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86' Volvo 240 Overdrive Problem......

Hello, i'm new to the boards. I own a 1986 volvo 240 DL sedan with th aw70 automatic transmission. About two years ago I had a complete o overhaul of the transmission. Since then I have had no problems, wit one exception. Sometime between 3 and 4 months after the overhaul, noticed that the overdrive was no longer working. It took severa months to realize because I do mostly city driving, and at the time was new to volvos and unaware of what the arrow on the dash indicated. Now I have changed jobs, which requires me to do some fairly regula expressway driving and I am interested in repairing this issue. I too the car to my transmission shop and after a couple of hours to m suprise they called to say that they were unable to locate th overdrive problem. Apparently from what I gather, they did check th overdrive solenoid and nearby wiring. They did say they repaired damaged wire emanating from the solenoid but that did not solve th problem. They did not mention whether they checked the overdriv relay so i'm assuming they did not. The symptoms are that th overdrive arrow light ALWAYS remains on. However, when I press the O button on the shifter lever, I hear a click and the OD arrow ligh becomes ever so slightly dimmer, but remains on. If i press the butto again, it clicks and the light returns to its brighter state. Als occasionally I hear what sounds like a faint buzzing noise eminatin from the dashboard (usually after I start the car, but sometimes i just starts on its own) When I press the OD button, the noise stops. The overdrive does not ever engage no matter how many times I press th button or what the speed, driving time or weather is like. Any thought or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance

-- wirry142

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Reply to
wirry1423
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Hi,

My '87 240 GL had exactly the same symptoms. The overdrive arrow light was always on, but the car wasn't in overdrive and was straining at the highway speeds. I also got the slightly dimmer light when I pressed the overdrive button.

I took this in to the repair guy, and they replaced the overdrive relay and all was good. It was a very cheap fix in the end.

Han.

Reply to
han_chung

Replace the relay. The transmission needs a constant 12 volts to be able to go into overdrive. When you push on the shifter button, the relay turns off the power to the transmission and turns on the light. Usefull for towing or more power on long hills.

Since the light dims instead of going out, the relay is still preventing power from getting to the transmission so the transmission cannot get into overdrive.

I'm supprised the transmission people did not know this. This is a fairly common transmission used also by Japanese automakers.

Reply to
Duane

Sounds very much like the overdrive relay. It's located behind the dash, easily accessed by removing the glove compartment. They have an annoying tendency to go bad.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Bradley

Pop the cover off the relay and resolder the large connections on the circuit board, or just replace it as others have suggested.

Reply to
James Sweet

Being an amatuer in every sense of the word, I don't have the tools or the skills to repair the OD relay. However, I would like to replace it. Could someone please direct me to precisely where the relay is located and how to replace it. I would appreciate it, thank you.

Reply to
wirry1423

Open the glove compartment, remove the screws holding in the glove compartment. Remove the glove compartment (it will just pull out). The Relay will be located to the left of the opening. There's a metal clip holding it there, you can just slide it off with the clip attached. After that it's just plug/unplug.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Bradley

I wanted to thank all the members that responded to my question. Today I changed out the relay and the OD is working as good as new. The only small issue was that i was unable to clip the new relay in place like the old one was, it was too difficult to see or feel the clip due to the sharp angle at which the relay plug is located. But I simply wedged it against two molded pieces within that space, so I don't anticipate a problem, especially considering the tightness of the connection with the plug. But otherwise this was a very easy repair and the relay only cost me 30 dollars, so I think that it was a bargain, especially with the increase in gas mileage i'm likely to get on highway driving trips. Thanks again for the assistance.

Reply to
wirry1423

Just as well you couldn't get the death clip reinstalled. Spring steel and plastic cold creep don't get along very well.

Bob

Reply to
User

Glad that was it. Enjoy your new lower revs and higher mileage!

Bill

Reply to
Bill Bradley

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