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auto transmission woows!

Xman

Xman

New member
Joined
Dec 27, 2005
Location
Fort Worth TX
I have a '93 245 with 260,000 miles on it. The transmission started to not shift crisply. Two days later it started to slip. Got so bad it was slipping in all gears. I couldn't make it up a shallow hill and coasted into a parking lot. Car would not move in any gear. However, when the tow truck came, they drove it under its own power up onto the flat bed. Drove it into my driveway when they got to my house. Oil level is good. Oil looks clean. Is my tranny toast or could it be a simple as a clogged filter? The manual recommends fresh oil and filter cleaning every 30K. I typically change oil every 60K and I've never cleaned a filter (this is my 6th Volvo).

I got this car with 200K on it and think the tranny has been out of the car once because there were pieces in the shift linkage that I had to install. I have a spare tranny with 114K. I'm not interested in working on the car two weekends, so if it isn't a clogged filter issue, would rather just swap out for the spare unit.
 
It sounds like it may be an internal issue. You could try a new transmission filter and fluid and see if that helps. It sounds like its rebuild time though :(
 
Most likely going to be O-Rings that are intermittently not sealing.....

Swap the trans for another and be sure that you are done quick. Do the rear main on the engine while you're there.
 
you can do it but you are better off leaving it to someone with experience. i prefer to get my transmissions from the junkyard out of a wrecked car. it would cost me more time/money to rebuild my transmission than it would to get a nice used one.
 
flush and fill (change filter!)..you will need a case and a half of cheap ATF
and a 1/2 case of the good
add 3/4 bottle of LUCAS TRANSFIX and drive it
http://www.lucasoil.com/products/display_products.sd?iid=29&catid=2
if you have access to REAL "diagnostic gauges" you can check pressures ....
go to KJet.org: http://www.k-jet.org/documents/greenbooks/200-series/

download:
TP30578-1 (parts I, II, III
TP30868-2

read up on then process for PRESSURE TESTING

http://www.ipdusa.com/products/4809/105310-automatic-transmission-flush-kit
once you see what you have in this kit download the instructions

transmission work is NOT rocket science...I do *NOT* recommend it for the lay
person (it's messy, rude, DEMANDING of accuracy, often requires special tooling
and DEFINITELY calls for a certain level of experience)...find a fellow fettler
w/the tools and experience that YOU can HELP by doing the cleaning etc... *OR*
pay a pro to do it....
 
Thanks TrickMick! What a find of information. I was just wonder whether I should save the tranny as a project in retirement. Lucky I had a spare tranny already of known origin (saved it from one of my 240s that got totaled 5 years ago).
 
Xman said:
Thanks TrickMick! What a find of information. I was just wonder whether I should save the tranny as a project in retirement. Lucky I had a spare tranny already of known origin (saved it from one of my 240s that got totaled 5 years ago).
Click to expand...

do a flush and fill on the one you "swop in"....by doing a filter kit and getting
as much of the OLD trans fluid out of there that you can...you give yourself a
"better shot" at ending up w/a reliable service item .,... :nod:
FWIW, I filter / flush and fill every 45k miles (there are THREE 199x by 24x
here @ the gearhead ranch and they ALL get that "service rotation"

consider the swop out a good time to add a "tow package" cooler to the trans
fluid line...the increased capacity helps keep the cars on the road longer
(makes the fluid less likely to suffer HEAT DAMAGE....YMMV :oogle:
 
JohnLane said:
Most likely going to be O-Rings that are intermittently not sealing.....

Swap the trans for another and be sure that you are done quick. Do the rear main on the engine while you're there.
Click to expand...


^^ Agree. When the trans heats up, stops working, then, works again when it cools off completely, that is not a plugged filter issue. It is the internal seals that are leaking. BTDT, and wasted 1 1/2 hours and $50 trying to revive the trans by doing a flush/filter change. There was nothing in the filter when I opened the trans up. I have encountered 2 more just like it since. That is the way the AW-7X transmissions act when they are done.
 
2manyturbos said:
^^ Agree. When the trans heats up, stops working, then, works again when it cools off completely, that is not a plugged filter issue. It is the internal seals that are leaking. BTDT, and wasted 1 1/2 hours and $50 trying to revive the trans by doing a flush/filter change. There was nothing in the filter when I opened the trans up. I have encountered 2 more just like it since. That is the way the AW-7X transmissions act when they are done.
Click to expand...

FWIW...... These automagic transmissions are not that hard to have apart and fix!

One MUST have an absolutely spotlessly clean work area when having it apart and assembling it. One must be able to keep track of where every one of those damned balls came from and goes.... They all are there for a reason! The clutches MUST have the right clearance..... You'll get to press out a few bushings.... A lot o-rings and stuff in there....

Certainly not for many.

I've done them and enjoyed the results.......

They can be assembled with more clutches and steels in the clutch packs.... Does nice things for the trans.

From new run it with Mercedes synthetic ATF as they put in the five speed automagic from the '90s to today..... It will last and last. You'll still get to change that ATF and it should have more cooling then they got from the factory.

When the 'Penalty Box' gets an automagic it will get a trans temp gauge. I'm fond of having one in my diesel trucks.
 
Thanks for all the useful comments. I need to look for a transmission cooler. I used to have one for the 740 I had. Wonder if its still around or I scrapped it?
 
Xman said:
Thanks for all the useful comments. I need to look for a transmission cooler. I used to have one for the 740 I had. Wonder if its still around or I scrapped it?
Click to expand...

I'd give it an inline filter too. Couldn't hurt!

Be sure that the cooler is good and clean. Introducing ick via a cooler....... bad!
 
THERE IS NO ''filter'' in there
there is a screen
like any screen you can clean it [brake or carb cleaner]
no need to buy a new one

my 90 740 had the line break in the rad
dumped coolant into the trans [water]
huge pink mess
drop the pan and clean
new atf
one year later
the car will not drive when hot just slips
let it sit and cool it works [sounds like yours]

redrop pan and screen is blocked by clutch bits atf is nasty looking
clean and replace with new atf car drives another 6 months
repeat
now two years after say 20k miles later
trans is banging and sounds like the end is near

drop the pan and look before you pull the trans out or apart
a simple clean and new atf may get more miles
 
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