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OK, You can say, "I told you so."
After removing my solenoid and cleaning and duplicating the ground, and finding it worked flawlessly for several days, I thought I had it "knocked."
We towed the car 1100 mi to where it will now live at our vacation condo (where I have no tools or facilities to work on the car, and it's against the HOA to even add oil to your car (just opening your hood violates the rules and will get you a $25 fine).
Ran the car off the tow dolly, and I'm sure you guessed by now, the OD wouldn't engage. Later in the day, we took a drive, and it worked flawlessly for the remainder of the afternoon. That night, no OD again. Grrr...
I activated the switch and no clicks heard at the solenoid (though the relay clicked and the arrow illuminates).
I borrowed a jack and stands and in total stealth I raised the vehicle, and had my wife activate the OD switch. I had voltage AT the solenoid, and the potential at the valve body was ZERO, indicating a good ground. So, my valve was BAD after-all (actually better than a bad transmission).
So, while I would have liked to torn into mine as you did yours, I ended up borrowing a Dremel, and bought a mandrel and some small cut-off wheels and opened a path between the fluid passages, and after cleaning the valve well w/ brake cleaner, replaced the vale w/o the small O-Ring, and a tad of silicone gasket maker on the large one (since I didn't have access to a new one), and the OD is, of course, working perfectly, and I have no leaks (another HOA violation, of course; even washing your car results in an "unauthorized liquid discharge" fine).
The one strange thing is that the first time I had the valve off, not a DROP of trans fluid came out (despite the fact the OD had been working up until the day before removal), but this time a LOT came out. In any case, the OD now works, and we can drive the car on the Freeway.
The best part is that we didn't get fined by the HOA. Our son lives in another HOA 10min away, and the "Board" recently changed the "acceptable" colors for home in the subdivision, so he received a notice that he had until Oct 1st to re-paint his house in one of the new colors or be fined $100 per month until he presented bills for the new paint change. The new color closest to his present color is almost indistinguishable from his present color by MY eye at least, so I guess compared to that even a $25 fine for working on my car in our carport (a 3-sided garage w/ no door) would have been cheap, I guess. GOD, I hate HOAs! But I love the Volvo.
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