Hi All,

I am up further on this thread, doing the B4 servo cover, still have flares...Let the car sit for a couple of years, now need to get back into it. There is some dealership in Sacramento waving the big flag on the internet saying, don't trash your car, it just did not have the adaptive set right. Obviously, not going to drive my lurching 2003 S60 AWD 2.5T 200 miles to Sac, Anybody have an adaptation procedure to reteach that can be accomplished without any special tools?

 

Hi, I changed my servo cover right after I bought my 02. I still had flares so I ended up changing the linear solenoids. There are 3 of them and the cost was under 150 dollars. I found directions on the net and the job was not too difficult for someone who can follow directions.

 

Hi Blurat,

Thank you for this, it makes sense. Our 2003 S60 2.5T AWD only has 100k on it, I just can't let it go, there has to be a simple fix. Can you link me to the procedure you used to change the Linear Solenoids?

After you changed the solenoids, did you re-teach the transmission or did it just stop flaring and having heaving garage shifts?

Please advise,

Thanks!

 

G/box: AW50151AWD: - How to repair/replace the linear solenoids on aw55-50/51sn - Volvo Owners Club Forum


Rostra solenoids. You can find several utube videos on this. I watched a few and mixed the info and the job went well. I retrained the trans and the car runs as new.

 

where did U end up getting the Rostra solenoids? Ive checked ebay and not all listings specify that the part will fit my 06 s60. are they all the same solenoids for the AW 55-50 SN?

 

I wanted to thank everyone out there for your posts on this topic. I finally did the solenoid repair on my 06 S60 2.5T. Only took me 12 hours. LOL I think the hardest part was getting those darn subframe bolts off. I'm no mechanic by any means but if you take your time and go step by step with the right tools you can save a crap ton of money in comparison to paying a shop to do this.

Even though it's only been 15K mi since my last transmission drain and fill the oil in the pan was still coffee black in color. So that needed a change anyway.

I added in the Magnefine filter as well. gave me something to do while waiting on the RTV to cure.

It took me 35 min of freeway driving to get home that night so the car was nice and warm. So I went down a couple streets with a bunch of stop signs. those used to always get me to Flare and shift roughly. Not a problem. However the following morning I noticed it shifts a little weird from 1-2 but differently than the 2-3 flare shifting. I dont have a VIDA and have only driven the car about 60 mi since the solenoid repair. I am going to the dealer today to have the adapation and ATF counter reset so hopefully that solves this problem for good.

Did anyone else have an issue before performing the adaptation procedure?

 

I have had all these problems with my 2001 V70XC. Love this car. Been some work to figure things out. I have done everything but the TCM update, which I am now going to pursue.

The car is doing this weird - thing on the dash. Instead of it saying D or P for Drive and Park, it just shows - . I wonder if this is "limp" mode. It won't shift below 3rd gear. It will shift fine on the highway to 5th gear. But if I stop, then I'm starting out super slow in 3rd. Yikes. The weather JUST got hot, so I am thinking this may be contributing to why this is happening.

I did the B4 servo update (wow, that was a tricky thing) last year along with the tranny flush. I think it got better. I wanted stark and amazing results, but there were none. It still really struggles in stop and go traffic.

What's next? The TCM update for sure. Then maybe inspect/clean throttle body. We'll see if there is damage from really bad shift flare moments. Massive "CLUNK" moments several times that shook the car violently may have caused significant damage. At that point, I'll decide whether or not to have tranny rebuilt.

Joe

 

Honestly dont dance around it for a year like I did. Get the parts and do the Solenoid replacement. It's a PITA, It will take all day but it changed everything. I tried the TCM update and that didnt do much at all. Get those solenoids replaced and you will have your transmission back.

Its been 2 months for me since the job and I have had no issues since. its been so great to have my car back.

also that - is the limp mode. I had that happen when my throttle body was gummed up.

 

^BEST MESSAGE EVER^ drranderson, thanks for your reply and sharing your experience. I feel relieved knowing more about what I can do. Solenoid replacement it is.

-Joe

 

Just wanted to drop a note thanking everyone for this thread and all of the info. I just finished doing a B4 servo cover replacement on my 2002 S60 2.4T. Had a lot of trouble getting the new snap ring in - could not get the cover to go up far enough into the tranny. Used a trick I found to crimp the snap ring a little smaller and it finally slid in. I'm just worried that it is not expanded enough now. Hope I don't have to go back in there for some remediation.

