Auto Gearbox
 

So after 14 months of non problems had my first issue today which rendered the car unmovable
Had an appointment several hundred miles away with a colleague from work so off to collect him at 7AM
All was well on drive over to him but after getting back into car auto gearbox would not come out of P PARK POSITION
Tried turning car off several times as well as paddle shifters but with no joy
After several minutes gave up and rang Volvo on call who were very helpful and dispatched a tech to come and see if he could sort the problem or if not get car recovered to dealer.
After having had a quick coffee and whilst waiting for the tech I went back out to the car to collect some belonging and thought I would give it a try and hey presto it worked and continued to do so all day over 400 miles
So if your auto gearbox locks in P Position lock car leave for 5 mine then try again
Might be useful if anyone else has the issue

Perhaps a Vida readout could still reveal what caused the problem?

you can manualy unlock the lever in an emergency by taking the left side carpet panel off by the gearlever …. towards the front is a solenoid , just push it to get the car mobile again .

Seatbelt?

I had mine locked in park, or Brakes onto sure which, the other day, when I stopped and went in reverse I would not move like brakes where on, drive D same it was because I had not put a seat belt on in the 200 yds I had driven the car, As soon as I put a belt on everything was fine.

I think I'm right in saying that it will drive away from a cold start without attaching the driver's seatbelt, but if one then gets out or opens the door after stopping, with the engine running, the handbrake will hold and not automatically release until either the seatbelt is fitted or the handbrake manually released by pushing the switch down while foot is on the brake.

Not noticed it locking the lever in park if foot is on the brake.

Post pointing out the manual release of the Park Lock by means of the solenoid is handy. Thanks. Hope I remember it if ever it is needed, which it probably won't be [needed].

Reminds me of the first time I did a remote start and gear lever would not budge until I realised you have to turn start switch on.

Auto Gearbox Update
 

Car is now booked into Dealers for Diagnostic work tomorrow morning
Will update when more news

Yeah, this could be the case on a T8 (joystick- style shifter..)

Dealer Visit
 

Dealer visit completed this morning
Checked connections to gearbox and all OK took car for test drive and again no problem so put it down to software glitch
Also updated full software to latest version
No errors were reported so little else to go on

I can remember a few years ago I was driving a Mercedes when a warning flashed up regarding the transmission. Car went into limp mode and I pulled into a lay-bye. Waiting 5 minutes wondering what to do. Then started up car again.....absolutely fine and never had that warning again in 5 years of ownership.

Well it’s happened again
After 2 months without any problem parked car on Tuesday night to go into a shop came out and gearbox will not move out of P position
All other parts of car work fine engine starts seatbelt is on all displays looked normal
Left the car locked again for 10 mins tried again still no joy
As I was only 10 mins from home locked car and walked home
Left the car for an hour and upon return to it got it to go into D position but a loud clunk from the gearbox and now have “gearbox service required error message displayed
Booked into dealers today will let you know the outcome
Read about the solenoid but didn’t fancy taking off the left side carpet panel
Anyone else had the gearbox service message?.

I don't think I'd be using those exact words at the dealer, as it reads as though you forced it past the solenoid lock.

"It moved easily into D, but then there was a loud clunk..." is how I'd be playing it. :-)

It's an electronic shifter in the T8, so you can't force it into gear as you would a mechanical one.

I take your point about the dealer, but in my experience these days, they don't really care - the computer will simply tell them if something's wrong. If not, then "they can't see any problem with...xyz"

Yes the T8 is a joystick electronic shifter.

My take on the issue is that there was a load on the box which made it too hard for the car to get the box out of park so it just didnt shift out of park. If it was me I would take the hand brake off with it stuck in Park. Try and rock the car back and forth and then put handbrake back on. Then try and shift it out of Park.

Auto Gearbox Update
 

Hi Philip

Thinking about it you may have a point
Both times this has happened i have been parked on an angle
Will mention this to dealer when i collect car later

In autos of old I used to put the handbrake on, then let off the footbrake and let the car settle on the brakes, then put in park. This way there was little strain on the box and no clunk coming out of park.

If I just put it in park and handbrake at the same time, then released the footbrake then on occasions, especially if on a slope, it would clunk and thump out of park on starting back up and moving away.

That said on my XC90 with the auto handbrake and auto putting into park I am more lax. My drive is on a slope too and I have never had a problem. I cant actually think what I do on the drive at night so I will check what I actually do tonight and see if it is brakes first or into Park first and we can compare to what you do and see if that could be your issue.

