hgray14 Posted April 28, 2016 Report Share Posted April 28, 2016 I have a 2004 XC 70 with roughly 180K on it. It shifts fine at first but after driving on the freeway for about an hour, when I get back into down (stop and go) it shifts really hard, almost as if it is missing shifts. I never drive around town for anywhere near and hour so I only get this after I pull off the freeway after driving a while. So, it basically seems like once it warms up, it then starts to hard shift. Is the tranny going out or is this something that can be helped with a software update? I'm assume the prior owner never had any maintenance done on it. I've heard that there are software updates and am wondering if anyone has had that help in this type of situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ihatespeedbumps Posted April 28, 2016 Report Share Posted April 28, 2016 What is the level and condition of the fluid? Probably the most reasonable place to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgray14 Posted April 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2016 Seemed fine when I bought it a few months ago but it happened right away and was really bad at that point, It even went into "safe" mode while I was driving on the freeway within the first few days. I had my mechanic swap out the fluid for the Volvo recommended fluid and that made it much better. I still haven't had it go into "safe" mode but it definitely has some shifting trouble after a bunch of driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laird Posted April 29, 2016 Report Share Posted April 29, 2016 If your mechanic "swapped it out" by draining and refilling, you probably have 70% old fluid in there. Do a full on flush/replacement, see if that takes care of it. What's the recommended fluid? My 850s are Dexron, my 06 is 3309. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEU Posted April 29, 2016 Report Share Posted April 29, 2016 Not sure if the '04 AW55 have a software update, I know the '01-02 did to remove the neutral control function. I think your dealer will do that for free as it's a recall. As mentioned drain and fill is waste of time and $$ as you are not removing ALL the old fluid, especially out of the torque converter. Do the flush and fill method of 2qts at a time, this will flush all the old stuff out. You can use IPD instructions to find out how to do it yourself. Also do an adaptor reset to see if that helps, this will require Vida to do properly. But if this doesn't work you may need a new valve body or solenoids. Ihatespeedbumps did a good write up about those recently. All the 5sp auto's (AW55) require the Mobil 3309, but you can use Toyota type IV fluid for cheap. Don't waste your money on Volvo fluid. I run Mobil 1 ATF which is synthetic. You can find other fluid but make sure that is states "compatible" not "comparable". Some of the cheaper fluid will state this but aren't certified, I think Valvoline is "comparable" so beware! I recall someone did a write-up about it here using Valvoline and was warned about it, he poo-pooed it and his aw55 in his R took a dump, before he sold it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgray14 Posted April 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2016 14 hours ago, laird said: If your mechanic "swapped it out" by draining and refilling, you probably have 70% old fluid in there. Do a full on flush/replacement, see if that takes care of it. What's the recommended fluid? My 850s are Dexron, my 06 is 3309. I trust my mechanic did it correctly and used the right fluid. So, so far everyone is convinced this is simply a fluid question. Hard shifting after driving for an hour (warming it up) is attributed to tranny fluid and not the tranny going out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troyhyde Posted April 30, 2016 Report Share Posted April 30, 2016 Sounds like classic sticking solenoids to me. If you can "fix" them with fresh fluid, you are a lucky man. I'm not suggesting fresh fluid isn't awesome but I think your problems may be a bit deeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgray14 Posted April 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2016 1 hour ago, troyhyde said: Sounds like classic sticking solenoids to me. If you can "fix" them with fresh fluid, you are a lucky man. I'm not suggesting fresh fluid isn't awesome but I think your problems may be a bit deeper. sticking solenoids. ...not sure what that is but it sure sounds like what I'm feeling when it's having trouble shifting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troyhyde Posted May 1, 2016 Report Share Posted May 1, 2016 My understanding (and you are not alone, I have this problem on a project 2007 XC70) is that neglected fluid change will eventually cause an accumulation of fine metal particles to attach to the solenoids which are electro-magnetic, causing them to stick/fail/become sluggish. Solution is replacement. Hard to clean away fine metal particles from something that has them magnetized/attached. Pull the trans cover, pop them out, a bit labor intensive since the work area is tight. The transmission stays in the car so not totally horrifying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgray14 Posted May 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 I wish I had time to replace the solenoids. Sounds like I might be better of just replacing the tranny and being done with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ihatespeedbumps Posted May 4, 2016 Report Share Posted May 4, 2016 Rostra upgrades solenoids are going to be 300 for parts. New transmission is going to be 3500 in parts. Just saying.... If you want to see what is involved in upgrading to Rostra solenoids check out my AW55-50 thread in the 99+ forum. I was able to replace in my driveway in about 3 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgray14 Posted May 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2016 On 5/4/2016 at 10:16 AM, Ihatespeedbumps said: Rostra upgrades solenoids are going to be 300 for parts. New transmission is going to be 3500 in parts. Just saying.... If you want to see what is involved in upgrading to Rostra solenoids check out my AW55-50 thread in the 99+ forum. I was able to replace in my driveway in about 3 hours. Great write-up and pics - thanks! The VIDA scanner you use - how much is it? Will an OBD II bluetooth scanner with Torque smart phone app be able to give me my tranny fluid temp? The physical changing of parts looks straight forward but the software stuff is a bit intimidating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ihatespeedbumps Posted May 9, 2016 Report Share Posted May 9, 2016 The bootleg version of VIDA/DICE will be under 200. It's an amazing tool for the price. I cannot speak on aftermarket scan tools, I've used very few. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlc Posted June 25, 2016 Report Share Posted June 25, 2016 bb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UncleBoost Posted July 2, 2016 Report Share Posted July 2, 2016 I bought an 01 V70 for $200 because they were fed up with the way it shifted, and it had 244k miles on it...me knowing volvos knows that's nothing on the engine...I was prepared to go as far as swapping transmissions... Instead I went to a bone yard and got a valvebody... Swapped Valvebodies and that fixed the hard shift problem as well as a fluid flush...Did the Adaptive reset in Vida and now it shifts like new...took about 2 months for it to become flawlessly shifting...but it did clear up after I did those 2 things......If you have the time I'd do the Flush first...it that doesn't work you can replace the shift solenoids...there's 3 in there..I all fails just do a valvebody swap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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