I'm on a personal mission to drive my 1996 960 wagon beyond 300K miles...

The car has been pretty good to me. Acquired with 150K and currently with 272K miles. Hung valve was the only major issue I've had with the car (at 210K miles)and a rebuilt head took care of that. The transmission is now showing signs of age. Very reluctant to engage on cold starts, particularly in reverse. My very good mechanic said opening the transmission for a repair isn't realistically feasible (complete rebuild or don't bother).

I can source a presumably functional transmission from a 137K donor for $250 and have been quoted ~$500 to install into car along with a new rear main seal for the engine. Looks like another close to ~$1000 for the whole deal.

Looks like my commitment is waning. The car is getting old and I have a 70 mile commute to work. Not getting to work or getting to work late isn't an option.

Any thoughts on whether or not I should invest in the transmission? The rest of the car is in pretty good shape and mostly original. Tires / brakes / and suspension should be good for another 30K+. Is it possible the current transmission will last another 30K if I baby it?

Many thanks.

longhorizon

Update...

Car became essentially undrivable, particularly in cold weather (which is all we've had now). I went for the replacement.

$850 bought me a replacement tranny (installed) along with a new rear main seal, transmission and motor mounts. Now drives like a dream... Actually, maybe I'll shoot for 400K miles...

Thanks all for your advice.

longhorizon

$850 is a lot cheaper than buying a new (another) car! A good investment if you think you are going to drive the car for awhile.

$850 here in Mass. will buy you car that drives and that's about all...:)

Thanks for update! Great to hear the car lives on to see more horizons
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I own a Volvo or Does Volvo Own Me? Try the easy to search Expanded Style FAQ Index http://40mph.com/Brickboard_700-900_FAQ_Expanded_Index_Version/

I vote for move on.

Try to extend the life of your car, but start looking now.

Our first Volvos were 740s - we had 4 - then 3 850s (they lasted 11 or 12 years) - now, 2 XC70s.

The 850s were great, especially our '96 855R - I smiled every day that I drove that car - even to the dealer to trade it in - now, 17 years old, Isabel was purchased by a guy who loves her!

Our 2008 XC70 really brings back a memory of our '88 745 GLE - heated leather seats, quiet and comfortable - and everything works!

Dear longhorizon,

Hope you're well. The Aisin-Warner transmissions used in 940s and 960s are very hardy. The vast majority of reported failures result from failure of the in-radiator Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF) cooler, which allows coolant to enter the ATF. I do not recall a post reporting an AW tranny as having "worn out".

I second the suggestion that you flush the transmission. See the FAQs for the flush procedure.

For this flush, I'd use Wal-Mart ATF. This is not costly: perhaps $40-45 for the 10 quarts needed. Drive for 1-2,000 miles. If there's no improvement in shifts, then consider replacing the tranny, with the sound used unit.

My guess is that fresh ATF - even Wal-Mart's product - will improve the shifts. If so, re-flush with Mobil 1 or a simiar synthetic ATF. You can then expect many more years of good service.

ATF should be flushed every 50K miles. Flushes might be done more often, if the car lives in an area with high average ambient temperatures (e.g., North and Central Africa, Central America, or the US South/Southwest), and/or which is mountainous, and/or if the car is often used for towing.

A tranny swap is best done by a transmission shop: they have all of the required tools and - because they routinely pull trannies - they can do the work faster than can a mechanic, who does not often remove trannies.

A transmission shop should be able to replace the rear main seal. Both jobs - tranny swap and rear main seal replacement - should take no more than four hours. If you go this route, have Synthetic ATF put in. Bring your own, if need be.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

Hard to say what's best choice. Any old car is going to have future issues, depends on your tolerance for maintenance.

Like spook says these are sturdy transmissions, so reviving, rebuilding, or replacing are viable options.

