I have the flashing arrow syndrome, but with a difference. Fault code pointed to speed sensor. Reset it and test drove the car. Pulls away in 1st but does not change up to 2nd or 3rd. After the speed has reached around 25mph it changes to 4th. So no 2nd or 3rd gear. We changed the sensor but it still only has 1st and 4th. Anyone have any ideas of what it can be.

 

The codes on a 960 seldom seem to point to the correct faulty device...

I would look closely at the wiring connectors under the car on the tranny. I had to butt splice all of them to cure my tranny woes.

 

Don't know much about the 960 but our V70 had the same symptoms when I was trying to troubleshoot an ide speed problem. After I unplugged the throttle position sensor, it would drive but would not shift. I'd look at the TPS.

Hope this helps.

please send a pic... of the limo. My Dad had a Volvo limo in his shop and I've never seen another volvo limo

 

Ok, after much headscratching, we have come up with a blank. We cleared the fault codes and test drove the car from cold. We get all gears and everything is fine. After around 5 minutes driving as it warms up, it drops into limp mode again and we only have 1st and 4th. The code reads turbine speed sensor fault. It has been replaced and still behaves the same way. I tried a new control unit and it is the same again. Could the solenoids be breaking down when hot? any ideas.

 

Did you read my post above?

 

Yes, cleaned all connectors., Even jumpered the cables direct to the TCU, still the fault persists. We are going to look at the solenoids next to see id they are sticking.

 

Mine had a sticking lockup solenoid, which turns out to be really expensive. I think the cheapest I found it was $250, and it's deep inside. So, I just clipped the wire to the lockup and all was fine. I was surprised that my mileage dropped from like 22mpg to 18mpg...

My lockup solenoid would always work fine until the tranny got hot, then would stick. This would take more than 15 minutes, so your 5 minutes of driving seems too short.

Have you tried popping it into neutral at a stop, then see if it'll shift through all the gears?

This tranny really sucks. When it's working perfectly, it's mediocre, and there's a lot to go wrong with it. I seriously considered putting in an AW71. About half the time mine would signal something wrong (flashing indicators), but work normally.

 

Thanks Larry, It sounds like a solenoid could be at fault. I am not good at judging time. 5 mins is probably more like 10ish so it seems very likely to be a sticking valve. I will let you know when the mechanic has looked at it. As for the AW71 are they a straight swap or does it involve a lot of mods.

 

Try popping it into neutral and back into drive, that should allow the solenoids to reset.

The AW71 fits using the bell housing from your current trans. The problem would be in the loss of all the electrical data from the crap-o-matic trans. The engine goes into low power mode if it thinks there's something wrong with the tranny. So far, no one's posted how to get around this, and I sold off my 960 rather than deal with it...

It's too bad, I really love the B6304...

 

I usually change the tranny filter on the first oil change with any used. What size is the tranny line coming out of the cooler back toward the tranny?