I recently bought a 2001 Volvo S80 w/out turbo 2.9L Automatic at an auction. Starting from a stopped position the car shifts fine until it hits 3rd gear. If I hold steady on the throttle, the tach will climb from 3k rpms to 4k rpms and them drop back to 3k rpms. This will continue until the car gains more speed. After it hits 50-60 MPH, no slipping occurs unless I approach an incline and the I have to back off the throttle to prevent slipping and creep up this hill. I tool the car to a Volvo mechanic and the said they found gear faults on the transmission error code report and recommend replacing it. Estimate is $2600.00 to replace it with a used transmission with 80k miles. I paid $1700.00 for the car at an auction and overall its in very good condition. Any recommendations regarding the repair or what to do with the car? Thanks! Dennis

 

believe it or not, you have to change it? Do not waste time in repairing or other ways. Just replace it.

Good Luck.

 

The 4T65EV transmission is made out of angel hair and pixie dust. Other than that, they're good cars for the most part, so if it's really in good shape, I'd say replace it. $2600 is a fair price. I've personally done this job and it's a BEAR.

Best of luck,
Bill

 

I personally would shop around, I would definitely change out the transmission. But I think you can get a better price than that. There is a website that I purchase alot of my Volvo S80 parts from and it is called car-parts.com, you will need to search by your zip code to find the transmission nearest to you or you may find a better deal in another state and have it shipped to you. By doing some of the grunt work yourself you will be saving money and you do not have to worry if the repair shop is up charging you on the parts. Also there are independent Volvo repair shops around and I am sure that there is one in your area that can do better on the labor that the local Volvo dealership. Good luck

 

Not familiar with that transmission but if the tranny has no broken hard parts try a fluid change, an Auto-Rx treatment and install a Magnefine filter. The theory behind this is that this will dissolve deposits inside the tranny and remove metal from the fluid - may restore function to the valve body.

 

I personally wouldn't try any "Fix in a bottle". Fact of the matter is there are only two things on gods green earth that can make a transmission slip, and that is not enough line pressure (Anything from electrical issues to low transmission fluid) and worn friction material. You just can't put friction material back on the various clutches, once it's gone, it's gone. Sometimes flushing/servicing a slipping transmission will actually make matters worse as it will become dependent on the fluid, as it has all the metal in it. If something electrical were wrong, trust me, that car WILL spit a code.

 

I pretty much agree with you but if you're not familiar with Auto-Rx you should keep an open mind. Auto-Rx is not any kind of magic bullet but if the transmission problem is a result of occluded ports in the valve body, blocked with dirt, the Auto-Rx may help.

My philosophy would be to try the cheap fix first if there is not some obvious indication of excessive wear or broken hard parts.

 

I personally would shop around, I would definitely change out the transmission. But I think you can get a better price than that.

 

I was looking at an S80 that needed a transmission a while ago. I know nothing about them, so I went to talk to a guy i trust at my local dealer. He told me there's a couple years where the transmissions are basically crap. The dealer had gotten used transmissions from a huge Volvo yard in California, but eventually that yard just stopped selling transmissions. Too many were installed, and found to be defective.

Unfortunately, the car isn't worth much the way it sits. Your options are to either sell it now and take a loss, or spend the money to get it running and then sell it for maybe less of a loss. Buying a used transmission is just going to put you back on the road with a car that will eventually have a bad transmission again. It's just a poor design.

Sorry

 

Many have been quoted as saying that the Volvo trans' is in fact the weakest link in these cars....As a matter of fact, when I had mine rebuilt I took it to a local shop. Reputable guy. Highly recommended.

I said can you do a Volvo tran's rebuild. He laughed. He said I've been doing this for 30 years and guess what....You have a Chevy transmission.... I said what? He said, yeah it's the same style Chevy's been using for years. They're a piece of cake......

So they bold a trans to a car that can't handle the torque. He said they do it all the time and it's bread and butter for trans shops.....Arggggg....

 

I noticed my 2001 s80 2.9 would do the exact same thing. I drove for over 2 years with this problem. I also noticed nearly every time it started slipping that the cruise control wouldn't work. I went to pick & pull a few weeks ago and got a brake position sensor, replaced it, and now my cruise control works 100 % of the time, and my transmission hasn't slipped once since I changed the brake sensor. That was several thousand miles ago. If you notice the slipping, and when you hit cruise it doesn't activate on the dash, trust me try changing the brake position sensor. It may not make sense that this would fix the transmission, but it did on mine, and it was only 5 dollars.