2004 V70 D5 Geartronic gearbox problems
Discussion
Hi, I have a 2004 facelift V70 D5 geartronic with approx 120k on the clock. I've changed the oil every 10k since 88k when I bought the car but I've never changed the gearbox oil.
The car was fine when I bought it but it seems to be developing a 'sluggish' gearbox. The symptom are somewhat variable (perhaps heat related).
It seems to sometimes clunk quite heavily into gear and sometimes does not seem to engage at all when pulling away for a few seconds before it gives drive to pull away.
The problem seems to have come more pronounced since my wife really struggled to reverse up a very steep stone wall lined hill. The clutch smelled like it was burning as she had to keep stopping and hill starting again. However the problems were there before this event.
I has a gearbox mount replaced about a year ago and had a blowing intercooler replaced a few months ago as well.
The gearbox issue has been something you can live with but my wife experienced 'Gearbox service required' recently so we need to do something about it.
I phoned a well respected volvo specialist who advised it could be a solenoid problem or just need a ECU flash. However if its solenoid they recommend replacement rather than repair. The price quoted was circa 3k!
I asked about a fluid swap and was told this unit was sealed for life and oil changes were not recommended. This seems to conflift with some of the advice online.
I'd prefer not to have to replace gearbox oil myself and I've not had the codes read yet but this might be quicker than having the car off the road as none of the specialist particularly are close to either West London or Gloucestershire where the car spends it's time on family duty.
Can anyone advise or recommend a good indy around the Cirencester area or West London.
The car was fine when I bought it but it seems to be developing a 'sluggish' gearbox. The symptom are somewhat variable (perhaps heat related).
It seems to sometimes clunk quite heavily into gear and sometimes does not seem to engage at all when pulling away for a few seconds before it gives drive to pull away.
The problem seems to have come more pronounced since my wife really struggled to reverse up a very steep stone wall lined hill. The clutch smelled like it was burning as she had to keep stopping and hill starting again. However the problems were there before this event.
I has a gearbox mount replaced about a year ago and had a blowing intercooler replaced a few months ago as well.
The gearbox issue has been something you can live with but my wife experienced 'Gearbox service required' recently so we need to do something about it.
I phoned a well respected volvo specialist who advised it could be a solenoid problem or just need a ECU flash. However if its solenoid they recommend replacement rather than repair. The price quoted was circa 3k!
I asked about a fluid swap and was told this unit was sealed for life and oil changes were not recommended. This seems to conflift with some of the advice online.
I'd prefer not to have to replace gearbox oil myself and I've not had the codes read yet but this might be quicker than having the car off the road as none of the specialist particularly are close to either West London or Gloucestershire where the car spends it's time on family duty.
Can anyone advise or recommend a good indy around the Cirencester area or West London.
Agreed with the above. The route of many of the issues is the lack of oil changes.
'Sealed for life' = life in Volvo's eyes means circa 100k miles.
I would recommend doing the flush - google 'Gibbons method' and it should give you all you need info wise.
In terms of the oil, you need the JWS3309 spec which can be tricky to get. But DON'T get it from Volvo unless you want to pay double. Vauxhall use the same spec Asin-Warner boxes and you can get the oil for about 7-9 GBP per litle, as opposed to double that at Volvo.
Try the flush and see what it does. There is another issue that affected earlier P2s around the solenoid / seal which isn't too hard to change, but that might not be relevant to yours.
If the gearbox transmission error has come up, you need to get the codes read to see why. It could be just the cycle counter or a genuine error.
HTH
'Sealed for life' = life in Volvo's eyes means circa 100k miles.
I would recommend doing the flush - google 'Gibbons method' and it should give you all you need info wise.
In terms of the oil, you need the JWS3309 spec which can be tricky to get. But DON'T get it from Volvo unless you want to pay double. Vauxhall use the same spec Asin-Warner boxes and you can get the oil for about 7-9 GBP per litle, as opposed to double that at Volvo.
Try the flush and see what it does. There is another issue that affected earlier P2s around the solenoid / seal which isn't too hard to change, but that might not be relevant to yours.
If the gearbox transmission error has come up, you need to get the codes read to see why. It could be just the cycle counter or a genuine error.
HTH
Even Volvo now provide a detailed method for changing the fluid.
As others have suggested change the fluid and see what happens. It may fix it but there is also a possibility it may make it worse. I have seen iffy ones changed then the car lose all drive afterwards as it was only the dirty fluid providing enough friction inside the 'box to provide any drive.
Worst case scenario you are looking at about £1600-£1800 for a refurb of the gearbox.
As others have suggested change the fluid and see what happens. It may fix it but there is also a possibility it may make it worse. I have seen iffy ones changed then the car lose all drive afterwards as it was only the dirty fluid providing enough friction inside the 'box to provide any drive.
Worst case scenario you are looking at about £1600-£1800 for a refurb of the gearbox.
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