in the city, when I take the car onto the freeway, it will run in the low (overdrive?) gear instead of Drive. It is the gear I use when I use the button on the side of the gear shift.

I checked the relay behind the ashtray, it looks fine.

What you are describing sounds like a common AW70/71 symptom. Not going into Overdrive. Am I correct that when you state that it functions normal in the city it has the first three gears? Unfortunatly there are many causes for the same symptom, like saying my head hurts to a doctor, could be sinuses, could be a tumor.

Going with the fact that you just had the fuel pump replaced I would start with the relay, buy or borrow a good relay and see if it fixes the problem. If it does, don't stop yet. If you still have the problem or even if the relay fixes the problem get under the car. Check the Overdrive control wire. It comes out of the bottom of the Shifter box in the center console. It goes to the overdrive solenoid on the side of the transmission. The part you want to check most is the short bit where the wire comes out and goes to a connector. Quite often the insulation on that wire just deteriorates. Once exposed it shorts out the relay. Replacing the relay and not checking this will just cause the relay to go again a few months down the road.

Changing the fuel filter, which on many models is under the car right next to the back of the trannie is enough to upset the balance and expose the wire. Also a bad rear mount can initiate the problem. you can usually get by if you splice in a short piece of clean wire with heat shrink over the expose parts. The little plastic connector can actually be split apart if you want to reuse it, which I recommend. If this wire is good and you still have a problem look at the solenoid on the side of the trans. It should click if you jumper it.

The kickdown cable is really a throttle pressure control cable. it operates a cam inside the trans which increases or decreases pressure by how far you open the throttle at various speeds. The very bottom of the throw, full throttle, opens an extra port on the valve which makes the transmission "kick down" into passing gear. If the cable is maladjusted it can cause high pressure. The car may actually shift into overdrive but at a speed much high than you normally drive. However, it would also shift into the other gears later than normal and you would not say it functions normally in town.
After those checks I would start looking at mechanical/internal issues.

What did you see in the oil pan when you changed the fluid?

Sorry this is a bit wordy. It kinda gushed out. I haven't worked on a Volvo trans in about 12 years but it was a favorite model when I use to be a Transmission mechanic.

[vdriver]

The last reply was too technical because I do not have the tools, and the space, to be able to delve deeply into my cars mechanical needs.

I finally took my Volvo to a transmission shop and it turned out that the selenoid needed to be replaced. It cost me around $700.00.

Thanks for all the advise.