Anyway, in a day of driving it seems the shift flares between 2-3 have disappeared, although I have not been in any stop and go situations yet. However, it seems like the hard shift when I put it in D - especially after being in R - may be worse once the car warms up, after about 20 minutes or so of driving. When cool it is fine.

Gonna give it a few days to see if the computers learn anything, although I'm a little nervous about a long trip I have to take this coming weekend.

May look at doing the fluid flush next.

Not sure whether I need a software update. According to the service records I received, it received a transmission software update back around 2010 or 11.

 

Great write-up David87. This is the first issue I have to address with my 2001 S60. I'm going to ask around the local Volvo dealerships about the software upgrade after replacing that servo cover. I'm hoping to do a few bandaid fixes to keep the transmission running a little longer before I decide to dive in and replace those solenoids.

 

Great read. I've done some of the items. About to install the servo b4, then get the TCM update. I purchased the Toyota ATF Type IV. Costs around $7 per quart. Works great, Got 12 quarts at about $84, improved transmission behavior some. Did the full flush.

 

I just bought a 2001 S60 5T with 118,000 miles on the ODO. It has the Aisin Warner AW55-50 /51. First thing I noticed is the weird transmission behavior. Also, it had the �bad� auto dimming rear view mirror. When I got home, I immediately started to look for information. To my surprise, there are hundreds if not thousands of people out there experiencing the very same issues.
The car came with only one key so I had to take it to my local Volvo dealer to have a new one made. FYI, they only charged me $135 for the key, cutting and programming. I also asked them to check if the tranny had the latest software installed. It did! After talking with the service writer, I found out that Volvo still had issues with transmissions. Even the 2015 models suffer from some weirdness. The strangest thing was that he told me that they (the dealer) don�t even touch any cars with transmission issues. Those cars are sent out to a specialty transmission repair shop in the area. Apparently the fix is too complicated even for the Volvo techs.
I easily fixed the mirror by buying one on eBay and putting the guts of the old one inside the �shell� of the new one. The eBay mirror was not auto dimming, thank God! Anyway, back to the transmission�
I purchased a case of Mobil ATF 3309 on Amazon and took the car to my trusty mechanic. He checked the car out and replaced the Timing belt, tenssioner and water pump. He also did a drain and fill, several times. He said the original tranny fluid was like molasses and smelled burnt. When I got the car back it drove as if it was new!
No transmission flares, all shifts normal!

I drove it around a few days, but only 7 or 8 miles. I only noticed very slight �flaring� after a couple of days, but nothing serious.

Last weekend I took the family down-town (Chicago) to see the holiday decorations.
The traffic was awful. Stop and go for a good thirty miles and even worse once we got into the city. Well guess what? I got a warning message to have the transmission serviced. I also noticed that it seemed to start in 3rd gear. I had to drive around like this for some time until we found parking. By that time I could smell the transmission fluid burning and it also made strange sounds. I was worried I would have to have the car towed and take the wife and daughter back home by train.
After about an hour of city driving - mostly crawling - I parked the car. We went walking and looking at the decorations and grabbed something to eat. After about three hours we returned to the car. I was worried that we would not be able to drive anywhere, as I feared the transmission is toast. The car started fine and I put it in gear. No warning on the dash!? Shifts fine! Actually, shifts better than after having it serviced.
We drove home without any issues and the warning disappeared.
It�s been four days now since that trip down-town and the transmission shifts as it should in all kinds of driving.
I�m stumped! What is going on?? Has anyone experienced something similar?

 

Nice write up, but you missed the real cause of the majority of the transmission issues. The shift solenoids are usually the culprit. I've posted this information over on the V70 side of the world and am happy to help people with this solution.

