I used to do this on my 240 (AW70) -- when going down hills in town, coming up to a red light etc. Reason I stopped is that IF there is a possibility for any kind of damage, brake pads are cheaper than a new transmission. Thirty years of driving with stick shifts has put a twitch in my arm though.

Erling.
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My 240 Page

Speaking of damaging your tranny............
I accidentally threw my Brick into reverse while going 40 mph. Aside from a little rubber off of my tires, no apparent damage after two months. It is the dreaded ZF tranny too. Aside from a cable adjustment, I have had no problems at all with this tranny. Go figure.

'86 740GLE

Over time it will wear the transmission down faster then just letting it do its own thing, they were designed an automatic and not a manual so im sure you understand, i only do that when i am going up hill, or sitting in slow traffic ill drop it into 1 or 2 and cruise in that gear.

how do you figure it'll wear it down? the only difference between forcing it and not forcing it is the movement of the shift linkage.
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Kenric Tam
1990 Volvo 740 base sedan (B230F)
My Volvo 'Project'

it will only hurt it if you do so in a unadvisable manner...ie: manually dropping it down into first gear going 70mph...or the like. I've had friends that have manualy shifted their autos before and had problems with them, the transmission is an auto for a reason, if you "wind" out the gears further than stock shift points, then that could put extra stress on the bands/clutches, etc. although I'm not a tranny expert by any means, it's your car, you be the judge. just my $.02

It won't let you drop down into first gear going 70MPH. Anything over about 35MPH, the lowest you can go is 2nd gear. At least with my gear ratios and the rear end I have. 2nd will take you up to about 50-55, so yes, 70MPH is too high for second gear.

However, I would think that the engine would complain about being deep in the red zone much sooner than would your tranny complain about revving faster.

As for the shift points, if you keep it floored in my car and let the tranny do its thing, it shifts at just a little over 5000rpm so it's really not an issue forcing it to shift at 5000 or so.
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Kenric Tam
1990 Volvo 740 base sedan (B230F)
My Volvo 'Project'

have you EVER PERSONALLY tried to drop your transmission down into 1st gear doing 70mph? If not, then how do you know that it "won't" let you? Just curious, as I'd assume older volvos will not have any deterrent that would keep you from dropping the transmission down into a select gear at a selected speed. I'm personally never going to try that myself and was just giving an example of something, that in theory, would "hurt" the transmission.

no, i have not personally tried. but the manual does specifically say that it won't let you drop down to 1st gear unless it's safe. that being said, i have tried to drop down going 40mph and it wouldn't let me so i don't see why it would let me at 70mph. check it out.

2nd gear is a different issue. there's no safety lock on that one.
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Kenric Tam
1990 Volvo 740 base sedan (B230F)
My Volvo 'Project'

No, it won't downshift into 1st at 70 MPH.... it's locked-out just like it is in most cars... the only case is that it will come out of overdrive if you mash the pedal and are beyond the limits of 3rd gear.... I don't see how manually shifting it would hurt, isn't it what all those fancy new cars with their auto-stick and tiptronic things do anyways?

Cliff Scott
89 DOHC740 <-shifts right around 6000 RPM

I asked a similar question a few weeks ago, and the consensus was, no, the transmission won't be damaged, but your fuel economy will probably go in the toilet.

jeff daigle
'89 745GL 143,000mi

My fuel economy seems to be ok. I've been doing it alot this week. I suppose it is because I miss driving a stick.
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1988 760Tic - 155,550 1966 M-B 230 sedan - 98,000 - Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us. - Bill Watterson

its a asian unit cant kill em