04 XC70 Transmission Service Required - where to start?

[mikeamondo]

Car is an 04 XC70, 112k miles, and no tranny fluid changes, as far as I know. The only symptom I noticed was that after a 15 mile run about town today, in 95 ish degree weather, and climbing a short but steep hill, the car felt sluggish pulling away from a stop light. It felt like it was in too high a gear, but I can't be sure. The acceleration was certainly not there... like driving thru wet cement. She'd get up to speed, but it took here a while.

I did not notice any warnings at that time (not certain, tho). On the way home later in the day, I noticed the Transmission Service Required message was displaying. The car, however, was running as normal.

I think I have a DICE / VIDA here somewhere. I bought one but it may be misplaced now. Do I need that to find out what's going on? Has anything improved with diagnostics since then, or do I still need to install a VM image of Windows 95 to run it and get the info I need? Anywhere else to start?

Thanks folks!

[precopster]

It skipped a gearchange and the TCM knows it. You can clear the pending code and Limp home Transmission Mode by simply restarting the engine 4 times. A simple Bluetooth ELM327 will read/clear the engine light from the dashboard as these handle both engine and transmission modules.

[mikeamondo]

Hello precopster.... thanks for the reply... should I be concerned about why it skipped a gear change? Or is that common on these cars?
Just went to look at obd-elm electronics website and I have no idea what I'm looking at.... total gibberish to me, so I guess I've got some learnin' to do.
The CEL is not on... only the transmission service message. I'll do the starts and see if it clears....

M

[precopster]

All you need is a Smartphone and a compatible ELM327 (they're all over eBay and even the cheapest ones work with Volvos after the 1999 MY in my experience) The software I use is Torque for Android

If you keep the ELM327 plugged into the diagnostic port at all times you can simply clear and drive off. If you have a cool $4,000 sitting around you can always get a rebuild of transmission but with this age of car probably not worth it. A fluid change won't hurt though.

[oragex]

You didn't hit Winter mode by mistake, I assume. I'd start with replacing the fluid with the correct type - plenty of information here on the forums. The first thing to suspect when the message pops up is the fluid is worn and has lost it's properties. This happens in particular if the car has been towing or driven on mountain areas.

[mikeamondo]

Restarting the car 4 times did clear the transmission message. The car has not been towed or driven in overly mountainous areas. It was driven very little over the last couple years, around the Boston / Mass area. For the last 3 weeks it's been driven daily around Morgantown, WV... up and down about 1,000 feet of elevation each day.... but still... not like out west. Of course, we've only had her for the last couple years.

precopster.... Your mention of the rebuild makes me think that you might view this code as the beginning of the end for the tranny.... Is that the case? If it needs a valve body or a rebuild... do they sometimes run for a while before full failure... how does this normally go? And, is the 327 device a better version of a standard code reader or a better version of the Vida Dice set up? Or somewhere in the middle? I have a regular code reader but I know it's limited in what it can do on a Vo...

The Winter Button.... quite possible I hit it, but I don't remember a light on the dash. If I hit it accidentally and ran with it for a bit on dry ground, would that have possibly triggered the transmission service required message? Or, would that have happened only if the transmission already has an issue.

I'll pick up the transmission fluid and do the drain and fill method maybe this weekend....

[vtl]

Of course you need to read the codes, but PNP switch failure after prolonged sitting or cold weather is not uncommon. It is simply a box of sliding electrical contacts and some grease, prone to mechanical wear. Mine failed on 2002 V70 in 2011 after one cold night (-20F).

https://www.eeuroparts.com/blog/6658/vo ... witch-diy/

[mikeamondo]

So, I ordered a cheap ELM327 scanner from ebay today... Torque for Android software. Will this be able to show me the codes we need to see? Since the problem has not repeated, and the message is now not showing, will the needed codes still be there? And, I'm assuming my existing basic obd reader off the shelf at Advance will not show what we need.... correct?

I pulled the dipstick on the tranny .... it looked purpleish.... like lavender colored. What color should it be? It smelled like tranny fluid, not burned or scorched.

Finally, I tried turning on the winter mode today. Light on the switch came on, W showed up on the dash... it did NOT drive in the sluggish manner I experienced just before the message appeared, so I now do not believe I accidentally turned it on. The sluggishness was much more severe that day. Still hoping to do the oil swap this weekend.

[oragex]

I have the ELM, just keep in mind that thing may be really hard to pair up on bluetooth, don't give up too soon

About the fluid color, I'm curious what others will say but I think the fluid being red when fresh, it won't turn to lavender color, but rather into dark pink after a few years. See what the others think, but chances are you got the wrong fluid there, or perhaps someone added some aftermarket additives. This box only takes the 3309 type (sold by Toyota dealers for example - the Type IV), and it's pretty sensitive about it.

[mikeamondo]

Well.... dark pink and lavender aren't that far apart..... maybe I'll try and get a pic tomorrow. I'm planning to change it anyway...

By the way.... anyone ever discuss going over to Sweeden and finding the guy that designed the tranny fluid dipstick and kicking his stupid ass?