Ok so how I use my car is as follows:.

Car is permanently in auto handbrake.
Reverse onto drive. Stop. Foot off brake. Dash shows A in amber colour, then automatically switches to a P in red.
Turn off engine. Car automatically puts itself into Park. Car does seem to then settle a tiny bit forward.

I never press P on the side of the shifter.

Hope this helps.

My wife had exactly the same problem on Wednesday with our XC90 T8. First time this has happened.
Normally I drive the car using my profile which auto handbrakes and switches to park when I turn the car off.
I'd used the car earlier but using her key and hence profile but can't remember what I did when I parked in our usual place at the office (slight downward slope after reversing in). She believes her profile doesn't do the handbrake as she says she manually applies it (she doesn't drive the car very often and often using my key) and press P
Locking the car for a few seconds didn't work but leaving it 5min or so did. I also connected the charge cable and checked that car warned about starting with cable attached so I guess locking was activated a couple of times so that I could remove cable.
Didn't notice any clunk when it did work though although I think I was just happy it worked:regular_smile:
Would add some credence to gearbox park lock though.
It's due it's first service in 2 weeks so would be interested in what others have found to see if it something that needs to be checked or not.
I'll check my wife's profile settings at weekend.

Hi dblogic
As per my posts I have had the locked auto gearbox twice now
Dealer had car for 2 days and could not find any fault in the gearbox or replicate the issue
Both times I have been parked on a slope and like you auto handbrake is always on so when I stop the car it engages and the when switched off park activates
The second time it happened I had the gearbox selector service required error but dealer says that does not give a specific problem just that the gearbox has a problem and the sensor has triggered
They say they have checked the gearbox and no issue found
They did ask if the glass shifter illuminated when trying to select gears but in daylight it is hard to tell so I don’t know
They have said if it happens again and I’m local to ring and they will send their tech out whist the problem is live so he can see what is happening
They say they contacted Sweden and they have not seen this issue but advised them to install full software update which they have done
So fingers crossed

Hi
Thanks for the update.
Didn't get any errors or messages but I'm certain it must be linked to using my wife's profile and possibly different auto hand brake settings but need to check.
So far no re-occurance so hopefully just a software glitch. Service in a couple of weeks when I've asked for a full software update anyway.
See you're in Birmingham wonder which dealer you use as I use Paul Rigby on the Chester road.
Cheers

Is it seatbelt related?
Do you have anything placed on the seats.

when you say gearbox locks, is it the P being locked on? or Handbrake?

The only time it happened to me is when I stopped after driving a short distance with no seat belt on, when I stopped it put the hand brake on I did not notice put car in reverse gear, it had locked the handbrake on, and would not come off until I put a seatbelt on.

Yes it’s Paul Rigby I use as well
So if they say they haven’t seen it before they have
I’m not sure it’s a profile issue as both times mine has failed it’s with the same key and profile
I think it may only occur when parking on a slope so it points to a mechanical issue in the gearbox as when mine did release last time there was a clunk as it went into drive

Hello mad prof
It’s not seatbelt related as both times I have driven for about 15 mins stopped car as normal got out locked car been away for 5 mins returned to car put seatbelt on but gearbox does not move out of P
nothing on any other seats and no seatbelt warning lights on
Only common thing was both times I was parked on a slope
In between I have done about 3000 miles in both towns and motorway with similar stops with no issues

Have you tried it on other slopes? instead of reversing in, drive in onto slop.

Does sound like a mechanical issue (not good)

Have they checked gearbox oil level

I am sure you may have tried putting handbrake on first, and then putting it in P, maybe the car will not roll to lock the gearbox.

Try every combination, so when you go to dealer you have a better understanding how to replicate. Even VIDEO problem sequence.

Nothing more annoying when you know you have a problem, but cannot explain or replicate to a dealer who thinks you are mad.

Are you sure you had your foot on the brake pedal hard enough to retract the transmission lock.

Another good point ^^^^^ maybe because you are parked on a slope you have to press a lot harder on the brake pedal.

I did press really hard on the pedal

Likewise. Tried hard on pedal and can't be that as I believe it puts up a warning to say to press the brake pedal (which it didn't)

Mine was parked on a slight slope facing downhill and is parked there most days as it's my office car park space near the charge point and has only happened the one time.

Think it's not something that will be easy to reproduce if it is a sequence of events linked to when park / parking brake / foot brake are changed.

