Aw55/50sn.l need some advice please help?

**dejanaleksov** · 07-14-2019, 02:59 PM

HI guys,and thanks to all of you forum member,if it weren't for you I will sold this car much earlier,but this forum helped me a lot with this car and that's why I intend to keep it,but now the transmission has started jerking and pinging on up shifts...I have a 2001 V70XC Awd cross country model 2.4t B5244t3 with this strange aisin box aw55-50sn geartronic manufactured 00 Mv, with 130 k miles when I bought it 2016.i know that it has a faulty gearbox in it and a faulty Throttle control module, it fluctuate on idle 650 rpm to 850 rpm sometimes higher.it has 2 to 3 delay and a mild bang into 3 gear,so I changed 3 d&f with mannol 3309.The old atf was never changed,it was dark brown almost black and it smells awful.On the magnetic drain plug there were small amount of clutch shavings or some particles,but only very small microscopic things that were magnetized on the plug not a big metallic parts, something like a small nail in diameter,,and after 300 miles I changed it again and again after another 300miles 3 D&F . also changed the upper mount and the two little ones on the crossbar, and the lower torque rod for the box,the MAF sensor and the idle was beter but still not good idling,I'll try cleaning the throttle plate to see if any improvement. Its a yellow sticker etm.After the change all was good for the winter,and when the summer came after 8k miles. I got the service transmission required on the dash.i was driving a 400miles trip on hot summer day on a hill incline with five guys and a full trunk when the transmission service came out.codes were P1618 and P0740...after that I flush it again now with genuine volvo atf 1161540-640 x 3 jugs from 4L and flushed 12 litres.and again all was good for anothet year when another summer came +40 c here in Europe. So I now have garage delayed shifts double drive engagement after one sec.and harsh R engagement.All IS GOOD WHEN Atf IS COLD FOR THE FIRSTH ONE HOUR OF DRIVING,but after 1 hour putt the gear selector in D and nothing happens like I now suddenly have the neutral and drive option,witch I never had the previous years when I drove the car( very strange because I know 01 has this feature but on this car the feature came after three years of driving the car) it has not been there before,because when I put in D the car moves forward in the previous years owning it,and now its standing still when on traffic light in hot days,when I accelerate it is starting to accelerate ,but there is jerking and like thuging feel( this happens only when hot city driving) and when this happens there is a ringing or pinging sound I guess from the transmission when changing I guess from 2 to 3 or from 3 to 4 in D. Otherwise the car drives fine, there is no updates installed,no b4 servo changed,no valve body or anything changed on this trans. I bought a magnefine in-line filter and a Finn plate oil cooler witch I plan on installing them with another flush and see what is going to happen.the car is for US market driven in new York for 12 years and its in Europe for the last 6 years,now with 156k.miles on the clock.The previous owner said to me that there is no service schedule for the gearbox and everything else is serviced in volvo dealership in USA. Guys please share yours experience and knowledge with me on this one because I ****ing love and hate this car. Not the car, the transmission is the one I hate...thanks in advance and sorry for my English.

**dejanaleksov** · 07-15-2019, 12:33 AM

This is the plate from the transmission

**Xfingers** · 07-15-2019, 06:09 AM

My 02 transmission shifted fine until the ATF warmed up to around 60C as read by my VIDA/DiCE unit. Then I would get terrible bangs making the car undriveable.
The problem in my case was a worn valve body. I made a couple of irreversible mistakes trying to replace it with a new one but many members have done the repair successfully.

There's a good tutorial by Astro14 in the Resources section of this site. I'd provide the link but for some reason it doesn't want to open for me. (Is this a problem that the moderators should investigate?)

**dejanaleksov** · 07-21-2019, 05:53 AM

Originally Posted by Xfingers

My 02 transmission shifted fine until the ATF warmed up to around 60C as read by my VIDA/DiCE unit. Then I would get terrible bangs making the car undriveable.
The problem in my case was a worn valve body. I made a couple of irreversible mistakes trying to replace it with a new one but many members have done the repair successfully.

There's a good tutorial by Astro14 in the Resources section of this site. I'd provide the link but for some reason it doesn't want to open for me. (Is this a problem that the moderators should investigate?)

Can u please explain what mistakes you have done, so I dont make the same mistakes?

**Xfingers** · 07-22-2019, 03:47 AM

Originally Posted by dejanaleksov

Can u please explain what mistakes you have done, so I dont make the same mistakes?

I bought a new GM valvebody. I believe it was a type B, my original VB was a type A or maybe blank. As Astro has indicated, to make a B valvebody compatible with a trans which had an original A valvebody, the S5 solenoid has to be swapped over and a spring needs to be removed from the back cover of the new valve body. Also, your existing wiring will have to be spliced/lengthened to reach the location of one or more of the solenoid connections on the new VB, which are in a slightly different location.

The irreversible mistake for me was that after the install, I still had low pressure. The car was taking a few seconds to engage after shifting into Drive and still going into Limp Mode so I adjusted the pressure on the SLT solenoid. After driving for about 10 minutes, I lost the Reverse gear! Reinstalled valvebody a few times, put old VB back in, replaced clutch packs...nothing worked. If you're installing a NEW replacement valve body, there's probly no reason to be making adjustments to the pressure solenoids. I'm guessing everything is adjusted correctly at the factory.

The reason I had low pressure after the install was because one of the washers at the back of the transmission case had fallen out while mating up the new valve body. You're absolutely supposed to lube these in place (petroleum jelly) before installing the VB, which I did, but then I removed the new VB to lengthen the wiring. (Actually, you can splice the wires with the VB in place, no need to take it out). I didn't think to re-lube the washers and one of them must have gotten knocked out when re-installing the VB the second time. For me, mating the new VB with all the holes for the screws was a little tricky. I jiggled and shifted it around a bit and that probly knocked out the washer.

