Hello,

New to Volvos . . . I picked up a 93 940 wagon . . . solid car, but I don't like that the trans shifts from 3rd to 4th, then rapidly into "overdrive?"

Occassionally, it will stay in 4th for a little while before shifting to overdrive. Is there any way to extend the amount of time that the trans stays in 4th? Is there something wrong with this trans?

I say this because there is a 500 RPM gap between gears (in general), but when the trans shifts from 3rd to 4th/overdrive, there is roughly a 1000 rpm gap, and that is too much for the engine to overcome at such tall gear ratios, especially climbing hills.

Was there ever a Volvo whose shifter console allowed you to shift 1, 2, 3, D, instead of 1, 2, D? Yes, I'm aware of the "overdrive button", but that eliminates 4th gear altogether.

Thank you

 

4th *IS* overdrive on these, so I'm not sure I understand. D is 3rd with optional OD.

 

you might have a lockup torque converter, that was optional on some versions, AW70L (or AW72L for the 16V version). when the TC locks up, it can feel like another gear shift.

 

OK, thank you for explaining that to me.

 

hmmm, I looked in the 1993 940 schematics, and see no sign of any wiring related to the lockup feature, so it must be entirely vacuum and/or hydraulic actuated. unluckily, in my 9XX greenbook collection, the only automatic transmission documentation is on the AW30-40 used on 960's.

you might verify that the 'kickdown' cable is properly adjusted... at idle, there should be just a hint of slack on the exposed cable, and the 'bead' should be 0.25-1.0mm from the cable stop. with the throttle pushed all the way into the 'kickdown switch', there should be about 50-52mm exposed from the bead to the cable stop (measure this with the engine off, naturally).

ah, I found a document that says the manual lockup engages between 49-59MPH depending on engine, and disengages a few MPH under. unluckily, I'm not findign anything aobut *how*. it was probably covered in 740/760 greenbooks I don't have.

 

Thank you very much !!