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1992 240 GL Transmission Problem[ALL/1988] posted by Paul Conway on
Monday, 5 January 1998, at 3:24 p.m.
This is a very strange problem, it has both myself and the Volvo dealership stumped. I have maintained this car very well and have serviced the transmission every 40,000 as Volvo suggest. The car has 118,000 miles on it.
Here's what happened.
Everything was working fine when I was driving on the highway for about 45-min.
when I stopped to exit. After I exited the 75mph freeway I took a 65 mpg
road which has a couple of stoplights on it. As I took my foot off the gas I
noticed that the car was shifting between OD and 3rd gear and having a difficult time making up it's mind. I pulled into the gas station and checked the transmission fluid which was very close to the min mark on the dipstick. I added about 1/2 quart and proceeded. The problem came and went for several days after that at any speed faster than 40 mph. The problem got worst when the car started to "stick" in first gear (i.e. car would stay in first gear long past when it should have shifted into second). I took the car into the local Volvo dealership who I have been dealing with for about 10 years and they have never steered me wrong. First they thought it was a kick-down cable problem, but
upon further inspection the cable doesn't appear to be hanging up. They checked the line pressure (60psi on mine 50-65psi is spec.) and the governor pressure
(10 psi just before shifting into second from first, spec. says should be 18 psi. We replaced the governor and that did NOT solve the problem. Next he removed the valve body and inspected it and cleaned it. There were no metal shavings on the magnets in the pan either and the fluid looks good (not brown).
The valve body cleaning combined with an adjustment in the kick-down cable appears to have solved the first gear problem, but did nothing for the 40+ mph can't decide what gear to be in problem. Next we checked out the solenoid and relay for the overdrive and both the relay and solenoid seem to work fine. We are stuck and looking for suggestions at this point.
The basic problem is that at 40+ mph the car will shift between gears as you drive over bumps. The problem does not occur when you are driving down a smooth road OR when you have a person in the passenger seat. The problem does occur with 4 people in the car. I am looking for any suggestions. The only other thing that might be effecting the problem is the fact that this car has a cracked header pipe, which is common for this type of car and has bee cracked for about 90,000 miles.
Re: 1992 240 GL Transmission Problem[ALL/1988] posted by Evan on
Monday, 5 January 1998, at 4:41 p.m.
Your answer is probably right in your question.
"It happens over bumps"
check the wiring for intermittent shorts. The continuity tests just fine in the shop, or on the lift, but it cuts in & out on the road.
Or save yourself some time and rewire everything; it might be quicker than troubleshooting the whole harness!
Re: 1992 240 GL Transmission Problem[ALL/1988] posted by abe crombie on
Monday, 5 January 1998, at 8:59 p.m.
If this problem can be duplicated easily, you should have them put a voltmeter on the lead at the OD relay that goes to solenoid on trans. If monitoring this reveals that voltage changes drastically when you hit a bump or when someone is sitting in seat then they should trace out where the wire is grounding out. It is vulnerable at the point where it goes through the shifter "bucket" to get below car to attach to solenoid.