I am very surprised that we don't see much in the Forums (or anywhere for that matter) on the internet about the faulty transmission Volvo (Ford) decided to put in my expensive 2001 V70 T5 car.

I am curious if anyone else is curious about this, and if anyone has heard anything about Volvo being held responsible for this.

I have taken my car to two different Volvo dealers and they both said the tranny is shot and needs to be replaced... not rebuilt, but replaced.

I've taken my car to four transmission rebuilders, 2 closed their eyes, covered their ears and told me to leave the shop and then yelled out BLH BLAH BLAh to block out my quetioning... one said they could do it, but it would cost me well over $5000. and one told me that even if they rebuilt the transmission, it was flawed from the get go, and would probably break down before 100,000 miles were put on it.

The manufacturer offered NO help or even advise (other than getting a third Volvo dealer opinion.

My car just rolled over the 100,000 miles mark and I guess I'm one of those Volvo just doesn't care about... I don't buy new cars, I buy reliable old ones and I guess Volvo just want to sell NEW cars that buyers replace every 5 years.

Has anyone have any advice on how I can get anywhere with Volvo to stand behind their brand?

Thanks for your help and for being there for me in my RANT


My car just rolled over the 100,000 miles mark and I guess I'm one of those Volvo just doesnt care about... I don't buy new cars, I buy reliable old ones and I guess Volvo just want to sell NEW cars that buyers replace every 5 years.

Has anyone have any advice on how I can get anywhere with Volvo to stand behind their brand?

Thanks for your help and fpor being there for me in my RANT

 

Use the search function. There are a lot of posts about '01 auto trans issues. Apparently a GM design that couldn't deal with a multitude of issues. Reprogramming was a fix. You should ask your dealer if that was ever done on your's. Some optimists recommend a Volvo flush (actually, repeat drain and refill) to get some extra life out of it. Others report replacing something called a valve body to fix the problem. The latter isn't exactly free, but its cheaper than a whole new transmission.

Re pricing, unfortunately, from the reports here, that sounds just about right.

Check in S60 and V70 (same powertrains and front chassis).

Occassionally, we're told, the problem isn't the trans, but rather the motor or transmission mounts, too. Have those been checked? Apparently, they are wear parts on these Volvos, too. Much cheaper than a new transmission. And, at the age, you're likely to get a used or rebuilt one anyway since the Geartronics are Warner-Asain designs, not the GM designs.

This is just a summary from memory, so check the postings from those more knowledgeable than me. They either have the techincal knowledge or got an advanced degree in Transmissionology from the Volvo School of Hard Knocks.

 

Is this just a problem with the 01's or is it a problem with later years as well?

 

My impression, not statistical analysis or anything scientific, is that most complaints of catastrophic failure occur in the '01's The revised transmission came from Aisin Warner (AW) and uses a specific fluid spec 3309 (check other threads to make sure I'm right here) which will be in owner's manual. That should tell you you're getting the newer trans type. Not that people don't have complaints about the newer ones......

I'm not an engineer. But I'm beginning to think that old designs (THM 400, Powerglide, TorqueFlight) were "looser" and therefore less prone to failure than current designs. Sure, you save on gas, but trans replacement is big bucks! Those old trannys handled lots of torque and horsepower, some of which was rather suddenly applied.

 

First Volvo told me it was an external camshaft solinoid causing the problem, I paid them $500. to fix and that wasn't the problem and they only suggested a Flush and fill ($400.00), which I did at a specialist shop (using correct fluid) andthat didn't work... they could not even replace the transmission filter as that was supposed to be a "lifetime" part as well.

That still did not cure the problem, and after talking with Volvo, they did tell me I had to replace the whole transmission.

Another specialist went online and found out a service recall for the transmission's 3rd to fourth geat shift valve (we found it extemeley odd and outright ridiculous that the dealers never even recommended their own service recomendation) and that did help a little (naother $500.)... but with this problem if you don't catch it right away, it will never get any better, and the damage was done. The car stii drives, but has issues that will never get any better, but will eventually get a whole lot worse.

