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I was recently given a 2004 xc90 T6 with 63k miles from my grandmother who was the original owner babied the car and only serviced at Volvo South Count in OC, Ca. I’ve had the car for a few months and about 3 weeks ago the oh so famous from my research transmission service warning came on and then turned off once I got home and parked the car. Took it to a mechanic to have the code read which was 0053 “lock up pressure switch jammed” the car has ran fine with the exception of one hard gear change a few months back. My local mechanic suggested I take it to Volvo. Went to where the car had always been serviced for further diagnosis. They did nothing and said either do a fluid change or if error comes back you need a transmission. I then went back complaining of the service I had received and the management then admitted to knowing of the faulty transmission and agreed to request a “good will” to have the transmission replaced (given my grandmother had spent well over 30k on random repairs and services with them over the years) upper management went on to say how these transmissions this year ar eknown to be faulty and not to bother flushing as it’s a waiste of money. They have now had the car for 1 week and say the transmission is fine and recommended a fluid flush and showed me a picture of the transmission pan. Yes after they just told me a week ago not to bother with a flush! According to the service advisor it was clean with no metal. You tell me, it looks pretty dirty to me…….
this car is for my 16 year old twins and I just don’t have faith in this car. Any recommendations or opinions? Could this car not have a faulty transmission?
So incredibly disappointed in Volvo right now.
Last edited by ChristaB; May 25, 2022 at 11:29 PM.
2004 xc90 T6 Any recommendations or opinions? Could this car not have a faulty transmission?
So incredibly disappointed in Volvo right now.
Congratulations on the gift.
The General Motors transmission that was used with the ~03-07 T6 engines fails. It's a common transmission and used in many General motors cars but was not designed and could not handle the hp/torque of the t6. The transmission in the 04 xc90t6 I leased needed to be replaced @ 18000 miles and I discouraged many people from purchasing them during used car pre-purchase inspections because of the transmission. (once everybody figured out the trans had a high failure rate) I've replaced many bad/slipping t6 trans for my customers, back when it was economically reasonable to do that, or an extended warranty was covering it. I have a friend that replaced his 3 times! One of those he tried was a cheap rebuild - that didn't last very long and failed on a road trip to Florida. Hey at least the fluid the trans uses is normal - not the ~$16 a quart fluid used in the 5 cyl transmissions!
I'm sorry you are disappointed in Volvo but all manufacturers (of anything!) sell stuff that is later found to be less than reasonably reliable. At least Volvo only used it for a few years until they figured out it was not a good idea.
The oil pan looks fine - sometimes it looks like you are panning for gold when you take those off. ( lots of metallic parts floating in the pan)
The fact is the transmission in your 18 year old FREE car - is not perfect, and WILL have problems. Drive it gently or if you enjoy using the ~268hp and ~280 ft/pounds of torque - I suggest you trade your FREE car in for something else.
As noted, the tech is looking for debris in the pan (ie tiny bits of worn parts like clutch disks etc) and the color of the fluid looks good (not black/burn smelling) so at this point they should just button up the pan and refill with fresh fluid. Dropping the pan takes about 40% of the fluid so at this point the car will be about half new fluid which is good enough for a car with relatively low mileage. About the only other thing to do (besides trade in the car lol) would be to run the car with the newly topped off fluid and do one more drain/fill which will get the car to "mostly" fresh fluid which for most cars is good for 100K miles. This is far less costly than a transmission flush which can run several hundred dollars and can be done at any shop or at home. Key thing is for the tech to make sure the fluid level is correct following the service and after its driven a few miles (to check the "warm" fill level, the car is put in a driving cycle to fully warm up the transmission fluid). If the car is driven normally (no mountains, towing etc) the transmission should be ok. As noted, its still an 18 year old car that will need servicing as parts age, particularly rubber items like suspension bushings.
I really appreciate everyone’s feedback! Very helpful! I feel a little less doomsday at this point. The dealer quoted 700 for the flush (they say they are offering over 200 savings ) would you say yay or nah?
The dealer quoted 700 for the flush (they say they are offering over 200 savings ) would you say yay or nah?
nah, put the pan back on, and fill it up. Check the fluid in a couple of weeks and if smelly do another drain and fill. As mentioned earlier that is a popular General Motors transmission - you will find many transmission shops familiar with those. (that may have solutions other than a replacement that cost more than the value of the car.)
2004 xc90 t6
