Harsh Shifts
 

The 94 turbo wagon I bought has a very harsh shifting transmission, nothing at all like my 95 which you can barely feel it shift. This car only has 96,000 miles, and has dealer service records up till 80,000 miles so it has not been a neglected car. I don't have any reciepts though, so I don't know if the tranny fluid has been replaced, but I plan on replacing it with synth soon. Is there any other reason why this car would shift so hard?

RE: Harsh Shifts
 

It is on its way out maybe.

RE: Harsh Shifts
 

I think mine is also....

I'm shifting into 2nd at around 10MPH....
I just did the fluid too...

RE: Harsh Shifts
 

Mine seems to shift at the right RPM's, so I hope it's not going out, but I guess only time will tell. It's not terribly harsh, in fact it's comparible to how my old Mercedes used to shift, it's more of a snap into gear than a glide like my other Volvo. And my other Volvo has 234,000 for the most part neglected miles. In fact, when I changed the fluid in that car, it was brown, I kind of doubt it was ever changed. The fluid in the new one is still clean looking, and is at the proper level. Is there any kind of electrical part that would go out that would cause it to shift harder than usual?

RE: Harsh Shifts
 

I have the same issue. Coming from an '03 Honda Pilot to a '94 850, I thought the same thing. I had the dealer take it for a drive to see if I was just overreacting. He said it shifted fine. Basically told me that a 1994 car isn't going to shift as smooth as a 03 car. The mechanic also told me the 94 850's are notorious for shifting hard at low RPM's.

I'm no mechanic (nor do I play one on TV), I'm just passing along info.

RE: Harsh Shifts
 

What would be different with the 94 models that would cause this? Is it possible to update anything to correct it?

RE: Harsh Shifts
 

Might want to change the fluid again, and see what happens.....just a thought. Some people have used a Lucas shift modifier product that has hads mixed results

RE: Harsh Shifts
 

In addition to Psaboic's advice, I would also try following:

- Pull codes from TCM (http://volvospeed.com/Repair/a1.html).
- With the ignition switch off, disconnect & clean all sensor connections at the tranny.
- Play with the mode-selector switch.
- Shift manually.
- Hit it with a hammer (of course[8D]).

Some of the procedures are random and are not very logical, but if the tranny is about to reach its life, why not give it a shot?

P.S: I wouldn't use synthetic fluid, it seems that the tranny on 850s seem to like generic Dexron-III/Mercon.


JPN