 

hello all, is this solution usable for a Volvo C70 year 2000? kw163, motor 2.0

 

So, I took apart my transmission. This was due to my 99k mi 2001 Volvo S60 w/ an AW 55-50 failing almost completely on the freeway. The symptoms beforehand were a jerky transmission (*forgive me if I can't remember specific details, but this event/repair happened quite a while ago.). The event on the freeway happened as I was cruising at around 60mph on the slow lane when suddenly my throttle only made engine noise but had no effect on acceleration. I got out of the freeway and limped back home using tip-tronic on first gear all the way (noisy and embarrasing) because it was the only gear that would engage. I read the forums and browsed for days for solutions. Tried the transmission flush and it didn't work. So, I got to thinking: "This is a mechanical problem. A mechanical component must have failed. Take it apart and figure it out." So I did. Taking the transmission down is a pain. Thinking that the valve body solenoids were the issue cost me time but it was educational. Long story short, when I took the transmission down, I noticed two small rectangular and slightly curved metal pieces where the spline comes out of the housing. They were just laying there and stupidly, I thought nothing of it. I am honestly surprised I didn't lose them during the process because they look like they could have fallen off at anytime. Days later, after taking the entire transmission apart and looking closely at everything, I found out what those two pieces were: THEY WERE PART OF THE INNER GEAR OF THE TRANSMISSION FLUID PUMP! THEY CONNECT THE PUMP TO THE TORQUE CONVERTER!!!!! The pump wouldn't rotate without those pieces! The transmission fluid pump is the brown circle with a few bolts on it that is immediately noticeable if you were to look at the transmission spline. I went to the junkyard, found a volvo wagon with the same transmission, took the pump because the two metal pieces were connected to it and intact, installed everything, and the car works mechanically again. Only issue is, I have to get VIDA software and the DICE "thing" in order to reset the transmission settings because it keeps getting transmission codes and causes rough shifting, although the car runs fine before the code comes up. Trying to get the word out because it is a pain and purchasing another transmission is costly. BTW, I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL. I am simply a mechanically inclined college student with an interest in saving money and my car even at the expense of my time. Not saying this is the issue for everyone, but if you have the transmission off already, look at the pump to see if those two pieces are broken off. Hopefully I can share this out there with pics soon because as far as I've browsed, I think I'm the only person who's posted anything like this. Good luck to everyone!
ETCG basically clarifies most of my novice discovery in the first 44 seconds of this video(He even puts the inner gear onto the torque converter!):

 

Well done and thanks for sharing your experience. You said you are a college student, can I ask what is your field of study in college? mechanical engineering?

 

I'm doing the civil engineering program. Focusing on water reclamation/desalination. Fun stuff!

 

So this is the transmission off: You can see the outer pump body in brown with the spline going through it.

This is the pump body off the transmission.

The transmission pump body that I show in the pictures doesn't show the effort it took to get that pump body off, nor does it show the additional attachments it had that the pictures don't show. The attachments that I mean look similar to the one's shown at the 9min45sec mark on this video (not sure if its the same transmission, but it sure looks similar to what I encountered. Just saying that when you take off the pump at first, you take off a lot more than what is just shown in my pictures!).

So this is the pump body and its gears (outer and inner) and plate.

This is the gears in the body.

This is where the mechanical failure occurred (faulty inner gear in hand):

That inner gear is supposed to have two "guides" where that shearing occurred. Both of them broke off. More pics of the faulty inner gear:



This is what it looked like with the transmission ready to be installed and the good inner gear on (looking at it like the first picture, just a close up to show the guide/tooth on the good inner gear):


Junkyard inner gear had the guides in good shape!
So, if you have the transmission off already, check that inner gear for wear and tear!


other reference info:
Vid of a guy WITH A DIFFERENT TRANSMISSION showing how the inner gear is supposed to look like (has the inner gear guides on).

Google searched: AW55-50SN Pump Body and Gear

Again, I am not a professional. Just posted this to give ya'll some idea of what to look for if you have the transmission off and to share my own experience.
Good luck everyone! Hope this might help!

 

Hello, I have overhauled transmissions since 1976 though in the past 15 years or so i have gotten away from that. Anyway, i own an 02 Volvo s60 2.4t 2wd that the pump bushing popped out of. I tore the trans down and have all my parts ready but to my dismay Alldata has absolutely nothing on this transmission related to overhaul. I really want it right so i don't have to do it twice but can't find overhaul instructions for it. Apparently Volvo has their own reman facility and the techs at the dealer just replace them. Does anyone have instructions with specs that i could grab or know where i can get them?
Thanks