'99 V70XC has gone limp!!!

RMatey · Post by **RMatey** » 11 Dec 2014, 18:59

Hey, folks,

My dad's XC was throwing a cylinder #2 misfire code, so we replaced plug #2. We still got the code, so we ran a compression test on the cylinder which was fine. So we replaced the #2 coil, and it solved the problem.

But when we fired her back up to take her for a test drive, she was in limp mode and now won't shift out of 3rd (although cylinder #2 is firing just fine now!). It's not throwing any OBDII codes, but we are getting the blinking arrow on the dash. After doing some reading, I get the impression that a lowly OBDII reader won't do the trick for limp mode. Do I have to take it to the dealership to have it reset?

As per some suggestions from other threads, we tried "rowing" the shifter through the gears many times. We tried turning the ignition from position 1 to 3 multiple times. We tried disconnecting the battery for a couple hours to reset the ECU. But no dice from any of these.

I suppose it's possible that the tranny threw in the towel at the exact moment we were fixing up cylinder #2; stranger things have happened. But it seems like a pretty big coincidence.

Anybody have any thoughts?

Thanks!
-Jeff

P.S. - I'm cross-posting this over at Swedespeed too, so apologies if you get this twice!

Post by **misha** » 11 Dec 2014, 19:29

Usually...disconnecting a battery,in order to reset ecu,works fine in these cases.

How is the shifting goes?

Did you actually took it for a test drive or the orange arrow is blinking while the car is not moving?

RMatey · Post by **RMatey** » 11 Dec 2014, 21:53

Yeah, I had my hopes up that disconnecting the battery for a while would do the trick, but no luck.

We did take it for a test drive, and it doesn't shift. It stays in 3rd no matter what. The orange arrow flashes whether stopped or moving unless we put it in low, in which case the arrow stays lit (although the tranny remains in 3rd).

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 11 Dec 2014, 23:14

I haven't had that problem on the '99s but on the '98 and both of the '96s my el cheapo code reader will reset the transmission codes and restore normal operation. In all of my cases I had PNP switches that were going bad.

The '99 is the first generation where the CAN bus was fully implemented and it may take a DICE scan and a delivery reset to deal with it.

...Lee

RMatey · Post by **RMatey** » 12 Dec 2014, 20:39

Thanks, Lee. I took it into a shop and had them check codes via VIDA-DICE and they found two for intermittent speed sensor functionality. They cleared those and now we're good! Probably will be replacing the sensor along with a tranny fluid flush soon. Thinking it might be time to pick up one of those readers!