I pin here, an answer I gave to a question from an owner of a new car, because it describes how the automatic transmission works, to an extent that may help understand faults: sleekitwan 3 months ago Brand new meaning less than a thousand miles or something? The main test for automatics, is to warm it thoroughly then floor it from a standing start, or at least hit it to two-thirds of the 'gas' pedal travel say, then it should just move smoothly through the gearbox without hiccups except a slight bump when the automatic upshift occurs. If this is fine, Keep any analysis basic: what is it doing it ought not to be, what's the ideal that it is not giving you when you drive the car? That, and does 'kickdown' work? Travelling along then punching it as though to overtake, should prompt one if not two downshifts depending on roadspeed and how aggressively the gas pedal is pushed. Just stomp on it - does the car handle that ok? There should be no drama, just a downshift or two and the car accelerates away. The basic key elements to an automatic gearbox are complex in practice but simple in principle. First, the most important perhaps, the automatic clutch function - there is not much to go wrong here, and the symptoms are noticeable once you know them: if the automatic clutch unit is short of fluid (they hardly ever have too much) the tendency is for the car to act as if a novice driver were constantly riding the clutch. It takes unnecessary revving to take off, and the engine revs will be too much for any given speed. That's because the impeller is having to work with too little fluid, and is spending a lot of energy just washing the small amount of fluid it has got, past the blades of the other impeller without moving it as much as it ought to. Find the dipstick for the transmission, pull it out, and check the level. Do this with the engine stone cold one morning, and if you are not confident (it's really nothing just make sure you put the dipstick back in properly), any decent mechanic will probably look at it for free. Just like engine oil, the transmission fluid dipstick has a level marked on it, and there needs to be enough when cold but not too much as it expands when the engine heats up. That's about all that can go wrong with that bit. Fluid's not been put in to enough of a level, or has leaked out due usually to aged seals etc. OFTEN MORE NOTICEABLE if you park pointed uphill in some vehicles, as the fluid there IS there, drains away from the torque converter into the space in the rest of the auto gearbox - the torque converter unit has a hole in the casing, so fluid can be mixed around and it can get fresh cooler fluid mixed in. The only point is, these clutch units in an automatic (torque converters they got called), share the same fluid as the auto gearbox. So, if you find the tell-tale signs of low fluid giving that too-much-rpm thing when taking away from a light etc regards the torque converter/auto clutch, this means the GEARBOX is ALSO low on fluid. That would burn the friction disks more than they ought, and prematurely wear and cause a lack of cooling etc. The other FOUR main parts, are: 1 - the physical disks and shafts that connect in different configurations to create a particular gear ratio; 2 - and the actuators that make those engagement units contact or not (more like manual clutches, but they work in auto gearbox fluid ie 'wet' clutches); 3 - and the hydraulic valves and pathways that make those actions happen; 4 - and right at the front end, the 'brain' or computer system that taking note of a gas pedal position, road speed, amount of lugging of the engine, rpm, etc, makes the decision every few hundred milliseconds to stay in the gear already operating, or flick the wet clutches in and out of contact in a different configuration to make a shift up or down a cog as it were. The 'brain' is renowned these days for learning or adjusting to a particular driving style, and trying to deliver according to a change in that - it adapts - hence 'adaptive transmission'. The brain is not so likely to go wrong - THE NUMBER ONE ELEMENT THAT GOES WRONG ACCORDING TO ME AND LOTS OF TAXI DRIVERS IS SENSORS. The sensor for the rpm, the sensor for the engine lugging or pinking, and so on. Sensors, sensors, sensors! If they go wrong, it might be in an unpredictable manner, and the 'brain' cannot