etm 1999 s80 t6 geartronic symtoms

**les & reilly** · Friday 1st August 2008, 10:49

can anyone tell me this;
i have rand volvo customer relations regarding the etm issue, my car hasnt had the etm clean and software upgrade done.

i am having problems with the geartronic; there is only one forward gear, maximum speed 20mph then it jumps out of gear.

i am wondering if this is the etm issue, of which volvo will do free, or if i will be stung with a bill if it isnt the etm.

can i rebuild the etm by replacing the worn "tracks" and "brushes" at either end of the etm?

any feedback would be most welcome, as i have a lovely s80 t6 just sitting in my driveway. it is a second car and i do not have the finances to throw at it to put it right if i had to pay

**Rufe** · Friday 1st August 2008, 11:17

The fault does not sound related to the ETM mate unfortunately. I have never heard of gearboxes playing up because of the etm. You would need it checked it out at a dealers to be sure of what is the problem, but there are solenoids inside the box that i have heard causing similar problems i believe, but its not going to be a small job to get at them. There may be DTC's stored though, which would be the first place to start.

In answer to your other question, the Etm's do not have any servicebale parts, though generally the clean out is enough, providing that the upgraded software is applied to the car too.

**readview** · Friday 1st August 2008, 12:27

Rufe is correct i'm afraid,the geartronic problem is not going to be a connected issue,we break and repair volvo's and the geartronic boxes sell as soon as they come in,it is a common problem.Replacing the valve body in the box usually does the trick,but these are iro £1300.First thing to do is have it scanned though and see what it's got to say for itself.

**lance** · Friday 1st August 2008, 13:18

The problem with these cars is Volvo tried to be to clever to soon 18 computers and 3 controling the geartronic you could spend a grand striping the gearbox and find nothing mechanically wrong! I had one with conficted computers and it was without doubt the best crap car ive ever owned I returned it to the dealer after 8 weeks and only 2 weeks of being able to use the rest of the time having major work which luckily cost me nothing! Shame really has anyone ever put a completly different box to one of these engines? Again get the fault codes read and prepare for some high bills.

**les & reilly** · Friday 1st August 2008, 20:50

when i first looked for the fault i found a broken earth wire in the loom going to the gearbox internals.
fixed it and it was still the same. it seems it is stuck in limp home mode. today i have found something different, when i removed the etm, there was only half a gasket between the etm and the manifold. and by the looks of things there was signs of air leak where the gasket should of been.

would this cause my autobox to only have one forward gear??

anyone?

**readview** · Saturday 2nd August 2008, 09:57

Provided the engine fault still allows the motor to rev up past the point where it would normally change gear in to second then i cant see any connection between the two problems i'm afraid.

**wegal** · Monday 4th August 2008, 16:25

Really doesnt sound like an ETM issue, sounds like a shafted gearbox, limp mode wont stop it changing gear, it just makes the car basically undrivable, when mine drops into limp trying to get it above 30 is impossible, but it does change gear ( mines also a gear tronic ) Try running the box in manual mode and see if you can control the gears that way, if not then i would suggest that there is a major fault with the box.

How long have you had it and what milage is on it ? If you just got it from a dealer you might have comeback against them. If it has full volvo service history you might get some kind of deal on a new box from volvo, you will have to whinge loud but they might coff up something towards it, seeing as its going to be expensive then anything would help i guess.

**les & reilly** · Thursday 7th August 2008, 22:53

got the car to dealers today, they put it on their diagnostics machine, cleared the codes and tested it. they say its stuck in 1st gear and it needs the abs module.
funny they say this, because i re soldered all the usual joints which go, but on inspection i saw a hairline crack on one of the 16 pin microchips.