Hi

I was just informed that my 2001 S60 needs a new transmission and a new radiator... was quoted $5600 all in. Does anyone know of any decent alternative options? It's too bad because I really love the car, it has 116K. But Volvo only will guarantee this $5600 purchase for one year so it seems ridiculous to make such an investment with only a year warranty.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Al

 

sounds a bit high but not too far off.

If you got to 116k miles in an 01 on the original trans, you made it far longer than most.

 

I've got 128k on mine and I say a little prayer for it every day, lol!

I agree with Bender, that price does seem a tad too high. Can you afford to fix it, and more importantly do you want to? If yes, then I don't see why not.

On a related note, a question for anybody. Does a new AW55 transmission have some sort of improved design? Or would it still be the same problems? Something else to consider. I would anyway.

 

question for the OP.

-Is this the geartronic trans?
-did you ever exchange fluids, and if so, did you use JWS 3309 type trans fluids?

My guess is that it is a geartronic, and fluids are original.

 

The biggest issue was people didnt change the fluids OR they never had the neutral stop feature removed.

 

Not sure where you live, but that kind of money starts to approach the trade in value of the car, doesn't it? There are aftermarket radiators available that are probably cheaper, but replacing a tranny is something that requires tools beyond what most of us have in our garages. Junk yard/auto recycler? Worth a few calls to see how much it costs and get an remove and replace quote from your mechanic. Tough call. Or if you feel lucky, get the fluid changed the right way and any software upgrades done that haven't been done. Spending a few hundred might get you some 10's of thousands of miles more on the trans. Have the coolant checked to see that its not somehow contaminated, too. Ditto for existing trnas fluid.

 

Thanks so much for your replies!

I would love to keep the car, I've always said I would keep it to at least 200K.

The worst part is, I've kept the maintenance up perfectly. It ALWAYS went to Volvo, often times before it was even due. I always took their recommendations for having things done, belts, etc and transmission flush. I never skimped.

It is not a geartronic and I just put whatever they recommended into it. I dont ever recommend them recommending high performance synthetic oils.

It is just about what the car is worth. The saddest part about the whole thing is their is only a one year warranty on it. I cant see paying 5000 for something with a one year warranty. I could be in the same spot a year from now!

The second saddest thing is they can come out and tell me matter of factly that the transmission on my volvo is shot after 116 k on it after being kept up per their recommendations. And they ask me for 5K to buy a new one!

I swore I'd be a volvo owner for life but I cant say any of this impresses me.

Thanks again for your input.

Al

 

oh Malaka,

The test they did said the Trans fluid was contaminated and that this would lead to destroying the trans. I did suggest that they change the fluid to get more life out of it and he went on about that being a double edged sword for some reason. Im not sure if it was the money investment or something else that could go wrong. The implication was that it could do something mechanically unless he was doing a bad job at trying to steer me in the direction of full replacement. And they said I need a new tranny and radiator.

 

where are you located and who is your dealer? they do not sound competent.

You are way way way out of warranty. find a quality independent.

Your first issue was following what volvo recommended (yes, i know that sounds silly). You will see in your owners manual that this is a "maintenance free" transmission. They probably never changed the fluid... take it somewhere else, flush it, pray.

Then try and find a used trans out of a wrecked car.

At this mileage and this condition the car is worth LESS than the cost of a new transmission.

 

Why I asked is while I havn't checked my Volvo, lots of cars run the trans cooler lines into the radiator and if corrosion occurs, the fluids can mix -- coolant into trans, trans fluid into radiator. That's why a new radiator and thorough trans fluid change and cooler lines change MIGHT (no warranty on this advice!) help get you more miles out of the existing trans. Maybe. Lots cheaper than a new or even rebuilt trnas. It might cost you as much as $1000, but if it works.....

 

If it were me I think I would follow what Malaka is suggesting...unless you had been driving it like this for a while and the transmission was already not functioning....