properly operate because it is getting deficient information in about what is going on. It is important the transmission fluid is correct - a new car should not have an issue. Older cars - I only buy ones with 100,000 miles or more on the clock due to budgetary contraints (!) - may have problems involving one or more of the above mentioned elements. But, that's all there is. As I say, stick to the basics, keep the analysis simple, try to decide which of the above elements is most likely the area of fault. Obviously, you can get the dealer/seller of the automobile to you, to connect up a fault tester (OBD or similar) and they will from that, get a load of codes, which may or may not indicate an item is wrong - a sensor probably! Treat it like medicine - get a second opinion if you are not happy. If you are lucky another franchise will check it out for you, or you may need to pay and independent. It won't be much - they plug it in, run or even drive the car (maybe on a rolling road) and get the results. Problems are flagged up. Older vehicles have bald clutch plates, and sometimes people change the transmission fluid and have a shock when the transmission starts to slip and the rpm spirals up under load (acceleration, or uphill, or trying to maintain steady speed on the major hiways etc). My own theory on this is simple and is verified by the fact Volvo do NOT FIT FILTERS to their transmissions. Why wouldn't they want little bits filtered out? Surely it's just like engine oil, you want it as clean as possible right? No. Those particles floating around, are the bits of the clutch friction material that have worn off. This is the conundrum of having an older auto box. OF COURSE the burnt/ruined fluid needs changed, but once those particles of friction material are removed along with the old fluid, you have lost the bulk of the friction material from that old transmission. That's my theory, as an engineering graduate and long-time motorcycle renovator and veteran of many car repairs. Nothing else fits the symptoms, and the car manufacturers omitting a filter kind of puts the seal on it. Let us know how you get on. Steady away, keep it simple, and stay logical about it. There are no other components to these systems, than I have described here. Brand new, and faulty - same rule as always, if you are not happy, ask to try their demonstrator vehicle of a similar type. Does it behave the same? If not, define what the difference is by writing it down, you can even just set your phone recording the engine note etc inside the cabin as you drive, in both vehicles. Spot the difference then, later, calmly in the comfort of home. In the difference of behaviour between a good and bad vehicle, will lie the precise answer you need. END of pinned answer.
Car has 87,000 miles with a full service history since its purchase. The first owner put on 13,000 miles a year for roughly 4 years (Safe to assume that is highway mileage which as we know is light work for transmissions). The second owner put about 4000 miles a year on it. Purchased it from a major dealerships used car/ trade-in lot. The car is immaculate and performed perfectly for the first 500-600 miles I put onto it and then a shift flare developed between 2nd and 3rd gear under hard acceleration. No record of any issues being reported with the transmission under any of the services. My best guess is that I have a bit heavier of a lead foot than the 2 previous owners and the transmission needs to be reset to learn that. I've put as few as 800 miles on the car now, the shift flare only occurs once every 70-100 shifts in variation of RPM which leads me to believe that nothing is broken or in need of repair.
Another Thanks, I followed the reset procedure and the car is shifting properly. Notes, for year the car will not shift properly, even after I drained and refilled the fluid three times. " Reset" or delete the "counter" is all it needed. You have done good to another person.
I am really pleased the procedures helped! Modern internal combustion engine vehicles, with automatic transmissions, are about the most complicated electro-mechanical machines we come into contact with. I have known cases where entire production lines halted, because the foreman or engineer did not have the handbook. Here, at least, we have got to first base and have access to it. Good stuff.
