As if i wasn't having bad enough luck w/ the manhole cover incident...now it sounds like my transmission is about ready to grenade itself. There is this strange BUZZ almost a grinding noise when i accelerate sometimes. I posted something about it before ant ppl thought it was CV Joint or wheel bearing related, but i'm thinking something w/ the Auto Transmission now.

It started maybe 6 weeks ago, shortly after i changed my blown out spring seats and swaybar endlinks (they got screwed up from the manhole cover incident), and initially i could only hear it when i took a hard turn while accelerating, and even then it was very infrequent. Maybe one time overy 2 days. Then it happened once when i was going straight accelerating from a stoplight, so i started paying much closer attention to it.

The past couple of days whenever i drive the car now, it makes that horrid noise almost every time...not on every turn, but a LOT more often than it did. I have also had it happen on the highway when i was going ~65 & hit the gas...it started to downstift and BUZZZZ, and kinda slipped out of gear as the RPM's just reved up.

So yesterday, i recorded video of most of my driving w/ the digi-cam hoping to caputure the noise...i've tried explaining the noise to ppl, but letting you hear it for yourself will be a lot more effective...plus i got a chance to screw around w/ movie maker so that was a plus.

Anyway...here are some of the clips:

Probably the best clip that you can hear the noise...pretty bad grinding (sorry for the green roads...had the color swap on by mistake)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cYbBkIBRax0

Quick Buzz in Turn then the car slips into neutral...lots of other turns and some figure 8 driving in a parking lot w/ no incidents
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tEIVowrPG58

Quick Buzz Noise followed by a couple quick pops....longer clip and the noise is slightly hard to hear in this one.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GwKObuoL2bs

Couple fast accelerations while turning w/ no noises, then a couple quick pops after slow acceleration while turning
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JW_g47MaI4Q


So it's making these noises all the time now...and they are getting a LOT worse each time i drive. It's parked now and will be for a while, but i am taking it into have the floor panel rup and rocker panel fixed from the other incident. The shop needs to drop the entire engine/trans, subframe to access the area of the worst damage from that, so now i'm thinking i should have the transmission checked out...but i would like to know if anyone has a clue of what could be making this noise....and what could have caused it.

At this point i'm wondering if it could have been caused by that stupid manhole cover...It never made those noised before. The strange thing was every once in a while after i would come to a stop, and try to accelerate, I could hear the car rev up, but it would be very sluggish, almost like a parking brake was on, then there was a slight BUMP noise and it drove fine. I thought it could be a stuck caliper, but maybe that was trans related too. Other times when i shift from park to reverse or drive, it almost slams into gear...the car almost feels like it was rear ended as there's a quick vibration that travels through it.


Let me know if you guys have any ideas... Thanks!

1995 Volvo 855 T5-R
Automatic Transmission
110k miles

 

It is kind of hard to hear in the Video. I hear what sounds like the Rear hatch area panels making noise all through the video.

I wonder if it is the body and floor flexing making the noise.

 

I was distractedwith the sweet sounding engine roar more than the problem, sorry[8D].

I pretty much agree with Tech in that there might be loose/hanging chassis metals rubbing against each other around the damage. Or, the damage might have done some either damage around the subframe/engine/tranny mounts?

Also, it seems like you're having a problem with the gearbox. I would check the gearbox housing visually for signs of external damage/fluid leak. Then I would check on the transmission fluid level:

Copy & Paste from the following thread: https://volvoforums.com/m_48928/mpag..._/tm.htm#48961

HOW TO CHECK FOR TRANSMISSION FLUID LEVEL:
1. Drive your car for 15-20 minutes. This allows the fluid to reach normal operating temp.
2. Park your car with the engine running, set the parking brake fully and chock wheels.
3. With your foot firmly on the brake pedal, go through each "detent" of the shifter, starting from "P", and stay in each gear for 2-3 seconds. The sequence is: P-R-N-D-3-L-3-D-N-R-P.
4. Open the hood, pull out the transmission fluid dipstick, wipe clean with lint-free cloth (NEVER get even a tiny piece of foreign object fall into the dipstick tube).
5. Insert the dipstick, then pull it out again. If the fluid level is correct, it should be within the "HOT" mark orbetween 2 lines. There may be 2 different level marks on each side of the dipstick, and you want to use the "HOT" or "Warm" side, whichever shows higher level. When you do this, be careful not to burn yourself as there are some hot engine components around the dipstick.