The only differences from normal was my wife had driven the car in that morning using her key and hence profile. She'd parked further down the car park but on a slight slope as well. I had to pop out so used the car (and her key) but didn't switch profiles manually just the seat position. As I pulled away that time there was a slight clunk as if the transmission had been would up slightly when she'd parked. On my return I put it in its usually space but I can't remember if I had to manually set the parking brake or it did it for me. (My profile does it automatically). It was when I came to move it next a bit later that the fault happened but when it did finally select drive there wasn't any clunk that time.

I've found Paul Rigby to be very good so far although I'm only in my first year of Volvo ownership. I'll mention it when it goes in at the start of November for its first service and see what they say.

I had a similar P lock issue on my 2010 XC60 - yes it is a different car but for what it's worth the problem was the car's battery that was in the process of failing and the P lock was its early warning symptom. Hence this could be a problem independent of what car / model it is. Problem never recurred after battery was replaced.

I can swear my air suspension became less crashy after my battery drain issue and perma low battery got fixed. All kinds of things start going funny when voltages drop in the system. It’s not quite as on and off as you would naturally think because cars are designed to function with multiple failed or failing systems.

Quick Update following car being in for service today.

Was told that an error code had been stored relating to Gear shift communications error with transmission module. Volvo have asked that all the connections from the shifter be checked so car booked back in later in the month for this to be carried out.

I've had no further problems and interestingly was told that they had had another similar case recently ;-)

Will post another update after next visit.

Thanks dblogic

If I have any further issues I will mention this

Looks like we may have found a good dealer as they told you they had had a similar problem recently

I have always found them to be good

Hi dblogic
Did you take the car back and what was the outcome
I have just had the same problem again would not go into anything other than park and shifter did not light up
Left the car for 15 mins locked still no joy
Rand on call but another 30 mins later before they arrived tried again and the shifter lit up and could select drive
Will be ringing Paul Rigby first thing to tomorrow but interested as t owhat they did for you

Hello Clan
Can you advise how to remove the side carpet panel

Hi ISW001

Yes it went back in for them to check all connections were secure etc. and nothing was found and no further errors logged (it had logged a comms error before) so concluded it was just a one off (which so far for me it has been - fingers crossed)

I have had to have the steering wheel button cable replaced (RHS buttons being intermittent) and currently have an issue where in some circumstances the A/C compressor and main radiator cooling fan start up as soon as charging completes and does stop until I start and stop the hybrid system! No error logged in this case so it's now with Volvo UK techs.

As part of trying to sort these I have had full software updates so maybe that might have impacted on the gear selector issue perhaps?

Let us know how you get on.

Cheers
Dave

hi Dave

Thanks for the update
yes i had the new software update a few weeks ago but as i said the gear selector problem happened again last night
im taking it in on Wednesday next week so will see what they say then
I have a feeling its an electrical/Software issue as the gear selector does not
light up and until it does it wont shift into gear

Hi Dave
Took car back in today to Paul Rigby and they now say there is a technical bulletin from Volvo saying if the gearbox problem occurs to remove the main electrical connector to it thoroughly clean it and dry it and re connect it
This will cure the issue
We shall see although it maybe a few weeks before it happens judging by the past 3 times it has happened
Has your been ok since as it sounds as though they may have done similar to yours ??

Hi ISW001

It is possible that that's what they did to mine when it went back in. I know at the time of first reporting when they requested it back for a day they said it was to check all the connections, although they then said they all looked fine but maybe the act of checking them was enough to sort it.

Hopefully neither of us will have it again :regular_smile:

Just need them to solve the charging / air con issue out for me. Did have a call today and tech have come up with some more tests needed so just waiting for a suitable date to get it back down there.

Cheers
Dave

Hi Dave
Yes fingers crossed as I did ask if there was anyway to manually release the gearbox and there isn’t
Sorry to hear your having further issues not ones I have encountered but at least they seem to have some new ideas on what to look for
Good luck
Ian

Gearbox locked
 

Still having issues with gearbox loving and car cannot be moved
Had it booked in for service today and dealer was collecting
Arrived at 8am but gearbox locked so could not take
Had call from dealer saying to ring assist but having had the issue before locked car and left it for 1 hr and hey presto as before it works
Dealer has now collected car and master tech will look at problem
Does anyone know if a T8 gearbox can be released using the hole in front storage area or not
I tried this but couldn’t get any response