Well, crap. Blinking arrow of doom.

[jblackburn]

ECU/TCU look brand spanking new. No corrosion on anything. I will bring them in with me tonight to see if I can get in the innards and see if anything is visually wrong, like a blown capacitor/chip or something of the sort.

Now, time to start pulling stuff out of the way to get a look at the wiring to the tranny itself.

I'm really hoping I don't have to drop it out. If it comes to it, I'd probably take the gamble and go in and replace solenoids first - since there was a code for those; im not sure if the codes really mean anything other than its just confused. Maybe 40000 miles ago, it usedta give me trouble where it would just drop out of 4th gear on hot days for no reason, but other than that it has always shifted fine and never slipped/hunted for gears.

If you're going to VA Beach, TAKE ME WITH YOU! Please?

[urbex]

Hahahaha, will do, will do It's only for a visit though...I'm not sure I could handle seeing all those sun tanned bikini clad women all summer long....

WTF am I saying? *whips out the job classifieds for VA Beach*

[JRL]

Dropping out of OD means the torque converter is shot (along with your solonoids)
Why would you try to replace solonoids in a very high mileage tranny?
Good money after bad IMO

ACCEPT THE FACT this tranny is SHOT!

[kcodyjr]

I'm kind of mostly with JRL on this one.

If you can pull off some covers and stuff and see the solenoids and one of them has been blown out of its seat, then that's one thing. But, if not, then you have to wonder where the "thud" came from.

There's really no forcing it down to 1st? It was a GM, but the last time I saw something like this it was the modulator, but could be driven in all gears by manually shifting. Perhaps in Winter mode?

Alternatively, if you're willing to pull the tranny and rebuild it yourself, doing the solenoids first wouldn't be a waste.

But, if you're looking for a last try before ordering a tranny from Erie, JRL's right, good money after bad.

EDIT: perhaps this is opportunity knocking, to do a manual conversion?

[PrinsesSammi2]

Hey Justin, please keep us posted on what you find.

I have a 1997 850R Turbo that I bought in February, 2010 with a salvage title (rear-end damage, nothing major). The car had just under 100,000 miles and drove like a dream until September when I got the arrow. It's been a long 8 months, but believe it or not, I'm still trying to figure out what's wrong. I mostly blame a hack mechanic who had my car for almost 4 of the 8 months, swearing that he was trying to find the problem. Turns out he was using the car for personal gain.

So needless to say, I'm a little gun shy about mechanics. I left the car with a new guy on Saturday (he came with 2 good referrals) and I'm praying for the best. I've been driving the car in 3rd gear using the Winter/Wet function. My car won't shift automatically, and if I do the manual thing it sticks at 3rd. It's not registering a 4th gear at all.

When the arror first appeared, the car had a busted seal. That was the first thing fixed to no avail. Three different mechanics so far have told me that they think the tranny is still good, they just can't figure out what the problem is. I have not taken it to a dealership because it's out of my price range, and because I already know what they're recommendation will be.

Good luck to you!! I hope you fix the problem and can provide some valuable information.

[bronxnativ]

Justin,
Sorry about your problems. I went through the same hell last year with my 95. Because I had invested so much time and money, I purchased a used tranny with a two year warranty from an online junkyard. So far, so good. Total cost= $636.00, which included shipping BUT if JRL can get you one with a lifetime warranty, man, then thats the way to go!!!

Some (or most) may disagree, but I purchased a 96 850 with a manual tranny and it runs a hell of a lot better than the 95. IMO, manual tranny's last longer, and are cheaper to repair than an automatic. Lowest quote I had received when I was looking to rebuild the auto tranny was $2500.00, and that was with a LOT of haggling from me!!!

Either way, good luck. Hate to see you leave, as you have been extremely helpful with your suggestions to me, and your overall posts have helped me tremendously. But reality dictates: why stay on this forum if you no longer own a Volvo? I was once pretty active on an Audi forum (I own a 90 series) until I bought my Volvo. Needless to say, I've been non-existent in the Audi forum for some time.

Take Care,
Al

[jblackburn]

The "thud" I believe was supposed to be the shift from first to second. It wasn't spine-jolting; just out of the ordinary.

Everything wiring-related looks ok from the outside. I have removed junk to where I THINK i can access the cover on the front of the transmission but the motor/trans are still hot so I'm going to wait til tomorrow before I dump out the fluid.

It is a last ditch effort, sure, but I called the junkyard and they're willing to give me the solenoids and computer from a 96 850 Turbo that was wrecked with only 84,000 miles for $50. Last time I checked, that's a lot less than $500 or more, and it's worth a shot if I think the internals are still fine. If not, then I wasted $50 and a bit of my time changing them, which is still less than they charged at the dealer to pull the codes. And then you can say "I told you so".

If it comes to it I would like to do a manual swap, but they are also willing to sell the whole transmission from that 850 for $200. Seems like a good deal to me.

Quick question - for any of you that have VADIS or know the answer, I know that the ECU pin outs are different between an 850 and the 98 S70, but what about the transmission controller?

[MatDesign84]

If you want to consider it. http://www.southernvovo.com will have used trans and they are in Kingsport, Tennessee. Might save on shipping if you picked it up or their shipping might be more reasonable. Best to just call them.

[jblackburn]

Well, just got back with my parts. No such luck with a new transmission computer. Humbug.

I'm going to try to get the cover off tonight, but it's looking like it's about to rain here...and those screws look like a lot of fun to get to...

[kcodyjr]

My fingers remain crossed, Justin.