Ok, so about a month ago I had a huge transmission problem. It was stuck in limp mode and I was afraid I needed a new tranny. Apparently, I just needed a new valve body and torque converter.

I had the transmission guy do the work. When I got the car back, it ran perfect and the power was back. It felt great...at least for the 3 mile drive back home.

While the power is still there and driving at highway speeds everything is ok, I seem to be having issues with in city driving. Specifically when I am maintaining a speed between 30 and 45mph. After maintaining a speed for a few seconds, the rpms rev up a couple hundred rpms then drops to normal then back up. It creates a subtle jerking motion when this happens and continues until I accelerate or remove my foot from the gas. Very annoying.

Before everybody tells me to take the car back to the mechanic, I would like to know if anybody can tell me what may cause the problem and where I can look to locate the cause. After getting the car back and looking under the hood, I noticed a few things which were not put back together...clips were missing from the air filter box (I found them and put them on), a wire/cable is dangling rather than being attached to the tranny (I'm assuming it is a grounding cable of some sort and can see where the missing bolt would go to secure the cable). I would much rather lift the car up myself to identify and fix this issue if possible. This is why I'm asking for your help. And I want the correct ammo when I do go back to the mechanic.

Here is a link to a video I took while it was occurring: Strange Revs.MOV - YouTube

 

Looks like the converter is locking and unlocking repeatedly...could be an electrical problem or could be something wrong with the converter. I'd let the mechanic see that...you don't want to be accused of doing something and having the mechanic tell you that you created the problem.

 

I was hoping it was a loose vacuum seal in one of the hoses that I could actually locate.

Well, tonight I was driving to my sons football practice and the transmission starting acting up again. Shifting hard from 1 thru 3 gears and slipped from 3rd to 4th. Lost some power but thankfully I was able to get home.

Any other ideas it may be or is the general consensus that it is the torque converter?

 

who did the tranny rebuild, volvo shop or a generic tranny place.

Two most important items that are essential in these trannies:
1) the right fluid must be used,
2) the tranny adaptives must be reset and the tranny place in adaptive mode by the dealer or shop with vida/dice setup, after the tranny repair.

if the above were not done, the "new" tranny fails soon afterwards

 

This man is correct. This is the reason that a Volvo specialized shop or dealer is the only shops that should do trany work.

 

This very well can be your problem. It's not a ground cable, I know that much.
Take it back ASAP before you destroy the trans.
Why are you reluctant to have them make it right after you paid them to fix it?

 

+1. Ask what ATF they use.

 

how exactly do you reset the adaptives?
every time i aske volvo about this they lift their shoulders as if they never heard of it.

i recently had a tranny rebuild, software update and b4 servo cover update and the shifting has improved but still a hard reverse to drive shifting with minimum delay.

after the b4 servo update i followed the instructions from IPD(perform 2nd to 3rd shifts at different throttle openings, forcing a downshift from 4th to 3rd etc to bleed the air) and after doing that and about 500km of driving the tranny is still not perfect. some say it may take a lot more miles for the tranny to adapt to the new part.

is there actually something specific volvo has to do?