Strange and mysterious transmission issue....

Hello again. I wanted to take a moment to post about an od transmission "event" which happened a couple of months ago. Backgroun info: I have a 1986 Volvo 240 DL sedan with an automatic aw7 transmission. The tranny was rebuilt in early 2002 due to damag caused by "rocking" the car out of a snow drift, as well as lack o servicing (I acquired the car in 2000). Since the rebuild, th transmission has functioned perfectly (with one exception) other then dead overdrive relay which I have just replaced successfully, and I hav had regular transmission servicing. However, two months ago, I wa driving on a city street. I fully stopped at a red light and wa waiting for it to turn green, when without warning, the alternato died. I put the car in neutral and pushed it to the curb, then put i in park while i waited for the tow truck. I had the car towed vi flatbed tow truck (with it in neutral for the tranfer onto and off th truck) to the shop. The shop also had to put it in neutral to push i from the parking spot into the bay. According to my dash clock, th battery was disconnected for over two hours while they worked. When picked up the car, everything was apparrently fine. But as I drov home, my heart sank when the car failed to shift into third gear at it usual 27 mph. It shifted into reverse, park, first gear and second gea absolutely fine, but would not go into third gear. I even drove it u to 50 mph to see if i could force it into gear all to no avail. Nex morning, I took it back to the shop. All told I drove it for over on hour at various speeds and turned it off and on without it shiftin into third once, but all other shifting was fine. When I took it back they asked about the tow truck (flatbed with car in neutral) and the asked if i was moving when the alternator failed (I was not). Th mechanic then asked to take it for a test drive with me as passenger. We drove for the first couple minutes without it shifting into thir gear. But after some hard accelerating along with the mechani shifting from drive into 2 and 1 climbing gears, the car finally poppe into third a little late and with a little thud. After the first time it shifted into third and back for the rest of the ride normally. The then checked the fluid, which was fine. They said they did not kno what happened, but that maybe the computer reset itself. I though that the alternator failure caused a solenoid to short out (but tha was not it because the car did shift after some time) Since thi incident several months ago, the car has shifted absolutely normall with not one problem. I even recently changed out the OD relay (whic had died several years ago) and it shifted into OD like norma immediatly. My question is what do you think caused the car not t shift into third gear for that first day after the alternator repair? I am simply very curious and frankly still a little concerned. Than you very much for reading that lengthy post and for any thoughts yo can provide

-- wirry142

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"wirry1423" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@no-mx.forums.yourdomain.com.au...

It sounds like a fairly common problem; a sticky or otherwise deranged kickdown cable. More often it manifests itself in all gears, but it can certainly show up just in certain ranges - more commonly in the lower gears. Essentially, it fools the transmission into thinking the throttle is open wider than it really is.

Open the hood and (with the engine off) rotate the throttle wheel where the cables wrap around it, by just rotating the wheel while watching the cables where they wrap around the wheel. If you have cruise control, two will wrap one way and one will wrap the other - you are interested in the one that wraps the other way. If no cruise control, watch the one that tightens as you open the throttle. That one is the kickdown to the tranny. It should move smoothly and not try to ride up as you open the throttle. A squirt of graphite into the cable can't hurt. But from your description I'd guess a bit of debris got in the way when the alternator work was done and it eventually fell out, or the cable was misaligned (same cause) and eventually popped back into place.

Mike

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Michael Pardee

Thank you for replying. The Kickdown cable also came to mind when th event occurred. I actually remember mentioning the KC to the shop whe I brought the car back, just before the test drive. The mechanic wasn' sure, but the owner of the shop thought that it was a possible culprit I just finished checking the cable and it seems tight and well aligne from my inspection of it. Is there any possibility that my driving fo that day with the Kd cable out of shape/misaligned caused any long ter tranny damage, or am I in the clear now? Thanks again for th response

-- wirry142

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"wirry1423" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@no-mx.forums.yourdomain.com.au...

No damage from that, it just confuses the shifting for a while. The AW-70 is a remarkably rugged tranny so I think you are out of the woods.

Mike

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Michael Pardee

Thanks, thats kinda what I thought, but i just wanted to get anothe opinion on it. No-harm-no-foul I guess. Take care

-- wirry142

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