New Volvo Owner, Dying Transmission or Bad Electrics in ‘04 XC70

[Xancolt]

I’m new to Volvo’s, bought my XC70 from my uncle. He bought her secondhand, but she’s been well cared for; I also inherited her service records and original Volvo literature from when the original owner bought her new, and I’ve been adding to that folder now myself, doing my best to take care of her on a college grad’s budget. Needless to say, she’s a real Going Jessie, but not without her quirks and share of drama...

When I bought her, my uncle ran me through every issue - leak in the power steering I need to top off every now and then, leak in the washer fluid reservoir, and I’ve discovered a handful of other future repairs. But the biggest thing was the transmission. My uncle told me the transmission could give out tomorrow, or in several years. It has what sounds like a typical issue of the Volvo trannies of this time, that is a bit of a jolt when shifting up from 1st-2nd gear, and a jolt when shifting down from 2nd-1st. It’s not terrible, at first I thought something was really wrong, and it occasionally acts up worse, but nowadays I hardly notice.

Now for the real issue. Yesterday, I had two hours of highway driving ahead of me to get home, all started fine, cool morning (she does better in the cold), we’re up in elevation so have some mountain passes to traverse. On the highway for maybe 5 minutes, and my dash lights up. I get the “Transmission Service Required” message, the warning light, and the check engine light. On top of that, the cruise control is out, the rpms spike and won’t come down, and my gear indicator shows a “-“ rather than my current gear, “D”. I’m panicked, don’t want to get stuck on the side of a mountain, turn off radio and AC so I can listen for any bad sounds, get a feel for how she’s doing. Trying to drive like a granny through these passes, and white knuckle it all the way home. She made it. But I don’t know what this issue is...

Getting off the freeway, there’s no shift down when I stop at a light, no jolt, just stops. When I go to accelerate, very slow to get up to any speed, no shift up, no jolt, dash still lit up. I get home, put her in perk, turn the key, and wait. Restart, still have warning lights, message, gear indicator is okay. I drive her around some more after a few hours, all seems okay, except for warnings. I drive her, shifts, jolts, and all, over to Autozone to have them read the cel code. There’s only one code, p0740, a problem with the torque converter celenoid or something more specific along those lines. It also comes up with handful of other plausible causes for that code, all sound like the issue is electrical rather than transmission failure - bad connections or short circuits, old components. Haven’t done anything since, trying to get a read from others on this.

My theory, there’s a bad connection somewhere, faulty wiring, something electric. If the issue were in the tranny, I’d be in it deeper or at least tell there’s bad stuff getting worse, have more than one error code, but everything else is fine as of now. Oh, another reason I’m blaming the electrics is, I’ve had the “Bulb Failure Day Running Lamp” message and warning light coming up pretty consistently for the past few weeks. Not all the time, sometimes it takes awhile to come on, sometimes it doesn’t come on at all; I took a trip and came back and it didn’t come up for several days. And now with these transmission warnings, it hasn’t come up again.

Long-winded story, what are some thoughts? I appreciate any feedback and experience! Is this as simple as some bad wiring, is that a simple issue, or is this the beginning of the end for my transmission???

[Tanner_M]

My Volvo(2001 XC70) is showing the same error code, though it went from check engine and Transmission service required after going into limp home mode, to slipping badly in maybe 100 miles of driving. I still don't know if the problem is the transmission, or the torque converter solenoid, or something else. I'm not sure where to begin troubleshooting it.

[AKAMick]

My Volvo(2001 XC70) is showing the same error code, though it went from check engine and Transmission service required after going into limp home mode, to slipping badly in maybe 100 miles of driving. I still don't know if the problem is the transmission, or the torque converter solenoid, or something else. I'm not sure where to begin troubleshooting it.

Check ATF level, ATF in good condition?, Problem is the transmission, early XC's suffered from a few AT problems and lack of timely service exacerbate the condition. A slipping condition is bad news, means that it has progressed past a less expensive repair to a full blown expensive rebuild or replacement transmission. But check the ATF level first, most problems begin with neglecting this simple check.

[Xfingers]

Xancolt and Tanner_M, if you want to keep these cars on the road you're gonna have to do some maintenance on the transmissions. Xancolt, it sounds like you've got detailed records. When was the last time the transmission fluid was replaced? Search on the "Gibbons Method" for instructions on flushing your ATF. You'll need about a case of JWS-3309 spec fluid.

I spent a lot of time chasing down a P0740 code. Mine was due to low fluid pressure caused by a worn Valve Body. You can get a new valve body for about $500 but it's a somewhat difficult repair. It took me 3x to do the install correctly (due to carelessness/oversight on my part) and in the process I screwed up another part of the trans. Many others have had success with this repair.

If it was me, first I'd do the Gibbons Method to flush the ATF and then see where I'm at. I'm guessing you guys may need to replace your valve bodies. Keep asking questions. Lots of us have experience with this!

[Xheart]

... But check the ATF level first, most problems begin with neglecting this simple check.

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