Hi there. First and foremost: there is some wrong information across the web (including on solenoid replacement instructions from Rostra): it is completely false that one can do the adaptations reset and relearn without the Vida software. One MUST plug Vida to the car, go into the settings, and click to reset the adaptations. Then drive the car and perform some operations while a yellow triangle lights up on the dash. The adaptations are relearn only when the yellow triangle lights up. Performing the driving operations without having reset the adaptations in Vida, will do nothing to the transmission and will not light the yellow triangle. Now, for those who do have access to Vida, here's some tips. On my car, I did replace the solenoids, kept the rest of the valve body, and did the adaptation reset and relearn in Vida. Well, the transmission now it is better but still not smooth like a new one. Why? Because the whole valve body has wear to it, it is not a new part. So what happens if you don't replace anything, just keep all parts unchanged then do the adaptation reset and relearn in Vida. Well, in the first place you will have trouble getting the computer to relearn the adaptations: see at the end of my video, even with new solenoids, I had trouble to relearn the adaptations. This is because when the transmission relearns the adaptations, it MUST have new parts i.e. new valve body (including new solenoids). These adaptations are designed to be learned when the car is new - or when the whole valve body is being replacing. If you try to relearn the adaptations with old parts, the adaptations will not learn properly, and it may affect the transmission. A Volvo mechanic told me he had customers doing this, and their transmission started slipping some times after. So one should rather replace the whole valve body with a refurbished one, or at a very least replace the solenoids, and then do the adaptation thing with Vida. Also remember that when driven for too long with a worn valve body, the transmission itself gets damaged and my not be worth trying to fix it. See my solenoid replacement video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2RJyYRQxbZA.html
Thanks for sharing this information! I've been having a bugger of a time adapting my daughter's AW55-50SN in her 2001 V70. Started with a circuit fault for the TCC linear solenoid. Mind you, the fault would occur at low speed before activation of the solenoid should be required, and sure enough, the coil was going bad. She's been having a hard time adapting, yielding different faults during each attempt. I've been able to reset the fluid counterand adaptation values, but next we'll try using the Volvo factory diagnostics, as there is a forced learning routine in the software from the 01 model year and newer. In my case, this gearbox has served us well...with 220,000 miles of use. Pretty impressive. If this procedure is unsuccessful, it's time to do a proper rebuild. What's a father to do? Hehe.
Well, I am dying to know what maintenance you have done to keep it running so well for so long? Ignored it? Or changed the transmission fluid every 40k miles or something? The furthest I ever got out of an auto box was a VW Passat estate/wagon, 1999 vintage, and it just made 200,000 miles but that was with some faults slowly worsening ie bad shifting etc. Many, many French auto cars I have had, had problems after 100,000 miles BUT of course, this may simply be a measure of which cars were clocked more before I got them, than a good take on the transmission longevity? Glad it was useful, please come back on the treatment the transmission had, to get it this far? Also, of course, towing will perhaps halve the life, because the fluid gets burned and often towing will occur in summer too, so prolonged high pressure use at elevated peak and average temperatures?
Well, obviously a dealer could do that...the point of this video was so that you can do it yourself - run through the video, and see the bit where the text of the document is displayed to the camera. Follow those instructions, to make sure you eliminate the issues you can resolve yourself first? You say it has been 'babied', but I would just say, the solitary cause of most automatic transmission failures I have seen, is wear due to mileage, and the effects of deteriorating transmission fluid. If you bought from a dealer, consider getting your money back, and let them know this. Don't be tied down to any one thing being the reason, just say you see this problem as the first step to resolving matters. They may elect to repay the cash rather than proceed on what to them, will seem a precarious basis. They might try and draw things out, until some time limit expires, beyond which you cannot exercise certain rights of return. Who knows. You wanted transport, not a project. Did the person who sold you it, use the term 'babied'? I just wonder who assessed this vehicle as being well-cared for. It's not a word that has any legal standing is why I ask. It's the sort of fudging term I'd expect from someone not wanting to be tied down in any way, not wanting to say words or make claims that are