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1993 Volvo 240 automatic won?t shift into 4th gear

J

Jressman

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2015
My 1993 Volvo 240 with 210k won?t shift into 4th gear all of a sudden. I checked the OD relay and it seems good. Makes a clicking sound when the button is pressed on the shifter and the arrow light goes on and off. I think it may be my OD solenoid on the gearbox. Anyway to test this? What?s the symptoms of a bad OD solenoid? If it?s faulty would I be better off just using the bypass plate from IPD? Is there anyway I can bypass it right away to be able to get into 4th gear.
 
You can grind a channel in the dead solenoid to bypass it and always have 4th gear. You won't be able to lock it out with the button, though
 
The bypass plate works great or you can grind a channel in the o.d. solenoid it's self. I would try grinding the solenoid,I could never get the plate to seal and always had a small leak, I removed the cross member and let the trans down as far as possible for the max amount of working room clean as best as you can before you pull the parts off, to keep crap from getting in the holes and keep the mounting surface itself clean. If you live in the rust belt my cross member ended up being pretty bad and I had to use big washers to help keep it up, nows a good time to do that rear trans mount and possibly the mid-ship bearing and rubber on the prop-shaft. I think volvo may have used some type of assembly grease as I have had to pound standard 6-points sockets onto some of the bolts but never had any break off
 
Yeah take the solenoid off and you can just take out the inner round rubber washer and put back and it will shift into fourth, better to grind little channel to make sure it will. Also go down to ACe hardware and buy new outer bigger round rubber washer and replace that one. Then it won't leak.... It has a round channel that it rides in so easy to get the right size. The old ones are crushed and hard so they tend to leak if you take them apart.
 
Or just fix it right so the car operates as designed...

Make sure a test lamp illuminates when connected between a disconnected solenoid wire and ground. The wiring may be bad down there.
 
I just fixed the broken wiring on my friends 92 244 today. First the fuse was bad a few weeks ago so he thought he fixed it. Then he had no overdrive yesterday. The wiring was all decayed from the shifter hole to the solenoid. Had to run a new piece of wire to the solenoid.

If this is what is wrong. Be sure to use heatshrink over the connections and a piece of wiring loom over the replacement wire will help it last awhile. Inside the car under the shifter cover the wire is a white wire that goes through a grommet on the front of the shifter box. Be sure to leave slack for driveline movement and dangle the wire over the top of the trans so it stays out of the way of the shifter lever. The wiring will turn around and goe through a small bracket that holds the wire for the last section so it is out of the way of the shifter lever and goes to the solenoid.
 
I had the car on ramps and took a stab at it yesterday. No way I can get my 12mm wrench up there. Keeps hitting the trans tunnel. Maybe if I jack it instead of ramps the engine/trans will day enough to gain clearance. I am thinking about getting crowfoot wrenches to put on a ratchet and grab the bolts from below. If I take off just the trans cross member, will it sag enough to gain access to those bolts better? Would this be the only thing to remove? Leave the mount connected? I?d imagine I would have to use a jack to raise the transmission to reinstall the crossmember? I?m in Massachusetts and my cross member is rusted af.
 
I've struggled with those two bolts before....

Instead of bolt turnin' , there is a connector for the wire. Unplug and test for 12v/ current.

At the shop, on a lift, I would probably lower the trans carefully with a screw jack.

Have a helper click the button and feel for solenoid movement/click=some voltage getting to it. Or work inside the vehicle and check for 12v on the wire.

Another tool idea...swing 1/4 drive stubby ratchet.
 
I like the stock setup with the switch better. It lets you turn off overdrive when you are driving around town and not going over about 50mph. The overdrive tends to shift in and out a lot when you are driving in the 40-50mph zone and the switch lets you stop that silliness. It's just how the setup is and the hunting won't happen once you get up to freeway speeds of 55mph or more. But Volvo knew that 40-50mph was a common speed zone to drive in and gave you the means to stop the hunting for the right gear.

Remember this isn't a microproccessor controlled automatic.
 
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