strange geartronic problem.

[Covjohn]

Hi this is my first post on here, I am hoping someone may be able to shed some light on this problem. S60 T5 geartronic early 2004 model 64000 miles, the problem I am having is when I turn sharply to the right and accelerate the transmission seems to slip out of drive then thump
back into gear when i start to drive strait, it usually happens on small roundabouts, the thing is if i go into manual and select 2nd gear every thing is fine and i can drive firmly into the roundabout and accelerate out with no problems. It only happens on right hand turns. I have only had the car a month and the first thing i did was change the atf fluid with the type 3309 as mentioned on these forums, but the problem is still there, the old fluid was brown. The car has also slipped between gears when changing up on a couple of occasions, nothing too dramatic but it is not looking good.

[BobS]

Hi,

Could be the ATF level is low? Are you sure it is to the correct level. There is a proceedure to follow to check the level. Have a search it here somewhere.

Bob

[Covjohn]

yes I have checked the level using the procedure of warming car up 30 mins driving, then run through the gears slowly then with engine still running check dip stick, the level is at the hot mark. If I drive the car using manual shift only there is no problem at all, its only in drive that i am getting problems. I took the car to a car park today and tried hard right turn in drive...gears slip, hard left turn in drive... no problem, hard right or left in manual... no problem.
Its almost as if on hard right the oil is moving to the side of the sump temporarily staving the box, but it can't be that as the level is fine and it works ok in manual?

[jackass]

I have exactly the same problem, although it is not consistent only happening occasionally, I get transmission slip following some hard right hand turn. I just assumed it was oil surge as my levels are correct.

I find that if I back off and then accelerate again the gearbox catches up and doesn't thump into gear.

I've also noticed that the gearbox can miss upshifts under heavy launches when the traction control drops out at high rpm. It's as if the gearbox doesn't know what to do with the sudden in rush of torque.

[Clan]

I had this briefly too on a car i was driving some weeks ago, i thought nothing of it I thought the traction control had operated on a slippery roundabout , but looking back its the same problem .
It can only be oil surge cant it ... a blocked pick up filter perhaps if you are sure the oil level is ok , why not add another litre and see if it makes a difference ....

[Covjohn]

Good news Guys, it was the fluid level after all! after spending a lot of time driving around last night and reading your replies I decided that it MUST be the fluid moving away from the pick up pipe, it was definitely a G-force issue the harder I drove to the right the worse it got. I have to say though that it was only about 3mm below the hot mark and I thought that was ok, I added half a liter of fluid.
To conclude then, the fluid must not be even slightly bellow the hot mark, its not like the engine oil dipstick where the level can be anywhere between min/max it must be well within the hot mark. Thankyou for your help.

[Clan]

Excellent news , For information , the level on the dipstick is very temperature sensitive , only when the oil temp is 80C will it be on MAX HOT .. if you have been on a run the temperature could be considerably higher and at 120 C the level will be 6mm above the MAX HOT mark so maybe you need a little more oil ...

[V70RMW]

Both my cars do this - as a simpleton I had never thought of fluid levels. Must be a design shortcoming if they both do it though - even after fluid changes in both boxes. Maybe it pays to be more generous with the fluid level.

[YellowPinkie]

Where is the dipstick on the auto box?

[jackass]

Down low in front of the gearbox toward the engine side. It's got a short stubby orange handle if memory serves.