2001 V70XC Hard transmission shifts when warm

[Moondog07]

Aloha Jeff-Glad you were minimally affected by the tropical system and congrats on the successful completion of installing the new solenoids. Not being a mechanic I will look for an independent shop to duplicate your efforts. Are the solenoids correctly identified as SLS, SLU, SLT (thanks precopster!) and are these dealer items or available elsewhere more reasonably? I've printed your's and Mike's install recommendations and am attempting to do the spade work, round up parts, etc. to hold my costs down. Thanks again for your help!

[vtl]

Dealer sell them, many ebay sellers offer Rostra solenoids, you may want to refurbish original solenoids yourself using Transgo kit.

[precopster]

Only problem with the DIY Transgo idea is you keep the original pintel or aramature bushings that came with the solenoids. These bushings were improved starting with the 2003 MY.
If you want to put in new bushings you'll need 6 of them (2 per solenoid) and a special tool that opens the solenoid body. Both are sold by Omega Machine.

[Mlukkasson]

Just bought a 2001 V70 XC at the auction and notice the hard shift issue that is referenced here along with the check engine light illuminated. It also had a broken booster vacuum ejector which I replaced. This of course did not solve the hard shift so I took it to a transmission shop. Sure wish I had found this site first. They changed out the ATW fluid and the filter and called me to tell me that it was shifting worse after changing fluids and suggested that they rebuild the transmission. This was not going to happen until I did further research so I told them to just park it and I would pick it up. In the mean time I called a Volvo Dealership and talked to one of the mechanics who suggested that I put a transmission fixit fluid in first and see how it responded. I did the research and found that Lucas appears to be the best on the market. I picked some up and then my wife found this site. I do not see any reference here by anyone that they have used a product like this so I am hoping to get some feed back from some of you as to what you think of this idea. In the meantime I picked up my Volvo this morning and drove it home. I decided to drive it and get it up to temperature and see what it would do. Surprisingly it did nothing. It ran perfectly and after 30+ miles I am pretty sure that it should have been plenty warm. Additionally the check engine light is now off? Based on what I have read here I am planning on putting a few more miles on the car and then changing out the ATW again. Am I on the right track or are there other things that might be beneficial to do? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[bugeye]

We have a 2004 XC70 and my sister has a 2001 V70XC. Nice cars. I have read the 2001 and 2002 have problematic transmissions. My sisters though works perfectly. The standard recommendation is to change the transmission fluid. There is not a trans filter unless someone added an external filter. The transmission has a dip stick on the front. It is plastic with a clip to be pushed to the side prior to removing. The level is checked hot, engine running in park after going into each gear. I hope the transmission shop used the correct fluid. It should be Mobil 3309 or the much more expensive Volvo brand, same stuff. The color of the fluid should be red. Just do multiple drain, fills with driving in between. The computer will modify the shifts over time as possible for a smooth shift. Suggest you drive it and check the fluid after a few hundred miles. If brown, another drain/fill is appropriate. About 3.5 quarts will drain. Refill only through the dip stick tube.

[precopster]

The filter is fitted and is so deep within the internals in the sump that you would need to totally split the casing to access it. Trans shops love to sugar coat what they do in order to charge afew more dollars. With the side cover off the filter is visible.

I repaired the valve body and replaced a totally worn out third gear band in wife's 2002 XC70. It bucked and kicked for 10,000kms and finally has begun to behave. It was far worse before the repair however I was concerned it would be a short term car for us. I tried adaptation, new fluid, new B4 cover and resetting fluid counter to no avail. Suddenly we have great shifts and the only thing I changed is that I topped off the trans fluid to the correct level because the casing has slow seapage.

[SuperHerman]

Here are my thoughts. The difference in the AW55-50 transmissions through the years is very little if any. Software update aside. The variation comes in the valve body, here you will find some slight changes. I am of the belief that the solenoids are the main culprits to most of the tranny problems. As a caveat I always recommend examining the fluid, drive shifts, and tranny oil plug. What you are looking for is metal that shows a serious internal problem or grinding while driving.

Were it my car I would drive 500 or so miles with some Seafoam Trans Cleaner in it. One can drain enough fluid by using the tranny oil pan bolt - or pulling it up via pump through the fill tube, so that the tranny is not overfilled. Then after 500 miles or so drain it all out and either change the three solenoids or do a TransGo SKAW55-50 rebuild kit - rebuild. I did the latter on my old XC70 that had about 185k miles on it. Afterwards everything was like new performance wise. If the B4 servo is original then take it out and inspect it - replacement is not difficult or expensive. If original may as well do it if you remove it, but mine at 185k was fine.

If you want to do just the three solenoids you can use the TransGo kit or order ready mades. Many have had success going the ready made route. Other option is to call around and see if a local shop has the AW solenoid rebuild tools and have them rebuild your three solenoids - if the price is the same or less this is a viable option. The two valve bodies I played with showed very little wear so I think this is a good course of action. Either way I would still run some SeaFoam Trans cleaner to clean up the valve body and tranny before doing anything. My valve body after doing it looked pretty clean - the valve body of a donor that I bought did not as it did not have the Seafoam. It is only $10 so why not.

As far as dropping the subframe or pulling radiator, pick your poison. Subframe drop does not require playing with the radiator which I find a total PITA on these cars plus one may crack a seam. Taking out the fan makes life easier either way. Subframe drop is not bad - sounds much worse than it is. I would also use a Nissan gasket rather than RTV as it is just easier all around - especially install. I figure if Nissan uses it then it will go 200k without issues - note that Nissan used the exact same tranny - so the part is the same.

On my old 2002 XC70 I used Max-Life and it is cheap and has displayed zero issues drive/shift wise. It is listed as compatible so I used it. 5k later no issues.

I don't think flushing will fix sticking solenoids - it is too late. The bushings are gummed up already. If you really want to avoid this issue moving forward install a magnetic filter as the tiny metal particles are what is gumming up the solenoid bushings - at least that is my theory after playing around with the unit.

So - for about $40 in tranny fluids, $10 SeaFoam, $20 for tranny orings/clips, $30 for B4, $120 TransGo kit, and $10 for Nissan Gasket you should be able to service your tranny.

[jerseykat1]

So i am about to purchase a very clean 01 xc v70 (something like that) with an already bad transmission for 500 bucks. i mean rip free leather only 2 small door dings, no clear coat issues. Very good condition minus the bad transmission. Right now the car is undriveable according to the owner and it is sitting at her local repair place (an off brand gas station) waiting for a new owner (she has been listing it on Craigslist for the past month with no luck).

So me being the super auto tech that i am (no experience rebuilding transmissions,but auto repair is my day job and i am pretty good at it) is willing to take a chance on this very clean 01 v70 xc with 232k miles with the plan of replacing the transmission with a working used unit (proving to be very difficult to find). So my question for those experienced with this transmission: Is the transmission salvageable or would i be better off finding a used one. I am not afraid to pull the trans out take it apart and replace whats bad.

sorry i dont mean to thread jack.