any use to the buyer later. Like a lot of used car dealers when they want to offload a crock of s**t would say. I had one guy, he kept half-saying sentences, then waiting for me to finish them. Literally, so he was not committing himself. EG I pointed out there was a flashing warning light, he'd say 'Well, that's nothing vital, I mean the car is running, as you can see, probably just needs...' and then he just drifted off. I said'...just needs...' and thus prompted, the guy further said 'yeah, it probably just needs.......you know.....' and so it went on. This, is the sort of childish playing-around, that some people spend all day doing. It's like it's not a real job, is they impression I am left with. Well, when I say the impression I am left with...I mean...you know...it's pretty obviously...you know........ 'Babied' might not mean well-maintained I am afraid. It might mean low-mileage by someone at some point, and hardly out of the driveway for a while, which I am afraid could be the same as neglected. In fact, diesels need a good pasting now and again, to keep the engine running well. Goldilocks use, is hard to get but that's what you want - moderate driving, yet occasionally brisk, and with a lot of oil-changing and coolant changing and transmission oil changing every so often. Who does that, if they don't do that many miles? Hence, even low-mileage cars are a cause for concern, if it comes along with low levels of maintenance. High miles, and burned fluid never being changed, lots of towing use in summer, and most auto boxes are on the verge of failure sooner rather than later. The solitary test I am aware of, is to floor the vehicle from a standstill, once it is warmed up, several times, and see what happens then. I say this, because what seems a mild flare might turn out to be a missed gear if you push it hard enough, hence this test. I have even had used car salesmen try to dissuade me from performing such a test saying 'what you doing that for?' and so on. Did you do this test before buying the vehicle? A good auto box, undergoing this test, will shift without flare, or hiccoughs, or bad bumps. I almost bought a damn good GM car some time back, but the LCD display was off, making me think it had been tampered with. In the event, I should have ignored that and gone with the fact the auto transmission was shifting impeccably and perfectly through the five-speed box. Should have bought that damned car. The one I did get, had issues up the yazoo, but I thought the miles were more genuine. Then, a guy I knew, lifted the rear carpet in the trunk (boot) and showed me the wrinkle in the metal. This car had been rear-ended and not repaired. Should have just walked past it, gone straight back to the vendor with that compact GM. It happens! Most vehicles have been clocked by the time they get scrapped or otherwise written-off. Not just a few - almost all. Eventually, they will fall into the clutches (sorry!) of someone who quietly trawls the internet for what connectors, what software, what laptop are needed, to do the job. Back in the day, there were signs, the mechanical odometer would be out of alignment, after they used an electric drill on the cable. some, would leave it on all night, so the clock went forward, past the zero point again, then they are able to not leave signs of tampering - not even the digits would be slightly out of alignment. Now, it's a perfect cover-up. Reduced miles, and no trail to follow. The manufacturers could stop it, just by recording the miles if the driver/owner was prepared to have it looked at to do so, most people would volunteer I am sure. They are not interested, they probably get pressure from their own dealers, I cannot imagine why...! Why does this matter? Because above all else, mileage is the single most important thing, that matters to automatic transmission wear, and so it is the single most important aspect you as a potential buyer of an automatic vehicle, should want to know the absolute truth on. If only, the manufacturer included a revolution counter that was tamper-proof, for the torque converter turning around, we'd have a separate number we could approximate to the car mileage, and would know if there was something hinky. Sadly, no effort of any sort by manufacturers. Automatic transmissions as we know them, appear destined to die with internal combustion engines pretty much, before a decent reliable guide to a particular unit's service life, is ever implemented. So, we may not be able to cross-check mileage, and service records drop off with age or are forged, but the flat-out acceleration test works. It should show you what level of seriousness you are facing with regards to faults. You don't state the mileage, but no matter how nicely treated the vehicle appears, it is likely to be clocked (mileage wound back) if it has a few owners, and over 5 years old. By 100,000 miles, you need it to have been well maintained to have some life left. You want it to be like that compact GM car I let go, you want it perfect. A good one, is perfect. Any deviation from perfect, is a major fault just at the beginnings of its life. Avoid buying