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AW70 Shifting Issues

I weep for you and what you consider heat:-P
Re-flow the solders in the OD Relay as a first step.
If that don't get it I would cut a groove in the old solenoid for perma-OD and send it for the time being.
 
kyote said:
I weep for you and what you consider heat:-P
Re-flow the solders in the OD Relay as a first step.
If that don't get it I would cut a groove in the old solenoid for perma-OD and send it for the time being.
Click to expand...

I love the heat - its the humidity they can keep. My Dad's family was from the Alabama side of the bayou, so although used to it.....still dont like it. And when you're sentenced to an area that has 3 months of nice weather and 9 months of crap, doesn't matter much anyways. lol

Found 9 spare relays including an NOS Volvo in the bag. New relay works perfect. Took it for a spin - was almost up to operating temp and again, wouldn't shift into second. After a couple trips around the block, it dropped into second, then 3rd and was dandy. Went around the neighborhood about 10-12 miles - maybe 30 min, shifted great - very smooth. Cable I'm sure is still off a tad - drops into 3rd around 40-43. Still didn't get into OD. Stopped and got something cold and when I came out, we're back to 1st only. I'm out of answers.

There's a shop that has a machine to mount a trans to and run it through all gears out of the car, but admit they know nothing of an AW. :roll:

(and it doesn't need a new radiator - NOS all metal Nissens is <500 miles old).
 
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Hmmm, 40-43 is when it should be dropping into OD. Actually lower, say around 35 mph. 2-3 shift is usually around 20-25 mph. I'd be tempted to pop the orange cap off the end of the cable and spray some chain & cable lube into the kickdown cable sheath. It almost sounds like it's binding when you're accelerating. One thing you could try is disconnecting the kickdown cable and drive it around. It will want to upshift very quickly, but at least, you can see if it'll go into OD.
 
Yep - thought it felt a little high. The cable looks newer - no cracks and is very loose in the sheathing (I've had the bad ones before). Haven't disconnected the cable yet - did the first day and it still never came out of first. Going to drive it some more this evening when it cools down a bit. A local trans shop I talked to today that actually does foreign thought it might be the governor. Dunno. I told the guy when its shifting normally again I'll bring it over.

I guess this trans many years ago had a shifting issue (nothing like this - would shift late sometimes from 2-3), and was told it was a sticking valve body. Wasn't cheap but apparently fixed it and never had an issue since sitting for 8-10 months.
 
15A said:
(and it doesn't need a new radiator - NOS all metal Nissens is <500 miles old).
Click to expand...

Could be it isn't the mileage or brand name that kills the cooler integrity as often as the guy turning the wrench on installation. V8 veggie juice? Check that new royal flush in a few weeks for the presence of ethylene glycol.
 
cleanflametrap said:
Could be it isn't the mileage or brand name that kills the cooler integrity as often as the guy turning the wrench on installation. V8 veggie juice? Check that new royal flush in a few weeks for the presence of ethylene glycol.
Click to expand...


I guess you missed it that it is an all metal radiator. It would be incredibly hard to damage the trans cooler in an all metal radiator. The cooler fittings are soldered to the tank.
 
cleanflametrap said:
Could be it isn't the mileage or brand name that kills the cooler integrity as often as the guy turning the wrench on installation. V8 veggie juice? Check that new royal flush in a few weeks for the presence of ethylene glycol.
Click to expand...

V8 juice as a reference to its opacity. It was red but not clear.

There's nothing wrong with the radiator. :roll:
 
Ok....from what I have read of similar situations, info from a trans shop who is familiar with these and the way its acting, I'm thinking this trans' issues are the check balls (rubber or plastic) that are known to erode and get stuck. Started out today and it wouldn't shift to 2nd. Before I could drop it into L2, then back into D and it would shift. This time, went into N, then back into D and it immediately began shifting flawlessly. Go figure.

I have another very low mileage AW to use if need be, but at this point I have nothing to lose. I know guys on here have messed with these - can the valve body be removed in the car without pulling the trans? Or is it just easier to do it on a stand?

Thanks.
 
After doing the kickdown cable in my wagon I don't see any reason why you couldn't pull the valve body with the transmission in the car, it would just be messy.
 
15A said:
Ok....from what I have read of similar situations, info from a trans shop who is familiar with these and the way its acting, I'm thinking this trans' issues are the check balls (rubber or plastic) that are known to erode and get stuck. Started out today and it wouldn't shift to 2nd. Before I could drop it into L2, then back into D and it would shift. This time, went into N, then back into D and it immediately began shifting flawlessly. Go figure.

I have another very low mileage AW to use if need be, but at this point I have nothing to lose. I know guys on here have messed with these - can the valve body be removed in the car without pulling the trans? Or is it just easier to do it on a stand?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Yes, it can be removed in the car. That's how most of the accumulator mods are done by people on this board.
 
It’s not so much that the check balls get stuck per-se as strait up dissolve on the cold weather cars Midwest / New England cars and wind up in the throttle valve (since that's where pressure is regulated and can starve necessary functions first after the pump in most cases) and make the trans shift poorly, particularly on the cold weather cars that sit or when the fluid is thicker on a cold morning.

Symptoms vary, but very delayed and inconsistent/unwillingness to get out of 1st gear or crisply complete the shift(s) is common enough.

You can swap/service the valve body/'control unit' (as Volvo calls it) with the trans in the car, yes.

As long as it wasn’t left that way too long or flogged in its weakened condition. it probably didn’t smoke a clutch or the shaft.

