Hello all,
This is my first post I have a 2004 Volvo V40 LSE with approx. 114XXX mi.
This car is my first car and I love it to death. On a long drive flashing arrow (light 17), and check engine (light 18) came on.
I then pulled the codes and got p0700 and p0780. My mechanic said that this was valve body and solenoid codes which he said could not be replaced?
My mechanic recommended I drive the car into the ground as the only guaranteed fix is a new transmission which isn't worth the price of the car.
I really don't want to buy another car, transmission replacement seems to cost around $1000-1500 for a used transmission to be put it which the mechanic said is no gaurentee that the used tranny won't break in 100 mi or 100,000 mi.

I've read that people have had success replacing the neutral safety switch (gear selector), I've opted for that cheapish (~150) repair to see if it resolves the problem but mechanic said they same thing, we can try it but no gaurentees it will fix it.

Any suggestions or ideas on what could be causing this?
Should I say screw it and get a new car? a new transmission? or drive it into the ground?
I love this car and would love to save it without shelling out 2,000+ dollars.
Thanks all!

 

Welcome!

You will find many of us here take a bit different approach to making these kinds of decisions. Personally, when faced with a $2,500 repair on a car that is otherwise mechanically sound for the foreseeable future I don't think about justifying $2,500 on a car that is worth $1,500 as it sits, I think about what $2,500 buys me in terms of replacement transportation because that is really what I am faced with. And since I know $2,500 buys a POS with many known and unknown problems I figure $2,500 spent on the car in my driveway results in more car than it would buying something else on craigslist. Easy decision. Price a reman trans with a warranty and use that number to make your decision.

All that said, has the timing belt been done? If not add the cost of that, plus any other near term maintenance and repairs to the equation. How much did you come up with, then back to the question of if you spend that amount of money to replace the car do you get more car than you would have spending that amount of money on the one already in your driveway? Feel free to add in some value for the fact that you love the car, as people naturally take better care of a car they love than one they hate. Good luck!

 

I'd start with the simple - PNP (park/neutral position) switches are a common failure in Volvos and a reasonably cheap repair (plenty of posts/vids on DIY). Secondly, I'd consider a transmission flush. You can either do the drain/fill method (each time gets about 1/3 the old fluid so you'd need to do 3 or 4 to get to about 80% new/clean fluid). The more complete method is to disconnect the transmission cooler lines and feed one into a bucket of clean fluid and have a bucket for oil fluid (idea is you run the car and it pumps out the old and in the new). Not sure how this would be done for the S40 but its a common practice for 850/V70s (in fact you can buy kits with the tubing/buckets). Finally, you can price out a used transmission at a yard (search car-parts.com). The FWD transmissions in the S40s are fairly reliable so I would consider that route. It is possible to replace just the valve body but unless you're doing a DIY it may be easier to get a shop to drop in a used one. So my suggestion would be to 1) practice your "shifter row" (P to Lo to P 20x fast) to see if that can revive the PNP sensor 2) do a few
fluid drain/refills 3) replace the PNP (part's about $100 so figure 200-250 for the job).

 

Thank you guys so much, I'm going to try everything you suggested and price out the used transmission as well.
I really appreciate you guys taking the time to respond to me and help me.

 

I have a 2004 s40 automatic transmission with 170,000 miles
has a front trans-axle humming. Replaced wheel bearings and CV axle. consistent growl from front trans.
Any thoughts / research would help.