My daughters S80 (135K mi) has transmission problems. Drives for a little while when cool, but once warm starts to slip. Shop said "I put it in reverse and it didn't go, it's gonna need a new transmission," $4000. I get a feeling he did little else in terms of diagnostics. I limped it home. It would go about a half mile then rev like I put it in neutral. I let it set for a minute or two and go another half mile. Did this for about 8 miles. The last 1.5 miles I got tired of crawling home and stepped on it and it got me the rest of the way. Any ideas?

 

Most likely. Especially since you keep trying to drive it, allowing it to slip and do more damage.

 

did you check the fluid levels (I'd hope your tech did so, but its easy enough to do on your own). You can also try dropping the pan to see if there's any debris or sediment (bad sign) see what color/smell the fluid has and do a refill, but sounds ominous as this is not the more typical hard shifting type symptoms. Any warning lights, codes etc?

 

no warning lights. the shop said it threw a couple "generic" transmission codes. My daughter was driving it and just pulled into the closest shop, they guy said the fluid levels were OK, and I checked it later. I will take a closer look at the fluid color and maybe drop the pan. Thanks for the suggestions

 

Took a closer look at the S80 today. There is no check engine light, only a "time for regular service" light. Transmission fluid looks clean and bright. Did not take the pan off. A friend thought it might be a solenoid? Does anyone know what the symptoms of a bad solenoid would be, and how to check? Thanks for the advice so far.