my wifes 1992 940gl wont shift after it reaches some 30 mph. It shifts fine up to that point. After that point the rpm's just keep going higher. I drained some tranny fluid and replaced what came out but it made no change.

Any ideas as to the cause and whats necessary to fix this?

thanks

 

is the transmission throttle cable moving freely and has just a bit of slack at idle ?

what color was the fluid you got out ?

 

i gotta pull with slight force to move it at idle.

looking at the 2nd owners service records the kickdown cable was adjusted at 245,000 miles...fluid was changed at 186,000 and 225,000...all done at a volvo shop.

car currently has 303,000 miles

 

and the little bit I got out was brown...I've read about changing the all the fluid using the cooler line and will do that since I know its past due

 

re: the cable, does it retract just fine, so the little bead is like 1/16th or 1/8th inch from the dust cap on the adjuster ferrule ? and when you smoothly step on the throttle to the floor (engine off), do you feel a distinct 'notch' just before the pedal goes to the floor?

 

i feel a distinct "notch" at the very end of stepping on the throttle and then stepping more...in other words there is no resistance and I would think its pedal to the floor but then a little more stepping and I feel the notch and it IS pedal to the floor...

is the "dust cap on the adjuster ferrule" that orange thing? there is no space between the "little bead" and the orange thing...they are snug up on each other.

when i pull the cable towards the front of the car and then release it the cable retracts back to the orange thing quickly and without any hangup

 

yeah, the orange cap. there should be a slight gap there, but it sounds like your cable is close enough. reason I'm asking all this, a stuck or frayed cable will hang up like you're at 3/4 throttle, and this tells the transmission to stay in lower gears longer.


at 60MPH steady speed, about what RPM are you doing? with OD working, it should be somewhat just below 3000rpm. with OD not working, more like 3600 or something. also at a steady 60MPH, if you toggle the OD disable button, do the RPMs go up and down as it shifts from 3rd to OD/4th and back ?

 

Considering the miles and the "brown" fluid, you are probably looking at a tranny that's on its way out... I'd change the fluid, all of it, and see if it makes a dif. but frankly doubt it. These things do go out eventually.
In fourth (OD), your RPMs should be at 2,800 at 70mph.

 

Considering you have an OD light problem maybe the transmission shift problem is that it is not going into OD (4th) because either the OD relay or the solenoid that is the problem.

 

a steady 60mph = 3600rpm...65mph = 4000rpm...steady 3000rpm = just under 50mph

turning the OD off/on has no effect whatsoever at any of these speeds

 

the OD light problem is on my '89 740...not the '92 940...I get'em mixed up too

 

so your OD is not engaging. I do believe I woud remove the OD relay, and check the resistance of the OD solenoid at the socket... ignition switched off, multimeter in OHMS mode, put one probe on pin 87 of the relay socket, and the other probe on ground (or pin 31 of the relay socket). you should see some value in the 2-digit ohms range, and it should be steady.

you can also try putting a jumper from relay socket pin 87 to pin 15 (with the relay unplugged), this should force OD to be enabled if the solenoid is good. if this works, then yes, your OD relay is probably bad, and I'd replace it. if this does NOT work (or that resistance measured above was either very few ohms or open circuit), then the OD solenoid is likely bad, and you can either replace it with a good one, or 'hack' it to force OD enable to be always-on (this consists of removing it from the transmission, removing the inner o-ring, and dremel-grinding a notch between the hole and the inner O-ring slot, clean all metal filings off, make sure the outer o-ring is good, and reinstall solenoid). after doing this, you won't be able to turn off OD, and you might as well leave the relay out as its not doing anything.

 

thank you...I'll try all that and let ya know what happens.

and thanks to everyone for their input

 

or maybe I should just try this???...Volvo Automatic Over-Drive Solenoid Bypass Kit IPD 110397 1239928, 1239679 7071K

 

my dremel grinder trick does the same thing as that kit for free.

here's a modified solenoid... note the silvery notch cut between the two holes, and the missing inner o-ring.




but I'd personally much rather have the overdrive-disable working, as I drive a lot on mountain roads, and use 3rd gear engine braking quite a bit.

 

installed the OD solenoid bypass today and it fixed it right up. Bought the part here Volvo Overdrive Solenoid Bypass Replaces 1239928 1239679 | eBay .

Did not have too much trouble with dirt and grime but the plastic casing on the solenoid was brittle and pieces would break off on occasion.

Only tool required was a flex head ratcheting 12mm wrench (and the street curb)...those wrenches are awesome.

Maybe by the time the OD goes out on the 740 I will have bought myself a dremel.

Thanks again to everyone for their input.