Daughter driving car last week, came to stoplight, heard noise, car would only go in reverse no matter the shift placement. After resting for a bit car performed normally. I did the trans flush with 14 qts. Old fluid was pretty bad after 80,000 miles. Same thing happened again yesterday but the car would only go forward and not in reverse. After a rest the car performed normally and she came home. Check engine light was on when she came home but it's off today. Any suggestions?

 

Can I remove the TCM from the car and send it out for testing or does it have to stay in the car?

 

Sounds like you either need to take the car into a dealer for diagnostics or purchase a VIDA/DICE combo to communicate with the car and pull the codes. If you're prepared to tackle transmission work then VIDA/DICE might be the way to go. Otherwise I would either hunt for a shop in your local area and pay for the diagnostic and related repair. When you drained the fluid did you see particulates or smell a burned smell? The solenoids can wear or become clogged with debris resulting in erratic shifting behavior but the rest and we're fine behavior is a bit puzzling. I would expect solenoids to continue acting up.

For curiosities sake, it sounds like you measured fluid out and fluid in when performing the flush but if not what is the fluid level with the trans hot and the car on a level surface?

 

Fluid level is right where it should be. Old fluid was completely black. Lots of very fine specks about the size of finely ground pepper. I'll look for a VIDA/DICE combo just so I can pull the codes in the future. The nearest dealer is about 250 miles from here so any shop work will have to be local. It doesn't sound like you think the TCM is the first suspect on the list.

 

It's possible that it is the TCM but I am paranoid about getting all of the information possible. I am also not a transmission expert so what I say is most certainly not gospel. Now draser on Mathews seems to have some experience with your exact problem. I found this thread that seems to mirror your problem:

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/fo...ic.php?t=47298

 

Thanks for the reference. I'm taking it to an indie shop next week to pull the codes. The VIDA/DICE idea was great but it looks like Windows 10 is necessary and all our computers at home are MACs. I don't want to buy another computer just for this.

 

I got the report from the shop. The error code was from the TCM but was not specific. The problem could be in one of three module points. They drove the car for three days and nothing happened. Typical. I'm inclined to send the TCM out for repair. The shop foreman said there'a a place in Canada which will do it for about $400 US