Hi ,

I am buying a volvo 940 1992 model from a seller for going to school. I did a test drive and there is a delayed shift from 1st to 2nd and also to 3rd. Is this a big issue that require transmission rebuild?

 

bunk kickdown cable or borked trans.

Probably the latter, but if you are good with tools you can get a new $40 cable and install it and adjust it PROPERLY and cross fingers and hope for best.

 

eyeball the transmission throttle cable (often called the kickdown cable) under the hood... there's a little metal bead on the end of the cable, at idle this should be ever so slightly slack, and be about 1-2mm from the end of the adjustment ferrule. when you manually open the throttle, the cable should smoothly pull out, then smoothly retract back to the idle position. if the cable is hanging up and not fully retracting, the transmission will be delaying shifts because it thinks you're hard on the throttle.

my kid borked one when he replaced the heater hoses, he had the cable routed the wrong way so the bowden cable was bent more than it should be. this caused the same symptoms you have, he re-routed the cable, and it was good again.

 

you might even have some luck blasting WD40 down the cable. The lube wears out and the cable can bind and cause shifting issues. Fix it right away because the longer you drive on a misbehaving trans, the more likely you will fry it. I have ONE final test to become an ASE Master Tech. I have saved auto tranny test for last. They are extremely complex and difficult to diagnose and repair. Dropping the pan on these cars is hard because of the dipstick tube. They can be a BIOTCH to break free. Sometimes the threads get borked on the removal too. Then you have a non running car on your hands. Drain plug is most likely stripped too. Pan bolts can easily strip aluminum threads on the tranny too. You have to be VERY careful when working on aluminum threads. One wrong move and things will get ugly fast. I have been there.

 

I haven't bought the car yet. Everything else in the car seems to be running good except for the transmission delay and little oil leak. The seller told the oil leak is due to a seal and the transmission delay have been there for a long time and he never had any issue driving. The car looks well maintained for its age. Dont know if I should get it or not...

 

I haven't bought the car yet. Everything else in the car seems to be running good except for the transmission delay and little oil leak. The seller told the oil leak is due to a seal and the transmission delay have been there for a long time and he never had any issue driving. The car looks well maintained for its age. Dont know if I should get it or not

 

For ME personally, i dont care about the nuts and bolts stuff as much as the paint and body. That is because I am a Technician and not a body guy.