However, I would not recommend going synthetic ATF for the AW transmissions. Stick with traditional ATF. Synthetic chemistry tends to clean out gunk, which is good, but then it also so slippery that it doesn't absorb into seals as easily and can cause seal leaking. Synthetic is more friendly to close tolerance newer transmissions and engines, the AW is an older, lower tolerance fit of parts, that works well with higher average viscosity traditional ATF.
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I own a Volvo or Does Volvo Own Me? Try the easy to search Expanded Style FAQ Index http://40mph.com/Brickboard_700-900_FAQ_Expanded_Index_Version/

Thanks all for your thoughtful comments. Apologies for my somewhat tardy reply.

Yes, I've had the transmission flushed 2 or 3 times over the past year. Originally inspired by routine maintenance. I think my mechanic would have suggested another flush if he felt that it would be helpful. Last done ~3 months ago.

I will drive for now and keep my fingers crossed though it seems to be deteriorating. At this point it is still operational but I'm concerned about being stuck at an inopportune time and place. I'm fortunate enough to have other vehicles but this is my daily driver.

I will post updates. Best case scenario we'll revisit this in a couple of years when I hit 300K...

Thank you again to all who replied.

Dear 740_dan,

Hope you're well. I take your point as to Synthetic ATF's high lubricity and high detergent capacity.

The malfunctioning tranny may need a good cleaning. What about using synthetic ATF to clean-out the crud - and, if that restores proper shifts, etc. - replace the synthetic with standard ATF?

If, during the clean-out, there seems to be no sign of leaks around seals, etc., then the synthetic can be left. If, however, leaks develop, then standard ATF can be put in.

How say you?

Yours faithfully,

Spook

Hi Spook -

I think it's reasonable to try synthetic as a cleaner.

I mainly wanted to point out the synthetic ATF has a chance to provide unpredictable results. This is only based upon reading and only using synthetic as an oil and a power steering fluid, so really just armchair opinion. A recent post on turbobricks.com was a transmission that was flushed *three* times with synthetic and trans still had problems shifting. Another user said they had better shifts with traditional ATF in their AW.

If a cleaner was needed, I would go AutoRx instead of synthetic.

--
I own a Volvo or Does Volvo Own Me? Try the easy to search Expanded Style FAQ Index http://40mph.com/Brickboard_700-900_FAQ_Expanded_Index_Version/

Synthetic ATF might cause the seals to leak but only initially. The seals leak because the synthetic is doing its job and cleaning them. Once the old gunk is cleaned off and the synthetic has time to restore the seals to a better condition the leaks will stop. This may take a month or two. This is exactly what happened to the seals on my 850's rack. Leaked worse at first after the switch to synthetic ATF. After a month or two the seals dried-up and the leak hasn't returned. It's been three years and the rack is still doing great at 230k+...:)

I addition, I flushed the tranny @170k and replaced the old fluid with synthetic ATF. That was 3 1/2 years ago. No tranny leaks whatsoever. BTW - 850's have AW trannies too.

Have you flushed the transmission lately?

Of course I don't have the emotional connection to your car that you do but my inclination would be, provided the tranny isn't "too" bad yet, is to kick the can down the road a bit and keep driving it as-is and delay the expense. Who knows, it could blow a head gasket and/or a heater core and/or whatever else in the next few months and the decision as to whether to do all the repairs suddenly becomes an easier one to make. And you wouldn't have just dropped $1000 into it to fog your thinking.

I'm assuming that you installing the tranny is not an option. (I'm not being critical of that - I probably wouldn't want to do it either.)

"Have you flushed the transmission lately?"

My thought exactly. If not, try a flush and replace with synthetic ATF. Synthetic tranny fluid and synthetic PS fluid has been great for my vehicles. Synthetic ATF used in my PS stopped my 850's rack seals from leaking 3 years ago and the rack is still good at 230k+. Years ago, I had a Jetta with a balky manual tranny. Switched to synthetic fluid and got an another year+ out of it. Synthetic fluid will not only clean your tranny's seals, it will also clean the internal parts and perhaps (no guarantee's here) restore your tranny's operation. Worth a shot - IMO..

Sounds like you may be keeping this one since $1000 for even one or two years of use makes economic sense if the laws of chance work in your favor. I guess it really depends on 'compared to what?'. Against a new vehicle this would be a bargain. But what if you could get another Volvo for $5000 or so that you judged to be more reliable and would not need a big repair for a good long while?