such a situation, no matter what assurances your seller offers (usually, they offer some remedial work to occur after they get your money! In all cases, any fault you spot and bring up, they will minimise, dismiss if they can. Don't waste time arguing, just move on.) Always remember the golden rule about buying something, where you are assured that some fault you have spotted, is 'easy to fix': if it really WAS easy to fix, it would be fixed by the seller already...and they could ask more money for the vehicle (or whatever) in question! It won't be easy, or if it is, that's news to the seller. Do not buy, walk on by. Do the acceleration test now, and consider returning the vehicle if you try these re-calibration steps and they don't work, or end up getting some open-ended charge from a dealer. You need to set a trigger-point with a dealer, beyond which cost you need contacting before they rack up more of a bill. A dealer doing this recalibration should be a max of a hundred bucks. If they really need more than that, it's either a rip-off, or they genuinely have no clue what they are doing and taking a lot of time doing it. By the way, the point that almost all vehicles eventually get their mileage clocked down, has a practical rider that is implicit in that bald statement. If you have seen less than say 5 cars, and they are more than say 5 years old with several owners apiece, the chances are you have not yet come across a genuine one. By that, I mean one where the miles are as you believe them to be, the maintenance is as you have been led to believe, and the usage and treatment of the vehicle in general is what it appears. I recently saw an advertisement for a vehicle, a small car, about 5 years old. It had one owner, and the seller went to some pains to describe in a detailed manner, the reason why the carpets etc were scuffed and holed almost in places - it was used by a rail transport company with the suggestion it was doing small errands here and there, transporting large men in hi-vis gear and big gnarly boots. I read this with interest, and of course, it colours your view of the vehicle and its condition. Good honest wear, yes? Then I decided to view it more sceptically - what if this was a load of baloney? Why not just look closely at those pictures, as I would any other car, whose history I had no idea about? Then I notice the excessive polish on the steering wheel. The scrapes on the glove compartment. Those carpets are basically holed and ruined, which means water (think snow dragged in) has basically had its way with the floorpan underneath. The wrinkled and ragged sides to the front driver's seat. I began to think BS. I began to think, if they hadn't fed me that there back-story, I'd be thinking this is a fast-food delivery runabout, that has several disinterested drivers, and has been haphazardly maintained, and been horribly clocked back to half the genuine mileage. Stick with the basics, and ignore back-stories, ignore what's not in front of you. Do not accept ANY details that cannot be verified, as believable. EG they say they will 'give it a once-over and do any servicing that needs doing' once you buy it. F**k off. That's said, knowing full-well, they have no intention of doing anything whatsoever - there can't be anything 'needing done' because you the gullible buyer, already paid cash for it, or agreed a date and time to do so.
Brand new meaning less than a thousand miles or something? The main test for automatics, is to warm it thoroughly then floor it from a standing start, or at least hit it to two-thirds of the 'gas' pedal travel say, then it should just move smoothly through the gearbox without hiccups except a slight bump when the automatic upshift occurs. If this is fine, Keep any analysis basic: what is it doing it ought not to be, what's the ideal that it is not giving you when you drive the car? That, and does 'kickdown' work? Travelling along then punching it as though to overtake, should prompt one if not two downshifts depending on roadspeed and how aggressively the gas pedal is pushed. Just stomp on it - does the car handle that ok? There should be no drama, just a downshift or two and the car accelerates away. The basic key elements to an automatic gearbox are complex in practice but simple in principle. First, the most important perhaps, the automatic clutch function - there is not much to go wrong here, and the symptoms are noticeable once you know them: if the automatic clutch unit is short of fluid (they hardly ever have too much) the tendency is for the car to act as if a novice driver were constantly riding the clutch. It takes unnecessary revving to take off, and the engine revs will be too much for any given speed. That's because the impeller is having to work with too little fluid, and is spending a lot of energy just washing the small amount of fluid it has got, past the blades of the other impeller without moving it as much as it ought to. Find the dipstick for the transmission, pull it out, and check the level. Do this with the engine stone cold one morning, and if you are not confident (it's really nothing just make sure you put