If the fluid is low, add just enough fluid to bring the level up to "HOT" or between the 2 lines. Add fluid through the dipstick tube; a funnel with extension hose is very helpful for adding fluid. There are a few different transmission fluids available, and the one specified for 850 is "Dexron-III/Mercon".A quart is about $2-$4 I believe. There are many brands, but as long as the label on the bottle says "Dexron-III/Mercon", you can use any name-brand's product.

Again, have the car lifted at a shop and visually inspect all components for damage.

Will wait for your update.


JPN

 

it's easiest to hear the noise on the first video...there's a quick 1 second buzz as the camera shakes about halfway through the turn, then about 2 seconds later once the car is straightened out there is a much longer prlly 2-3 second buzz.

I'm pretty certain it's not metal rubbing or flexing...it's a very 'rotational' type sound. To me it sounds like the teeth on some gear isn't matching up right away, which would make sense when it slips during downshifting and causing it to rev up but not accelerate.

Trans fluid levels are fine, and i'm not leaking any fluid anywhere around there.

 

Tech, could this be due to slipping driveshafts due to worn out spline-ends? I'm still inclined to think that there's also a problem in the gearbox however, judging from Ludeless's descriptions:

>it started to downshift and BUZZZZ, and kinda slipped out of gear as the RPM's just reved up.

>The strange thing was every once in a while after i would come to a stop, and try to accelerate, I could hear the car rev up, but it would be very sluggish, almost like a parking brake was on, then there was a slight BUMP noise and it drove fine.

>Other times when i shift from park to reverse or drive, it almost slams into gear...the car almost feels like it was rear ended as there's a quick vibration that travels through it.

Without actually looking at the car, this is all I can think of at the moment.


JPN

 

Maybe it could be.

 

Does anyone know if it's possible to swap the transmission from a '94 850 NON-Turbo for a t5R's tranny? My parrents still have their old 850, and don't ever use it, so i'm wondering if my tranny is on it's way out, if i could make it work by just swapping those w/ one another?

 

Hey Tech, How difficult is it to just swap out one tranny for another?

Someone on one of the other boards just messaged me...I guess he recently converted his 95 wagon to a 5-spd tranny, and now has his old auto tranny availabe... Even better, the guy lives only 10 miles away from me...so no shipping costs and hassles. He's looking to get $250 for it, which to me seems like a very good price.

only thing is that it's got 140k miles on it...it apparantly shifted fine with no issues before he did the 5 speed swap. If i take this route, are there things i should consider doing to the used tranny before puting it in my car, in order to make it last as long as possible (seals, bearings..??) . I don't know how many miles 850 transmissions last for...nor do i really even know if there are parts within the trans that can be easily repaired...

Right now, this seems like it might be the best option...just to swap one for another. Also remember that everything will be out of the car when i do the work...i'd imagine this makes life a lot easier if just doing a 'simple' swap.

Do you happen to know if a NON-Turbo 850 Transmission will work in a T5R, or are they different?

Thanks!

 

My guess is that there is some sort of damage to the tranny and or Axles. It sounds like the inboard CV on one side or the other is sliding out of the splines and grinding. If this happens then the other wheel cannot get power. The "Manhole" incident could have serious;y damaged the axles and CV joints. It seems like it is related to suspension/drivetrain during cornering,.

 

I wouldn't put a N/A tranny in you will be sorry.

