Who Mends Autos?

[v70torslanda]

Me slushbox is buggered! Massive slip/flaring between 2nd & 3rd.

Changed the fluid - yes, we got the right stuff - which improved things for a while but only 8 weeks later it's as bad as ever.

Is it worth another fluid change? Does it need the software reloading or the 'adaptation' again? Do I really need to spend 2 grand on a refurb?

Given that the car is worth around 3 - 3.5 I'm tempted to bin it and get something newer. Volvo like to tell you how the average life of one of their cars is around 18 years. Well that's great but I doubt that their attitude to maintenance and customers over the last decade has done them any favours.

When I worked for Volvo these AW50 boxes had no scheduled maintenance, not even fluid changes. Now I'm told that my trans has been living on borrowed time and I've been 'lucky' to get 137k.

So the options as I see it.

1. Stuff it. Chop it in for a Passat and more debt.
2. Change the fluid again, reload the software, carry out the 'adaptation process' and fingers crossed.
3. Hand the car over to someone to rebuild the trans and change the valve body. Who can I trust?
4. Get an exchange trans from Volvo. Highly unlikely. Can't/won't afford it and the cost of the unit alone is more than the chuffing car is worth.

Which one?

[Al115]

Sorry to be irritating, but what's the car / year?

[claymore]

Option 5:
Find a box from a breakers.

[claymore]

Sorry to be irritating, but what's the car / year?

At a guess

03 V70 D5 SE

[v70torslanda]

At a guess

03 V70 D5 SE

You beat me to it!

Don't want a box from a breakers. I'm pretty certain I'd buy the same problems . . .

[Jaseb77]

3. Hand the car over to someone to rebuild the trans and change the valve body. Who can I trust?


I have went down this road before, and after £1800 lighter ended up with a juddering box, which "worked" but was no way like it orginally was.

Then fitted a replacement and it was still rubbish.

put some fluid in it and Trade it

[jbconno]

If you have the space/time why not break it ?

[v70torslanda]

3. Hand the car over to someone to rebuild the trans and change the valve body. Who can I trust?

I have went down this road before, and after £1800 lighter ended up with a juddering box, which "worked" but was no way like it orginally was.

Then fitted a replacement and it was still rubbish.

put some fluid in it and Trade it

That's what I am worried about. I honestly hoped that I'd be able to get a few more years from the car after I finished paying for it. Now it seems increasingly likely I'm going to have to chop it. A*se!

[dave stew]

No, I think a few more days' patience. There must be a reputable auto box specialist out there. Maybe post this onto the 'general' section as non-P2's have auto boxes too!

[v70torslanda]

No, I think a few more days' patience. There must be a reputable auto box specialist out there. Maybe post this onto the 'general' section as non-P2's have auto boxes too!

Wise words. Re-posted in General

Now investigating the possibility of a new valve body from here (http://www.sussexautos.co.uk/aisin-transmissions.php).

Not a cheap job but lots cheaper than handing over the car and 2 grand and not knowing what's been done to it!


*** OUCH! ***

Just taken a call from Volvo dealer in Bradford. I priced the valve body for comparson.

Thirteen Hundred Bloody Quid ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Thanks a bunch.

Volvo you are a bunch of bleedin' bandits and I hate you! If this had been a Toyota or GM or a Renault there would have been a fluid change/maintenance regime FOR THE SAME GEARBOX which I would have followed and would not now have this problem.

If it is any consolation to you I shall NEVER buy another Volvo.

[Flatout Phil]

Wise words. Re-posted in General

Now investigating the possibility of a new valve body from here (http://www.sussexautos.co.uk/aisin-transmissions.php).

Not a cheap job but lots cheaper than handing over the car and 2 grand and not knowing what's been done to it!


*** OUCH! ***

Just taken a call from Volvo dealer in Bradford. I priced the valve body for comparson.

Thirteen Hundred Bloody Quid ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Thanks a bunch.

Volvo you are a bunch of bleedin' bandits and I hate you! If this had been a Toyota or GM or a Renault there would have been a fluid change/maintenance regime FOR THE SAME GEARBOX which I would have followed and would not now have this problem.

If it is any consolation to you I shall NEVER buy another Volvo.

That is a bit of a choker. It is absolutely the one thing that puts me off going beyond 850. The same with my Honda, I bought it old so that there was a remote possibility it could be fixed by me or an independent. I have met a few P2 V70 owners with horror stories - enough to put me off the V70R in Flash Green that one forum member is selling. Or as Rufe put it, he sells a transfer box a week. Not good.

On the Honda it has a dual-pump diff system that uses oil but was left off the Honda service schedule! So at 80,000 all are dry and grinding away on sharp turns. That said, although mine was as dry as a witches t*t when I got it, one refill and all works perfectly.

So condolences. But don't give up on Volvos!

[Porcine_Aviator]

Wise words. Re-posted in General

Now investigating the possibility of a new valve body from here (http://www.sussexautos.co.uk/aisin-transmissions.php).

Not a cheap job but lots cheaper than handing over the car and 2 grand and not knowing what's been done to it!


*** OUCH! ***

Just taken a call from Volvo dealer in Bradford. I priced the valve body for comparson.

Thirteen Hundred Bloody Quid ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Thanks a bunch.

Volvo you are a bunch of bleedin' bandits and I hate you! If this had been a Toyota or GM or a Renault there would have been a fluid change/maintenance regime FOR THE SAME GEARBOX which I would have followed and would not now have this problem.

If it is any consolation to you I shall NEVER buy another Volvo.

