Hi Folks:

2006 S60 T5 FWD automatic has 104K miles (167K km). Owned for about 50K miles (80K km). I LOVE this car.

I'm hoping this isn't a transmission, this isn't a good time for a $4,000+ repair.

I tried to back my Volvo out of my garage.

Under idle, the car rolled back about two inches (50 mm) and came to an abrupt stop. I didn't hear anything, the car just stopped. I felt it clunk, but there was no sound.

It felt like the wheels were chocked.

I put it into drive and idled forward. It moved two inches then an abrupt stop, with the same feeling of a clunk.

Needless to say, the wheels weren't chocked.

I put the car in neutral and pushed it forward and back, motor on and motor off, its movement was still limited to two inches.

When I revved the motor to about 2,500 RPM the car would move forward past the two inch limit, but something was resisting, so I didn't push it.

I've tried idling against the parking break. That allows for maybe 1 inch forward and backward and stops with a little squeaking complaint from the breaks.

The car's had regular service, at Peter's Volvo garage South of Portland, Oregon. I'm a couple of hundred miles short of the next oil change and check up.

Neither my mechanic or the guy at the transmission shop he referred me to had any idea what the problem might be. The transmission is the obvious suspect.

Is there anything beside the transmission that can be causing this problem? Let me know if there are any other things I can try in order to diagnose this issue.

Louis at Peter's tells me the transmission is a AW 55-50\51. I gather this is common among all Volvos for that year.

R&R of the transmission is $1000. The closest wreaking yard transmission apparently is to be found in California, North of the bay.

I'm not enthusiastic about putting a used transmission into the car, but money's tight. I'd like to know if somebody can tell me of one with low miles that is available in the Portland Oregon area.

Thanks
Larry

 

Before you start dreaming about what's wrong - have your car towed to the service provider of your choice. With the car in front of them - diagnosis should be easy. Has anyone worrked on the brakes recently?

 

+1 - my first thought was an issue with an axle, not the transmission. Easy to check with the car on a lift.