Haven’t had to catch this that many times on the aw, but it happens.
Fixable at low cost if caught in time. Clean tear down table to let the control unit drip and new check balls and back to working again.
Don’t hurry, keep everything clean and in order.

As to OD, late 940s finally got a Toyota/Denso OD solenoid that actually works as to various Toyotas (no bullet terminal on those though IIRC...I forget).
While the control unit is out to can take the solenoid off as well as the pressure port deal by it and blow solvent-air thru.
Don’t let crap from the trans tunnel fall back into the solenoid holes.
Had to do that as well on really dirty AW that was acting up but wasn't smoked otherwise.

No fun under the car...had to do that a few times too.
Had to do that and the governor and few odd repairs and blocked passages on otherwise viable/not smoked aws. Still way less heavy lifting to leave The trans in the car and no so bad I’d you aren’t a total
meat head and can actually diagnose it right and chase the dirt out.

I've just re-used screen filters and brushed them out and carefully with the nylon solvent brush re-used screen gaskets and pan gaskets.

It’s a '92 so last year of the tailshaft bushing by the governor there.
Much less of a pain if you have the spring finger tool for that job.
Volvo had their own extension housing that doesn’t make use of the oil pressure fed hole in the bushing as Toyota did.

Pretty much everything Volvo did to adapt what was a real nice japanese copy of a borg-Warner 03 family trans is total ****.
Trans is a pretty trouble free good design.
OD and torque converter lockup functions (if equipped) could be better if anything.

Volvo put that trans in about the heaviest cars with the most power, so they're maybe a little overworked behind a B280E or 780 with Turbo + where other manufactures stepped up a little to bigger & better rather than just using the same basic unit and adding a few clutches...
...that said you kinda want the auto in volvo land of the two for strength and/or longevity often times.

Trans mount is ****.
OD solenoid is ****.
OD Relay is ****.
Dipstick tube a pain to work around (pan just slides off the dipstick tube which is o-ringed in the japanese cars/ jimbo-Elroy often molests the flare fitting/few come off smoothly anymore.
Trans mount is jell-O under many leak points
Tail housing (vol-void specific) doesn’t oil the bushing.
Linkage is janky As is neutral safety solenoid in later shifter boxes/lever and od wiring/handle/knob wears out.
Cooling lines crack/leak at bellhousing from bad motor mounts and drip on downpipe for that lovely smell.
Cooler line fittings annoying to tighten quickly & o-rings shrink/leak at trans.
Pan only has one magnet instead of 2 like the japanese cars had on either side of filter.
Torque converter bolts large, stubby and fine thread instead of small and easily accessible thru access window/starter hole like the japanese cars to zap off quickly with a socket...Volvo usually there is neither clearance for a socket nor even a “Quality” (such as that’s a thing in modern China metal) slim profile reversible offset ratcheting wrench....torture yourself a little bit at a time with a box end wrench that fits.

At least the Volvo dealer supplied pan gasket rubbed with a little white lithium grease for future screen cleanings &/or control unit service is a quality piece that would often seal reliably and allow several uses...or always used to be...
 
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Spoke to the local old timer AW guru and he basically told me what it was doing. Said it was stuck pistons from sitting and thats common (especially if they sit dry). Said to get a bottle of LubeGard - dump it in and put 200 miles on it, then flush the whole system again. I have too many other cars in line here so cant drive it that much, but did manage to put about 40 on it yesterday and it was 80-90% better right out of the gate. OD and all is working again, but can tell the KD cable is off. Otherwise, it seems to be coming around very nice.

I figured it had to be something minor as miles are low, never towed, ATF wasn't brunt or sludge and it was a reliable DD for 20+ yrs to act like this after just sitting.
 
^good to hear.

Brought back some where they weren't smoked/burnt from fluid starvation/delayed shifts for long.

But the control unit did have to come out and be cleaned a bit more than just cleaning the screen and pumping them down a few times and flush/filtering on the cooling lines in-between once in a while. Pain, but doable and didn't have to remove or junk a heavy otherwise perfectly good trans.

In a general sense, the autos do tend to fare better/generally pretty well if stored wet (especially compared to dry clutch manual more likely to have condensation/rust issues without the detergent filled thin fluid everywhere all nicely inside it when sitting), and when installed, pan removed, screen cleaned a bunch/pumped down as much as possible to drain the torque converter as the dirt is all spread out in the fluid.

The ATF tends to stay around everything about as it ever was, but if you get a big bunch of ick falling off everything all at once when first driven it can clog/go thru the screen and play havoc until you get more fresh and everything moving again/dirt spread thin in the fluid or on the magnet or caught by the screen but not clogging it as it should be in normal operation.

Dissolving check balls are a bit of an odd wild card.
We don't see that all that often in the marine climate here, and on the hot weather cars they don't goo-up in the control unit/throttle valve or the like so much as the whole poor thing overheats the piston o-rings or worse and loses actuation pressure, which makes the clutches or steels slip longer, which results in a cooked/burnt transmission.
Failure rate a lot higher on the hot weather cars.

Valley roads where 2manyturbos lives/little traffic and gloomy/cool is about AW longevity heaven...failure rate mostly due to brutal neglect/abuse or a leak the owner refuses to fix more than anything. Service life when properly serviced very long otherwise.
Torque converter never gets hot without traffic jams/suburban hell-scape sprawl strangling an urban core, sun never hits the pavement.
At least the gloom used to keep people from moving here :lol:

YMMV.
Condolances.
 
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