Transmission valve body and software

[Neil R]

2000 build V70XC (yes the new shape) at 117k miles, and I've just had the dreaded message "Transmission Service Required". Which is slightly annoying in itself; it inevitably is going to mean "Repair" not just a service - it might as well simply flash up a whole row of "£" (or "$") signs.

Initial diagnostic code form my friendly non franchised place was TCM-012B, which relates to the neutral control / neutral stop feature not working - previously noticeable in the car as an occasional stationary lurch as it's trying to do it's neutral selection thing.

Since I know the fluid is good (thanks Gibbons!) my initial thought was to get the neutral stop disabled via software (p/n 30646691, thanks again), which might at least have masked the problem and keep the warning light & message out.

But a slightly sporty drive home revealed lots of other random / hard shifts etc going on - there's still nothing unusual happening when driven leisurely - the former pointing to something more serious.

Lots of digging in an e-bay VADIS CD suggests that its either solenoid SLT or SLS which has failed - the actual VADIS pages seem to have inconsistencies here.

Whatever, the VADIS answer to either a SLT or SLS failure is to replace the full "control sytem". I think this is what plenty of other threads out there refer to as the "valve body" - clarification would be appreciated.

The initial advice from a UK dealer was that this would cost about £1500 (UK).

The slightly more promising news is that a local independent transmission specalist - West Coast Transmissions in Blackpool - has advised that these solenoids *can* be changed - and he did make all the right noises about having done this many times before - and quoted about £580. Watch this space for whether this all works. (One further way I can test him is to confirm he knows about the specialist ATF needed).

At the end of all this, I'll still need to go back to the main dealer to get the light put out, I suspect the adaptive mode reset, and at the same time it would make sense to get the latest software.

On the software side there's lots out there recently which mentions the general TCM upgrade 30677036. Anyone know if this effectively also captures the former neutral control deletion in 30646691? - or should I ask for both?

And if anyone out there could point me to a copy of TNN-43-46, which I think covers the valve body I'd be most appreciative.

Thanks,

Neil R

[RedXC]

Isn't a SLS is a solenoid? We have one XC in the shop with the same "transmission service required", have a DTC of a bad SLS solenoid.

[Neil R]

Yes SLS and SLT are both solenoids - sorry thought I'd made that clear.

My VADIS copy obviously wasn't hooked up, but when digging further down the CD's diagnosis pages it changes from discussing SLS as the problem to the SLT solenoid - all very confusing!

There are three of this (larger) solenoid type in all, plus the smaller numbered ones (S1 to S5?), and it sounds like my repair centre typically changes all 3 as a pack, so I didn't dig any futher.

Car in today simply to confirm it's the same code that's returned, and booked in for the repair itself Thurs next week. Fingers crossed!

HTH,

Neil

[Neil R]

Just thought I'd add an update in case it helps anyone else.

I had the 3 larger valve-body solenoids (SLS, SLT and S??) replaced last Thursday at West Coast Transmissions in Blackpool (UK). And yes they were aware of the specialist ATF needed; they clearly knew what they were doing! Costs were £300 plus 17.5% tax for the parts, £60 plus tax for the oil and I think £220 plus tax for the labour. Around £680 all in. The car was kept overnight purely because they needed the valve-body cover-plate's sealant to set properly before replacing the fluid. I must admit I was quite surprised at the level of engineering in each solenoid - I had vaguely expected to see something more like a simple on/off device - but on inspection it's a much more complex device which I now assume controls many permutations of fluid paths - essentially it's a complex hydraulic valve.

No change was noticed immediately following this work, but to be honest I only drove a few miles and it was mostly driving ok before then anyhow.

Went to the main dealer this morning (Stratstone in Preston) for the two software updates mentioned in my first post. Plus a reset of the fault codes, the ATF change counter and the adaptive learning mode. No quibbles regarding doing the work, and about one hour in total for £70. Nothing was mentioned about them needing to drive the car to do the adaption, and I've not seen any of the flashing triangle indications mentioned in the Service Bulletin posted elsewhere on this site. So I must admit to being a bit unsure what the reset of this adaption has done for me (if indeed they have done it properly).

Now it's just a case of watch this space to see if the problem has gone. Only about 30 miles done so far, and so far so good, but I have to be realistic about this still being too early to draw final conclusions. The biggest difference noted so far is the lack of anything happening when stationary (having deleted the neutral control), which is going to take some getting used to - in a nice way!

Neil


FYI - £1 equates to approx $1.89