Transmission on 2001 XC70

[pjk170]

Hi,

I have a 2001 XC70 automatic with 115K on it and my transmission has really started to act up on me. I'm going to try to explain this as clearly as possible so please bear with me. The transmission seems to "slip" so when I have the car in reverse and I shift to Drive, it takes about 1-2 seconds for the gear to "catch." This can also occur when the car shifts from 1st to 2nd and the car seems to "jump." This is noticeably bad when I'm in stop and go traffic. Sometimes it even goes into a "limp home" mode where the gear display on the dashboard goes from "D" to "-".

My regular mechanic suggested to buy a brand new transmission from Volvo. With labor he would charge about $5K.

I brought the car to a transmission shop and he suggested I rebuild the transmission. He mentioned that since I have the Japanese transmission it may be costly and the final price depends on whether he has to replace the valve body or not....it could range from $2K to $3200.

I would love to keep the car for the long haul so I'm unsure what to do. Would a rebuilt transmission have a good probability of reaching 250,000 miles? Is there a big tradeoff from going for a brand new tranny vs a rebuild?

I tried searching around for an answer but couldn't find one so I decided to post this. Thanks in advance for any help.

[JRL]

You could not have searched, there are MANY posts about 2001 trannies.
You did not do your homework, 90% of them blow up for several reasons.

Here's one.... 02s are about the same
http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?15297-2002-XC70-Trans
Another:
http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?13371-01-and-02-xc70-owners-only-when-did-your-transmission-die

[Astro14]

There are no brand new transmissions for this car. Volvo sells rebuilds as well, but they're fully rebuilt, all the parts replaced. It's a good rebuild.

I would not bother with a trans shop unless they replaced the valve body. The valve body is the culprit on many of these...and I have NO idea what this guy meant by "the Japanese transmission"...sure, it's built by Aisin (a Toyota division), but that's the only trans that comes in the XC...so it's "the Japanese" as opposed to???

A good rebuild could go that kind of distance, but it has to have the fluid changed with some regularity, a filter would be nice as well.

From your description, yours is toast...

[FrostyV70XC]

You could not have searched, there are MANY posts about 2001 trannies.
You did not do your homework, 90% of them blow up for several reasons.

Here's one.... 02s are about the same
http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?15297-2002-XC70-Trans
Another:
http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?13371-01-and-02-xc70-owners-only-when-did-your-transmission-die

Well the first transmission that you refer to JRL did not blow up because of a malfunction, it was sabotaged, and the hole story behind it makes one wonder how many have suffered the same or similar fate.

[dfuerst]

Well the first transmission that you refer to JRL did not blow up because of a malfunction, it was sabotaged, and the hole story behind it makes one wonder how many have suffered the same or similar fate.

He was alluding to the fact that you can't spit within this forum without hitting an 01/02 bad tranny post. They are all over. The tranny is junk and should have been recalled.

Go with an independent shop, but I would suggest shopping around (the one you quote sounds like a jerk),

Darren