Ok so i turned on the car the other day and the transmission service light came on. i went to the volvo dealer and had them read the diagnostics and it was a shift solenoid error as well as limp mode. The car wont shift from 3rd to fourth but other than that it drives fine. ive been driving it sparingly, only when the girlfriend is working late i take it a few miles to work and back. We have a trip to new jersey, about a 3 hour drive this weekeend and her car is just way to small to take. I dont want to have to rent a car if i dont have to and im planning on getting the tranny work done when i get my income tax back in the next week or so. do you guys think it would be alright to drive it down there. Ive also been reading that solenoid errors are pretty commmon in these vehicles and that its often the computer error. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks a lot

 

I drove a pontiac with a dead 3/4 solenoid for over 2 years with no issues - same tranny as the S80.

It hurt the mileage by a couple mpg on the highway since it was revving higher but I typically did not drive it on trips anyway and around town it rarely would have been in 4th so city mileage didn't change.

fwiw: even though it's just a solenoid, it will likely require a rebuild just to get to it based on what I was told about my old pontiac. On the upside, any tranny shop should be able to do it for around 2k since the tranny is common as dirt (assuming the normal 4sp auto).

 

there are 2 different trannys that could have been in the s80. the GM one, or the Volvo one, which had about the same amount if not more than the 2001-2002 V70.

now long or short dipstick, that will tell use which is which.