The trouble is that Volvo have you by the short hairs. I'm sorry to say their after sales is a joke.

I know just what you're going through after the fiasco we had with Christine which as you know is a V70 T5.

We did get a box from a breaker, even if it took the towrag three months to deliver it. But it's worked without a problem since it went in. See if you can find a low milage one and get a local garage to fit it.

It maybe worth staying away from a Volvo dealers and looking for an indie who has some experience with 4x4s

[v70torslanda]

Bump & resurrection time.

Feckin' autobox has thrown the 'Transmission Service Required' message, dropped into limp and lit the yellow triangle.

Going to Trevor Burgess tomorrow - today - to see about fault code read then play Russian-sodding-roulette and decide all over again whether to keep it or chop it.

Faggin' bastidge!

[Al115]

Arse.

What did you do to get it back on the road last time?

[v70torslanda]

Dropped tthe fluid and flushed the box thru the cooler. Early April I had the TCM software reloaded which seriously improved the shift but didn't eradicate the 2/3 flare.

Strangely, since the fault message, the gearbox seems more responsive. Wierd.

[v70torslanda]

Fault codes read. Not locking up/transmission slippage.

Option 1. New gearbox. Only thru Volvo. More than the car's worth.

Option 2. Used gearbox. Huge gamble. Going to be 1200 quid or thereabouts. Might work, might not. Might be ok for 6 months, might not even reverse off the ramp.

Option 3. Reset fault codes and trade the bugger.

Three guesses where I'm off this afternoon . . .

. . . and trust me when I say it won't be a Volvo.

[sonic-1]

well all this has put me off a p2 !!!!! oh well vw not much better at the mo , have a new vw van thats had more new parts than all my cars put together in the last couple of month !!!! not to mention the new softwhere thats has to be loaded each week once it throws a hissy fit

[t5 stealth]

how much fluid did you flush out or through it,
i did my bosses p2d5 box a couple of weeks ago or so,
after a long case of drain,fill,run,drain,fill,run,you get the picture,
went through about 15 litres of fluid i think,maybe more,
every flush drained out realy dark/black oil,everytime it was filled and run then drained it got clearer every time,
after 4 or so flushes it started coming out red.........and the box was 10 times better...........well as good as an auto can be lol.it will never be a manual :)
once you drain about 3 litres from the sump then refill with 3 litres,
then run the car through the gears,you dont have to drive it,
just make sure it selects all the gears,then drain,then fill ,then do same again and again etc.

[t5 stealth]

well all this has put me off a p2 !!!!! oh well vw not much better at the mo , have a new vw van thats had more new parts than all my cars put together in the last couple of month !!!! not to mention the new softwhere thats has to be loaded each week once it throws a hissy fit

and to add insult to your injury,vws suffer with weak gearboxes too...lol.

[andyb1375]

Me slushbox is buggered! Massive slip/flaring between 2nd & 3rd.

Changed the fluid - yes, we got the right stuff - which improved things for a while but only 8 weeks later it's as bad as ever.

Is it worth another fluid change? Does it need the software reloading or the 'adaptation' again? Do I really need to spend 2 grand on a refurb?

Given that the car is worth around 3 - 3.5 I'm tempted to bin it and get something newer. Volvo like to tell you how the average life of one of their cars is around 18 years. Well that's great but I doubt that their attitude to maintenance and customers over the last decade has done them any favours.

When I worked for Volvo these AW50 boxes had no scheduled maintenance, not even fluid changes. Now I'm told that my trans has been living on borrowed time and I've been 'lucky' to get 137k.

So the options as I see it.

1. Stuff it. Chop it in for a Passat and more debt.
2. Change the fluid again, reload the software, carry out the 'adaptation process' and fingers crossed.
3. Hand the car over to someone to rebuild the trans and change the valve body. Who can I trust?
4. Get an exchange trans from Volvo. Highly unlikely. Can't/won't afford it and the cost of the unit alone is more than the chuffing car is worth.

Which one?

Hi Buddy

I would suggest that you get a reputable auto gearbox specialist to overhaul it.
I have used a company in Norwich for many auto gearbox overhauls, they may be a bit far from you but I know they have got exchange units.

The Company is:
J.R. DAIN. TRANSMISSION REPAIRS. 45 Whiffler Road, Norwich, NR3 2AW. Telephone: 01603 407372 ...

It may be worth a call.

[v70torslanda]

Nobody, it seems, has ever successfully overhauled one of these.

The internal slippage is clutch wear, you could change the fluid till you were blue in the face and it won't make any difference.

The box is a steaming pile of poo! You can't change the design and 3 litres of fluid is about 270% too little for a 2 ton car. An equivalent Merc uses 7 or 8 litres. Christ! Even a DSG uses 5 and they're crap too!

Having spent the afternoon traipsing around car supermarkets I think I'm going to have to fix it cos in the price range I'm batting in there ain't 'alf some ££££e!

[Masterofmadness]

Try speaking to to Jt automatics , can't give you my overall opinion yet as they are still working on my car but everything seems ok so far

[Liddo]

Jon,

A mate of mine had his P2 T5 Autobox sorted a while ago by a company in the Northwest, I'll get a number and what it cost him if you need it ;)

[v70torslanda]

I don't want to spend 2 grand - I don't even wanna spend 1! - on a car that's nearly 9 years old. I it was a guaranteed fix I'd part with it.

Too much to throw at a maybe.

Going to try and score a trade in deal. :( ##angry

[Masterofmadness]

If you do go down the route of getting it repaired Jt automatics well worth a call. Got my car back today and it's amazing! Smooth, responsive, and working!