I suspected my low pressure situation was because either my SLT solenoid needed adjustment or one of the washers in the back of the trans case had fallen out. Well, since it was a little less effort to pop off the transmission cover and rotate the SLT six clicks than to lift the whole valve body out to see if a washer was missing, I figured I'd try adjusting the SLT first. This was the "irreversible mistake".

I've probably done the procedure for r&r the valve body as much as anyone but I'm hesitant to give too much advice because I f*'d the repair.

**dejanaleksov** · 07-22-2019, 06:00 AM

Wow.i get the picture:-( . Thanks for sharing your experience.

**dejanaleksov** · 07-25-2019, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by Xfingers

I bought a new GM valvebody. I believe it was a type B, my original VB was a type A or maybe blank. As Astro has indicated, to make a B valvebody compatible with a trans which had an original A valvebody, the S5 solenoid has to be swapped over and a spring needs to be removed from the back cover of the new valve body. Also, your existing wiring will have to be spliced/lengthened to reach the location of one or more of the solenoid connections on the new VB, which are in a slightly different location.

The irreversible mistake for me was that after the install, I still had low pressure. The car was taking a few seconds to engage after shifting into Drive and still going into Limp Mode so I adjusted the pressure on the SLT solenoid. After driving for about 10 minutes, I lost the Reverse gear! Reinstalled valvebody a few times, put old VB back in, replaced clutch packs...nothing worked. If you're installing a NEW replacement valve body, there's probly no reason to be making adjustments to the pressure solenoids. I'm guessing everything is adjusted correctly at the factory.

The reason I had low pressure after the install was because one of the washers at the back of the transmission case had fallen out while mating up the new valve body. You're absolutely supposed to lube these in place (petroleum jelly) before installing the VB, which I did, but then I removed the new VB to lengthen the wiring. (Actually, you can splice the wires with the VB in place, no need to take it out). I didn't think to re-lube the washers and one of them must have gotten knocked out when re-installing the VB the second time. For me, mating the new VB with all the holes for the screws was a little tricky. I jiggled and shifted it around a bit and that probly knocked out the washer.

I suspected my low pressure situation was because either my SLT solenoid needed adjustment or one of the washers in the back of the trans case had fallen out. Well, since it was a little less effort to pop off the transmission cover and rotate the SLT six clicks than to lift the whole valve body out to see if a washer was missing, I figured I'd try adjusting the SLT first. This was the "irreversible mistake".

I've probably done the procedure for r&r the valve body as much as anyone but I'm hesitant to give too much advice because I f*'d the repair.

I thought I get the picture,but after reading your thread I finally got the picture. Awesome thread,beautifully explained about every step,plus the astro tutorial should be doable, but its quite a job,and it requires (special) skills and $, and I still dont know where I'm at...even the Hfm lubegard isn't available in this ****y country of mine.i will order the HFM lubegard and wait for delivery about a month.in the meantime I'll install the magnefine filtet and the external cooler, which I should measure the amount of atf it collects,an add the measured amount with the filter,cooler and hosses...for now...and try collect more info on vb costs and options. Anyway thanks guys really thanks

**Astro14** · 07-15-2019, 09:19 AM

Yep.

Sounds exactly like my two cars, hot fluid works poorly, and a fluid flush helps, for a bit....

The valve body rebuild fixed them up. If you choose the valve body route, you can do a new valve body (I got one for the 2001 T5 wagon from Amazon. $495. GM part. It was for a Saturn AF-33. Same transmission.). It requires a bit more work, including a solenoid swap, a spring removal, and some wiring modification, but the new valve body has been working great in the 2001.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

**dejanaleksov** · 07-16-2019, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by Astro14

Yep.

Sounds exactly like my two cars, hot fluid works poorly, and a fluid flush helps, for a bit....

The valve body rebuild fixed them up. If you choose the valve body route, you can do a new valve body (I got one for the 2001 T5 wagon from Amazon. $495. GM part. It was for a Saturn AF-33. Same transmission.). It requires a bit more work, including a solenoid swap, a spring removal, and some wiring modification, but the new valve body has been working great in the 2001.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Anyway thanks guys for trying to help me with mine and everyone's problem with this car.Really appreciate the help I dont know what I'll do but that gearbox is just too complex (even the dealership wont touch it) for me... Manual gearbox its also tough job for this volvo... So probably it will rest in the garage... Not trying to sell it because I dont want to screw somebody else... Dont have brain what to do... Dont have money for a new valve body...dont have skills to work on the problem...

**Astro14** · 07-16-2019, 11:26 PM

Originally Posted by dejanaleksov

Anyway thanks guys for trying to help me with mine and everyone's problem with this car.Really appreciate the help I dont know what I'll do but that gearbox is just too complex (even the dealership wont touch it) for me... Manual gearbox its also tough job for this volvo... So probably it will rest in the garage... Not trying to sell it because I dont want to screw somebody else... Dont have brain what to do... Dont have money for a new valve body...dont have skills to work on the problem...

Your math is faulty.

Valve body: $490 from Amazon
Good butt connectors (4): $3
Fluid (4QT): $28
RTV: $6

Swap the S5 solenoid from the old valve body onto the GM body: free

Remove the B5 spring from the new body: free

Splice in a bit of wire to lengthen connectors: free (after buying connectors)

It’s a very doable job.

Your willingness to spend hundreds on fluid flushes and a cooler suggests that $530 isn’t out of your reach.

Certainly fixing the car instead of jumping and buying another is the cheaper option, isn’t it?

I’ve got pictures of the GM body in my 2001 Volvo T5. It’s doing great.