Hello. I own a 2014 V60 with a D2 motor. I bought it a year ago and have since driven around 20000km with it. A couple of weeks ago I noticed that during acceleration I would feel as though the car would vibrate in intervals of 1 second on and 1 second off. It would be pretty noticable and could be felt in the drivers seat and pedals. The issue would dissapear if I released gas or pressed harder on it. During the ordeal I would notice that during the vibration the RPM's would drow down by 50ish if not a bit more and go right back up when it stopped, and repeat. I tried to play closer attention to it during these weeks to try to pin point the exact cause and when it was most likely to happen, which is why I come here to try and get some help. Things I have noticed:

1. During harder acceleration the car would shudder as the RPM increases in a second or so and would go away.
2. During acceleration the RPM goes up unevenly - it would go up then down by some, up some more, down some again etc. Also the vibration is present to a degree but not as noticable.
3. When I try to keep an even speed on a highway, the RPM's would drop down by small ammounts and back up again. I would say by about 20 or so. Drops would be a bit bigger if I give the car more power for ex. during a small climb. During the same speed, there would be minimal to none vibrations, until more power is added on a climb or a steeper area.
4. Gears don't seem to change as smooth. It feels as though due to the RPM going up and down the car struggles to pin point at which point it should change up.
5. At low speeds (20 or so) the car would stutter a bit until more power is added. It's not a violent stutter, but noticable for me.

Do all these points make it seem as though it is a transmission issue? I have looked into things such as MAF, TPS and TC. It feels as though TC is the probable cause however I want to have your opinion on it and possible other things I should get checked out first. If it does turn out to be TC, what course of action is needed? I live in Norway, and stuff like that is extremely expensive to fix. I am not in a situation where I could financially be able to take on these costs. Would a tranny flush be a viable option? Dr. Tranny?

This is my first ever car, so I don't personally know much about them either. Any help appreciated!
I do want to add - I recently changed oil, oil filter, air filter, pollen filter and fuel filter. I also did a scan with zero error codes shown.

 

you didn't mention the mileage of the car and whether the transmission has ever been serviced. There's no harm to doing a transmission drain/fill - I'd run the drain through some white filter paper or a paper towel to see if there's any debris coming out (ie bits of clutch?) and note the color and smell. Reddish/brown is good black/brown is bad :-) As you noted, ignition and engine tune issues can also give the appearance of transmission issues. You may want to check for vacuum or intake air leaks (a smoke test may be in order) as a first step.

 

The car as of now is at 118K KM. When it comes to trans fluid so I wouldn't really know. Volvo states it as ''lifetime fill'', and going through service papers I haven't really seen anything stating something specific about transmission. Is that something that can be done/checked home or best done by someone knowing what to look for? New with cars so it's all new to me!

 

My old Roadmaster wagon did something similar with the vibration. Took it to a wizard who works on automatic transmissions. He said that it was the clutch. A moderate application of cash and the problem disappeared.

 

almost all transmissions suggest a lifetime fill, almost all mechanics suggest regular fluid flushes. The idea of doing a drain fill is to check for debris and signs of internal wear. To note, on some of the newer transmissions, doing drain fills is more complex. If you have a six speed Aisin, it probably doesn't even have a transmission dip stick - they use a dual stage drain plug (the inner plug drains excess fluid to the level of the drain tube, the outer plug removes the drain tube which allows all the fluid drain. The complication is the fluid expands with temperature so you'd need a diagnostics tool like ViDA to measure the transmission temp sensor output. :-( If you have a 5 speed, look for a transmission dip stick - usually way down low by the left lower corner of the radiator. pull that out, wipe on a white paper towel and you can do a check of color, smell and level. If you have burnt clutch plates the fluid will go dark and may smell burnt. They's when you check for debris by draining through filter paper. The other transmission scenario is issues with the solenoids/valve body. Those often throw a fault code if bad but if you have dirty fluid, the wrong fluid, or the wrong level, they can act up. Google "volvo shift flares" to see if any articles or posts describe what you are feeling.