XC70 will hardly move when cold, wont move after 1 minute. Rookie here HELP PLEASE!

[volvoxcrowley]

Hi All

I am a newbie to Volvo. I recently purchased an XC70 for my wife. I knew about the trans issues but this one felt ok. I guess I decided to 'jump in' anyways. 2 months later, boom. It happened. My pregnant wife was driving back from work in Boston and the transmission stopped working. As if it was in neutral. All gears. Didnt matter if auto or gear selector. And this happened right in the middle of busy hour in a busy 2 lane route. Needless to say, I had to get it towed...and yes, the cop also gave her a ticket.

In any case, here are the events:

She was driving from work when the "Service Due" light came on. The day before she said the trans was shifting 'funny' as in long shift times.

When coming from work, the trans suddenly stopped working. As if someone disconnected the gear shifter. Nothing. Nada.

The car gets towed to my house. I am a BMW tech and have some technical knowledge.

The next day, I get in it to put it in my garage. I did not warm it up. I started the wagon, shifted to D and it moved into the garage. I let it run for a bit.

Then 10 mins later, I tried shifting and the trans is now gone. No movement. I still cycled through the gears anyways to check the level (even though that may not be doing anything with the gears)

I checked the level and it is about 2 inches PAST the hot.

Now, I don't know if that is because the gears are not being engaged and the fluid never got any temp, or if it is in reality overfilled.

I tried 2 hrs later. Turned on the car, shift to D and moves. After it 'warms' up for a little, trans is gone again.


Any ideas? Trans gone? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you all

[Astro14]

So, "service due" is a simple counter - 7,500 miles or 12 months. It doesn't indicate anything else. Easily reset (after you rotate the tires and change the oil, of course...).

The "shifting funny" is the clue - what year is your XC? 2001 and 2002 had a high failure rate and most, but not all, have been repaired or rebuilt by now.

The fluid level must be checked with the engine idling ( you didn't say, but was it idling?) on dead level ground. It's very sensitive to the car being level and the temperature of the fluid. If the fluid is cold, the engine is idling, and the indicated level is past the hot line, you're way overfilled. Correct the level first. My recommendation: head over to Toyota, buy 4 QTs of Toyota T-IV fluid, get your courtesy discount for being a tech, it'll be about $5/QT. Then, drain out what's in there, examine the color and refill with 3.25 quarts - that'll get you close. The complete range from top to bottom on the cold, for example, represents 200 ml, so add carefully to bring it up to the proper level.

IF the fluid was way off, that might explain it.

If the fluid was burnt (likely) that's due to slippage, and new fluid may help.

The transmission is sensitive to fluid temperature, particularly as it wears. If the fluid is old, and the viscosity has sheared, it won't develop enough pressure when hot (and therefore, thin) to operate teh transmission, and you'll get slow shifts. When the fluid is cold, even if worn, it will develop more pressure.

So, transmission problems always manifest themselves first when the fluid is hot...

In your case, the poor shift quality has likely been there for quite a while. I suspect your fluid will be brown and full of particles. A bit of fresh fluid will help. A complete flush might help more.

But get the level correctly set and check the fluid condition first, then let's see where you are.

cheers,
Astro

[howardc64]

Saw an XC70 with exact same symptom awhile back. Moved a little after sitting a coupe of days and then no gears again. We also heard noises that are likely the ATF pump aerating without getting enough ATF.

Called Level10 transmission (pretty expert on rebuilding this tranny) and they said its caused by an internal filter screen getting clogged. After sitting for awhile, debris falls off the screen and fluid can circulate again. Only to clog again shortly after.

When I pulled the ATF dipstick on this car, ATF had debris particles on it.

So pull the dipstick and check the ATF condition, listen to hear if any noises in the tranny while car is idling or put in D. Per Astro14, check ATF level (level only correct when engine is idling) and if full, you can certainly do the low cost effort of flush the ATF to see if it will get better. But I would guess you are probably looking at a tranny rebuild/replacement.

[JRL]

He said a 2001 and I would assume high miles
You can do all of the above or save your money for a rebuild as it's SHOT!