The problem is even by repairing this 01 transmission, it will almost always prematurely break down as it was flawed from the get go... putting in a used one is a total waist of money, unless you are one of those unethical guys that do this sort of thing to flog a lemon... but we don't need anymore P'O'd Volvo owners out there, we alraedy have enough.

 

What exactly do you want from them? Make an exception for you? Your car is 9 years old, and has over 100,000 miles on it. It's over double it's warranty mileage/age.

What makes your car a lemon? The transmission failed. Had they replaced it three times and it kept failing (inside the warranty mileage of the new transmission of course) then you could call it a lemon. These things happen. I bought a Volvo with a bad transmission once and replaced it with a used transmission. I then sold the car for a profit. Does that make me an unethical guy who flogged a lemon? Far from it.



Don't take what I'm saying the wrong way. You've got my sympathy, but why cry over spilled milk?

Either get it fixed, or move on. Just don't let a single failed transmission ruin your view of Volvo.

 

Here is more info for you. Tranny issues on earlier years of this car is not so rare.

http://howardsvolvos.webs.com/driveline.htm

Here are the list of low cost repairs. Sounds like you've done "ATF change", "B4 servo" (If they charged you $500 for B4 servo, it is a total scam! $20 part/0.5 hour job max by experienced tech) and probably the only low cost step left is "lower transmission torque mount" and "get the latest software". But these fixes may not help also if your transmission is too far gone.

By the way, if you take the replacement route.. there is no new transmissions. They are all rebuilts.

 

JTapper: This is not a single transmission; of the 01 owners I have encountered, more people than not had to replace their transmission by 120k. I will soon need my third, and I'm at 150k.

 

I apologize, I meant a single model year. 2001 is the only year AW55 transmission was used in the V70 with that program. Subsequent model years did not have the 1-N-1 programming at stop. The fact that anyone continues to go through transmissions after replacement hardly seems to be the fault of Volvo, but more so the supplier of the rebuilt transmissions.

 

I'm in same situation as RadioFlyer. Trans slipping,and banging on down gear,ie,"harsh 302 downshift and2-3 flare". Been to trans shop($2800).Took car ('01 V70 2.4T wgn,114k mi.) back 3 times and still same problems. Comments,suggestions? This is getting old for me and trans shop as well,I'm sure.

 

I've posted messages about my transmission here in the past. I have a an '01 V70 non-turbo auto. I bought it last year in June (08) with 67k on it. I now have almost 106k. Yes, I drive ALOT. I used to have problems with the trans slipping, sometimes shifting hard, etc. All of that stuff. I called the dealer and they said the previous owner had the software update performed, so I started doing alot of digging on this forum about the issues. Granted, all of yours sound much worse then mine, and I'm sure your Turbos put much more strain on the system then mine did, but I basically drained and replaced the fluid with the Mobil 3309 stuff (no, I didn't flush it), added almost an entire bottle of Lucas Transmission Stop Slip (which actually works and fixed my slipping problem), replaced the lower trans torque mount with the stiffer high performance IPD one with the polyeurethane bushings, and once I drove the car about 5k to 10k more, again drained and replaced the fluid again, adding the rest of the stop slip stuff. I haven't had a problem with the trans since. I keep stopping myself from driving the car hard even though sometimes I do, and even when I get the RPMs past redline, it shifts without a hitch, doesn't slip, etc. If I would have done the proper research, I would never have bought the '01, but it's exactly what my wife and I wanted and we did. Almost all of my driving the past 40k miles I've put on it has been highway driving, and I drive 100 miles a day round trip on average. The last time I did any kind of fluid change was around 85k and it's still shifting without any problems. I plan on changing it again in a month or so. I'm not going to go through all of the time and money flushing it when I can basically do what I've been doing and keeping it working flawlessly.

I just thought I would share my tranny woes, or what they used to be. I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping since mine had the maintenance done early on by the previous owner, I may avoid the catastrophe of having to replace it (maybe?).