the dipstick back in properly), any decent mechanic will probably look at it for free. Just like engine oil, the transmission fluid dipstick has a level marked on it, and there needs to be enough when cold but not too much as it expands when the engine heats up. That's about all that can go wrong with that bit. Fluid's not been put in to enough of a level, or has leaked out due usually to aged seals etc. OFTEN MORE NOTICEABLE if you park pointed uphill in some vehicles, as the fluid there IS there, drains away from the torque converter into the space in the rest of the auto gearbox - the torque converter unit has a hole in the casing, so fluid can be mixed around and it can get fresh cooler fluid mixed in. The only point is, these clutch units in an automatic (torque converters they got called), share the same fluid as the auto gearbox. So, if you find the tell-tale signs of low fluid giving that too-much-rpm thing when taking away from a light etc regards the torque converter/auto clutch, this means the GEARBOX is ALSO low on fluid. That would burn the friction disks more than they ought, and prematurely wear and cause a lack of cooling etc. The other FOUR main parts, are: 1 - the physical disks and shafts that connect in different configurations to create a particular gear ratio; 2 - and the actuators that make those engagement units contact or not (more like manual clutches, but they work in auto gearbox fluid ie 'wet' clutches); 3 - and the hydraulic valves and pathways that make those actions happen; 4 - and right at the front end, the 'brain' or computer system that taking note of a gas pedal position, road speed, amount of lugging of the engine, rpm, etc, makes the decision every few hundred milliseconds to stay in the gear already operating, or flick the wet clutches in and out of contact in a different configuration to make a shift up or down a cog as it were. The 'brain' is renowned these days for learning or adjusting to a particular driving style, and trying to deliver according to a change in that - it adapts - hence 'adaptive transmission'. The brain is not so likely to go wrong - THE NUMBER ONE ELEMENT THAT GOES WRONG ACCORDING TO ME AND LOTS OF TAXI DRIVERS IS SENSORS. The sensor for the rpm, the sensor for the engine lugging or pinking, and so on. Sensors, sensors, sensors! If they go wrong, it might be in an unpredictable manner, and the 'brain' cannot properly operate because it is getting deficient information in about what is going on. It is important the transmission fluid is correct - a new car should not have an issue. Older cars - I only buy ones with 100,000 miles or more on the clock due to budgetary contraints (!) - may have problems involving one or more of the above mentioned elements. But, that's all there is. As I say, stick to the basics, keep the analysis simple, try to decide which of the above elements is most likely the area of fault. Obviously, you can get the dealer/seller of the automobile to you, to connect up a fault tester (OBD or similar) and they will from that, get a load of codes, which may or may not indicate an item is wrong - a sensor probably! Treat it like medicine - get a second opinion if you are not happy. If you are lucky another franchise will check it out for you, or you may need to pay and independent. It won't be much - they plug it in, run or even drive the car (maybe on a rolling road) and get the results. Problems are flagged up. Older vehicles have bald clutch plates, and sometimes people change the transmission fluid and have a shock when the transmission starts to slip and the rpm spirals up under load (acceleration, or uphill, or trying to maintain steady speed on the major hiways etc). My own theory on this is simple and is verified by the fact Volvo do NOT FIT FILTERS to their transmissions. Why wouldn't they want little bits filtered out? Surely it's just like engine oil, you want it as clean as possible right? No. Those particles floating around, are the bits of the clutch friction material that have worn off. This is the conundrum of having an older auto box. OF COURSE the burnt/ruined fluid needs changed, but once those particles of friction material are removed along with the old fluid, you have lost the bulk of the friction material from that old transmission. That's my theory, as an engineering graduate and long-time motorcycle renovator and veteran of many car repairs. Nothing else fits the symptoms, and the car manufacturers omitting a filter kind of puts the seal on it. Let us know how you get on. Steady away, keep it simple, and stay logical about it. There are no other components to these systems, than I have described here. Brand new, and faulty - same rule as always, if you are not happy, ask to try their demonstrator vehicle of a similar type. Does it behave the same? If not, define what the difference is by writing it down, you can even just set your phone recording the engine note etc inside the cabin as you drive, in both vehicles. Spot the difference then, later, calmly in the comfort of home. In the difference of behaviour between a good and bad vehicle, will lie the precise answer you need.