I would get the adjuster to drive with you and hear it and maybe get it covered.

 

You sure the tranny the guy has is from an NA? I just can't picture somebody converting an NA automatic to a five speed. Now I know the NA five speed works fine in the turbo model though.

 

I went to a shop today that came highly reccomended by some ppl...Auto Europe in Birmingham, MI. Took a long drive w/ one of the tech, and could only get it to make the buzz noise once...but i showed him the videos that i had on my laptop so he did get a good listen of the noise.

He was thinking it's probalby completely unrelated to the manhole cover incident. He suggested that it might be an internal clutch in the transmission that is on its way out...and that the only way they could tell for sure would be to tear the thing apart... Even with that he said a repair or transmission overhaul would be well over $1000 to get done.

so with that...i'm thinking i may just do a swap of one auto matic for another. There is a guy who lives near me who offered to sell me his old Automatic from his 95 turbo (he just finished up doing a 5 speed swap). $250 for the tranny (with 140k miles), and he offered to lend me a hand putting it in... I'm thinking this is probably the best route at this point.

So in doing the work of swapping them out...what other parts should i have on hand? I'm thinking the Rear Main seal for sure... Are there other components that could easily be changed at this time? I figure i may as well replace everything that is likely to go bad over time.. What do you guys think?

Are there bolts or anything that are likely to break that i should have on hand?

Thanks

 

no, no...sorry for the confusion.

My parrents have a NA 850, which is why i'd originally asked about the possibility of swapping w/ that one.

The guy who offered to sell his is has a Turbo...that's the one I think i'm going to end up buying.

 

Oh yea...forgot to ask this...

Are there any special tools i'll need to have on hand? And how heavy is the transmission? Will i be able to lift it by hand and bolt it, or would i need to have a cherry picker on hand?

 

Hi Ludeless,

I myself have never picked up a transmission by hands, and assume that it is heavy enough to hurt your back if something goes wrong. And I definitely wouldn't play football with it[8D].

A gentleman by the name of Robrike has removed his engine & transmission, and other than Tech or someone else who has done such jobs, you could perhaps PM Rob.

I wish you luck, and don't hurt yourself during the procedure.


JPN

 

Are you still planning on doing it while the body shop has it out?

 

Yep...

At this point i'm trying to figure out how i'm gonna move that entire assembly onto a trailer, but more importatnly off of a trailer and into my garage. Havent figured that one out either.

 

Rent an engine hoist for a day or 2.

Have you seen my post about the Yellow T-5R I just bought?

 

by Engine hoist do you mean a cherry picker lift?

Think you could give me a very brief overview of what steps i would go through to remove and install the tranmision from the engine and subframe assembly when all that is out of the car.

I was thinking it should go something like this:
1)put something under the transmission case to prop it up.
2) unbolt trans case
3) remove trans
4) lower or pickup old transmission and move out of way.
*I'm guessing this will be the hard part...since there isn't really room underneath the subframe to drop it below it...Could i unbolt it, then use some jacks to raise up the subframe, engine, suspension, wheels, etc...? This would allow me to drop the trans out from the bottom...i just have no idea how to handle jacking up a subframe when no car is attached.

Someone had mentioned unbolting a Torque converter, which i guess is what joins the engine to the transmission? Is that internal to the transmission, or is it like an intermediate part inbetween the engine/trans?

Thanks!

Didn't see the post about your new yellow T5R yet... Congrats! I'll check it out right after this.

 

This is how I would do it.
1.Remove engine and transmission from subframe.Leaving the subframe on 4 jackstands if you have them.
It should only be 4 bolts and the axles.
Then remove the torque converter bolts. The torque converter is inside the transmission. It attaches the transmission moving parts to the engine. The bolts go through the flywheel to the torque converter.
Then you will have to remove the rear engine mount bracket to get to the bellhousing bolts.
Then remove all the bellhousing bolts and slide the transmission off and the new one in.

Yes I meant cherry picker.