Hello,

Just after purchasing an otherwise well kept wagon, I had to take 100 mile hwy trip including a fairly steep mountain pass. Upon arriving home, I found that the torque converter had given up the ghost on the interstate. the car is still driveable but stumbles getting into gear and doesn't want to move much at all in reverse.

IM ready to replace the torque converter, but all my usual sources have come up with nothing for a remanufactured specimen. Im hoping someone here may have a trustworthy source.

cheers!

When you check the fluid level hot, make sure you follow the instructions that I posted.

Getting the fluid hot and putting it in all gears before checking the level fills up the various parts of the transmission so you can check what free fluid is in the sump.

When my two girls lived at home and we provided them with 740s and later 850s, I required that they check fluids, tire pressures and lights every Saturday - if they did not they could not drive the car to school the following week.

Sadly, one girl married a Subaru tech ( once she visited me, and her old Subi was running rough - I found a plug wire shorting to the engine which I fixed - and the other told me that she had never checked the oil on her new Sub in the 6 months she had her new car!!!)

On all our high mileage Volvos, I checked fluids weekly - I looked at the transmission fluid cold - because I did this weekly, I could see if the stick looked the same each week.

Transtar they have multiple locations. Call the houston store and ask for Duke. He just sold me one for an aw71 it was 110 bucks plus freight and tax. Hard to beat that! They are a wholesale tranny supplier.

Best to you,

Rob

I would drain the transmission pan - not the whole fluid contents, just the pan as Volvo does for 740s. (I never had a 240 but that is what the dealer did to our 740s every 30K.)

Then get the exact instructions for measuring transmission fluid level or -

Drive the car for 15 minutes to so then stop and pit the lever in every position a minute or so, then pull the transmission dip stick to check the hot level. Top off the fluid a little and recheck to avoid over filling.

As the other poster mentions, assuring proper fluid level is a good idea before tearing the car apart.

BTW - Have you been servicing the transmission as Volvo recommends?

Drop and clean the pan / new gasket and screen / Mobile 1 transmission fluid. I flushed mine at.the radiator line. Fitting with a hose attached.

Hi,

Check under Toyota transmission parts and you might get more hits as the Aisin transmission was even more popular with them.

There is someone out there that knows what you need!

I’m sure you have checked the fluid level, right?
Usually the lack of a reverse gear is the first indication of low fluids! Maybe in your case, lack of torque pressure, if it’s still shifting?

Phil

forgot to mention: AW70

I may be wrong but I think 1982 had originally a 3 speeds Borg Warner automatic transmission.

Aisin Warner (aw70) has 3 speeds and an overdrive. It may be matched with a different differential as well.

hmm I had assumed overdrive was out... theres no overdrive button on the shifter... it could be a three speed. Today i checked the fluid level with the engine warm and the car running, it was low on the minimum marker, i added 2/3 of a quart (all I had on-hand). It now does fine in reverse and the only hiccup in the forward shifting seems to be occasional roughness from 1st to second. thanks for all the advice, now its looking like an Aw71 swap may be my best option for my driving conditions (lots of steep hills and 65mph speed limits). After being away from these cars for almost ten years, its good to back in the womb with this wagoon and the community.

Up to 1985 or 1986 Volvo 240 had a speedometer cable connected to the rear section of the transmission. The later years had an electric connection at the differential and an electric odometer at the instrument cluster.

It could be hard to make an odometer/speedometer work on a 1982.

I’ve found an 83 aw71 however I still need to source the shifter with od button and the od wiring loom.. thanks for your advice through this

Hi Bunsen,

If your 83 trans is a salvage unit, I recommend replacing the pan gasket, front and rear seals, kick down cable, selector shaft seals, and oil line O rings on a bench before installing it.

All are readily available and should be under $100. Some of these things are impossible or difficult to access with the transmission in the car, and they may end saving you a lot of time and oil.

Peter

Thanks for the advise guys, Im looking at the torque converter because of the cars history. I purchased it yesterday and got 33 years of obsessively recorded service records. However it was parked for six years due to a leaky transmission and no brakes. The guy i bought it from purchased it because he needed the rack rails and mudflaps for his daughters wagon and was going to keep it for parts until he pulled the trans and found a bad torque converter seal, and replaced the brake master cylinder, restoring the brakes to fully operational. PO said the trans fluid was filthy and there was a ring in torque converter where it had rubbed the seal. The sysmptoms to me were screaming TQ

1. bad seal was found
2. trans fluid dirty
3. vibration when driving
4. extra low stall speeds and trouble enaging

I should mention that this morning I started it and drove it around the block a few times and it was better than it was last night with the exception of reverse, i had to really rev it to get it moving, and it still has excessive vibration almost like the tq bearing is dickered and the tq is out of position/balance.


Ill check the fluid today, it seemed good yesterday but Ive lost my familiarity with reading the black dipstick tip.