2002 V70 AWD Transmission Clunk

woodenshoes · Post by **woodenshoes** » 04 Jan 2006, 11:28

My car is a 2002 V70 AWD with auto tranny. The transmission takes a second or two to engage when going from R to D but not from P to R. I had it in last fall and they replaced a broken engine mount which helped very slightly. They were going to load the latest software update but couldn't due to VADIS being down. As I live out of town I wasn't able to have the software change done till just before xmas. This reduced the delay time but did not eliminate it. The delay is also not consistent ranging from virtually none to a second or two. The dealer did a follow up call to see if the problem was resolved and I relayed the above info. They asked me to bring the car back when possible and they would do whatever they could to resolve the problem. I asked if there were any other fixes they had in mind, they replied no but they would definitely look at the car again.

The transmission is also occasionally slow to make a shift up, usually around 50-60 km/h and only once in awhile (~ once or twice a month). There have been no other problems, the fluid is good and has not been flushed. The car currently is at ~ 88K km so is off warranty which is making me nervous. We bought the car used at 42K km and I never noticed the pause nor did the independant Volvo shop that performed the pre-purchase inspection. Other than this one problem the car has been very good.

Now that it's off warranty and from all of the transmission problem posts I'm wondering if we should think about unloading this car before we get in to a tranny replacement or rebuild. Thoughts???

howardc64 · Post by **howardc64** » 04 Jan 2006, 22:13

I'm doing research on variations of this problem as well. See

http://forums.swedespeed.com/zerothread?id=51399

I think most Volvo boards cover P2 cars should have this in their archives. To search for the archive on swedespeed, make sure you do the following

- search for "valve body"
- Select "V70 V70XC/XC70 (2001-Current)" in Forum
- Select "Archive Contents" in "Data Set"
- Select "Post Bodies" in "Search In"

Here is several link to the Volvo TSBs

http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthrea ... #post54658
http://home.wxs.nl/~dijkstra/images/gtimg/sb626908.pdf
http://home.wxs.nl/~dijkstra/images/gtimg/sb630829.pdf

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 05 Jan 2006, 07:36

You probably need a new valve body

woodenshoes · Post by **woodenshoes** » 05 Jan 2006, 11:09

Howard, firstly thanks for the tips on searching, if nothing else I have learned how to get better results. Secondly thanks for the links, it would seem I need the valve body replacement having gotten the latest software updates. As I am new to the new Volvo's I hadn't heard of this so never would have thought to search for that.

My next question is, is this something that the Volvo dealer(s) should have done at the time? I am now starting to feel like they let the valve body replacement slide (big $$) and just did the cheaper software work. Now that I am off warranty I am looking at footing the bill, any feeling out there on my chances of getting it on warranty as the problem was never resolved while still under warranty?

howardc64 · Post by **howardc64** » 05 Jan 2006, 14:24

woodenshoes wrote: My next question is, is this something that the Volvo dealer(s) should have done at the time? I am now starting to feel like they let the valve body replacement slide (big $$) and just did the cheaper software work. Now that I am off warranty I am looking at footing the bill, any feeling out there on my chances of getting it on warranty as the problem was never resolved while still under warranty?

I would guess if you have documentation that software update while under warranty didn't completely solve a reported problem. You might have a shot.

I call one dealer service asking who would pay for software update and valve body. The service advisor was very thorough and knowledgable in our discussion. He did clearly say this is at owner's cost beyond warrenty terms (software update = $125, valve body = $400-$500, I recall hearing valve body was more like $1000 (need a $300 tranny fluid flush to go with it))

I'll call around and report back. Let us know if you find similar responses.

woodenshoes · Post by **woodenshoes** » 09 Jan 2006, 16:03

Latest from the dealer was Transmission flush first, then valve body if that didn't fix the problem. I really can't see how just an oil change will fix this on a relatively new car but who knows.

As to who would be paying based on my previous post they wouldn't commit to paying but said that they would make sure I was looked after. Not sure what that means but at least it wasn't an outright no, they did sound like they felt I had a reasonable argument. May get the tranny flushed this week, will report back with results when done.

howardc64 · Post by **howardc64** » 10 Jan 2006, 09:09

Did my own tranny flush this past weekend with 8 qts of AMSOIL synth. Car behaves same as before with delay when shifting manually from 2-3 on a geartronic.

Next, I'm going to the dealer check the software.

I think the dealer is just doing the lowest cost to highest cost sequence on your car. (fluid/software, valve body, transmission itself)

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 10 Jan 2006, 18:12

howardc64 wrote:
I think the dealer is just doing the lowest cost to highest cost sequence on your car. (fluid/software, valve body, transmission itself)

Unfortunately I agree with that assesment, I'm Ok with it if they pay for it. Something I failed to mention before is that where I live is ~ 2hours from the dealer. To have some sort of a presence in town the Volvo dealer set up the local Saturn dealer (most of the service guys have some Volvo background) as a minor repair and mtce. depot with any major repairs going to them. I have bugged the Saturn guys about the transmission delay since I bought the car. They always said they had called the dealer who told them the tranny is designed that way because of people who drop it in to D while still rolling backwards....WTF?? They then said that if you complain enough they could program that out but didn't like too and didn't advertise either. As this has been going on for close to 1/2 of the warranty period I defintely plan on bringing this up as required.

I haven't mentioned this to the dealer yet as i think it could come in handy as a nice trump card later in the proceedings. I have an appointment to take the car up Thursday so we'll see what happens. As in your experience if all they do is flush the tranny I don't expect anything to happen short of having to go back again for the next most expensive step......

guest · Post by **guest** » 11 Jan 2006, 18:47

the dealership is required to do the repairs in a certain order. they will do a valvebody, and adapt the transmission. usually that will work if not it will need a new transmission. usually the xc70's do not need transmissions though. and as to who is paying for it if you had a claim under warranty and it wasn't fixed then they will usually cover it under warranty.

howardc64 · Post by **howardc64** » 14 Jan 2006, 23:53

Did the following sequence so far.

Flush with 8qts Amsoil synth ATF. Had a few random hard shifts in the first couple of days that wasn't there before.

Added 8 oz of Lubegard red bottle. Shifts are smoother. All random hard shifts disappeared.

Updated TCM software today (transmission software). Shift patterns are smoother. Heard someone else say "it is like driving with no gears at all" and I have to echo the same. But overall, very smooth operation. I used to be able to feel a very slight vibration difference while stopped between auto and manual mode (gear 1). Now it feels the same. Perhaps this is the stop on neutural getting turned off. Not sure, I never felt much of hesitation before.

Still have my gear 2-3 flare. But really slight in manual mode. Can't feel it in auto mode. I'm stopping here before more expensive repairs. Maybe the car will run just fine like this for a long time.

I heard a couple of things from Volvo service people during this whole episode.

- People who get the new TCM software are generally pleased
- Valve body replacement lasts about a year. Then the car is back in for tranny replacement.
- Transmission repair people swear by Lubegard red. I googled for "Volvo lubegard" and read about mechanics recovering none accessible gears using lubegard alone. Impressive!

Hope this helps whoever having transmission problems.

DIY tranny flush = $75. Lubegard = $12. Volvo TCM update = $80 (mechanic said there was a chance adaptation might be required (1.5 hours which = more cost). But didn't need it)