Towing with geartronic

[4wheeldriver]

Hi all

After a lengthy converstion with a Volvo Concerns Manager (Engineer) over certain issues I had with the geartronic gearbox not providing engine braking when towing I had a response from the factory through the above.

BAsically the gearbox is not designed to provide engine braking for any extended length of time or it will go into what is known as lock up where the rev counter will fall to neutral and the engine braking will be SERIOUSLY reduced. As I tow round Scotland a lot with a large twin xle caravan on the back I find the thought of coming down the Berrydale on the road to wick with no engine braking available to be a major worry having driven it in a lorry and seen the smoke pouring off the trailer brakes there.

This is classed as a feature by VCUK but one that I find unacceptable. Lets face it, how many of you shove your car to neutral and coast down hills??

Dont you fail your driving test for coasting??

It wasnt elaborated on when this modification was introduced to the gearbox and the automatic downshift removed but mine was an MY08 so if you're contemplating a geartronic 'box in your next towcar you may want to look at this feature carefully.

Hope somebody finds this of use.

regards

4WD

[Frank]

Hi 4wheeldriver - Thanks for the update.
I have 2005 xc90 geartronic and have been aware need for care when towing on hills. Owners manual touches on the subject in the section "Driving with trailer and automatic gearbox" . It says:

a) Avoid driving with trailer and automatic gearbox on inclines exceeding 15%
b) Select a low gear in the gearbox when driving on steep inclines or when driving slowly. This prevents the gearbox from upshifting

It also makes the general comment about brakes being greater loaded on long and steep downhil slopes and to downshift and adjust speed. This however should be applied to all towing vehicles.

I do try to avoid major hills but this is not always practical. Like you I tow many thousands of miles each year and like to visit the Lakes, Snowdonia, Scotland etc. I will also be doing a european tour this summer.

In future I will plan my towing routes with even more care.
Frank

[4wheeldriver]

Frank

When I demonstrated the concern to the engineer I was on 2 "moderate" hills and the xc90 with no trailer on and the car went to coast and increased speed by 10mph on the 1st and by nearly 15 mph on the second slightly steeper hill.

According to what Ive been told even if you downshift manually the geartronic will STILL take over and go into lock up after a while. There was no comment on how long it will take to do this though. Essentially it has the same effect as you pushing the clutch in and letting it coast.

As well as it does tow on the flat this "feature" still worries me given some of the hills I HAVE to traverse just to leave my home town and get to the south.

[dodgyken]

P3 V70 D5 + 1800KG + hill = no problems! Yet!!

I am always exceptionally cautious on any downhill in an automatic - having almost set fire to a set of pads in an old Mercedes W124 estate on a trip from Lenzerheide to Chur (check google maps).

The current V70 (mine) will tow more (in D5 form) as a Geartronic than as a manual - and in my experience is very good at it - uphill, flat, downhill.

I am next towing (to Wales) in 3 weeks - so will let you know.

[4wheeldriver]

Was just passing on the information as was explained to me by the engineer. Mine seems to go to "coasting" far too regularly, Falls out of 5th and occasionally 6th under foot off conditions. Told this is normal though even though the MY09 loan car I had for 5 weeks never suffered the same problems.

[TBird1]

I'm setting off on a 2 week run from Stranraer to Fortwilliam iwhere we will be staying in about 5 weeks time, Towing a 5 berth single axle using my 2003 v70 D5 2.4 which has Geartronic.

Never used an auto for hill work before - do the points made in the previous posts alos apply to this year ?

Cheers,

TBird1

[4wheeldriver]

Dont know t-bird. He never said when Volvo changed the gearbox design! The way they work now is to save overloading the gearbox on downhill runs as it was explained to me.

Seemingly they had people complain about "older" geartronic boxes and the downshifts on them hence the change to a box that is designed to go into lock up when on "foot off" for any period of time. Personally I feel its not a particularly good idea but then what do I know.......

Its funny that the other 3 autos that I've had never had to have this to prevent overload on the gearbox (Audi, BMW and Range Rover Sport) and all have changed down quite happily coming up to a junction or roundabout and have stayed in a gear to prevent too much over run on hills with out blowing up. Dont see why Volvo feel that they need to protect their gearbox so much.

perhaps other more knowledgable owners can tell us???

[dodgyken]

The gearbox is built by a Japanese company - can't remember the name off hand - but they were also the ones who built the ropey box that appeared in the Vauxhall Senator - and would self-destruct if you didn't keep the oil super cool.

I suspect the reason it locks-up so early is to do with economy.

[GSMGuy]

It's an Asin Warner box, well it is on mine - Borg Warner were a big name back in the 80's & 90's, but I presume they have been bought out by the Japanese....

I did 420miles a few weeks back in my XC90, towing a 1300kg single axle caravan, and never had a prob - However mine may be on the "old" software still, esp as it's a 5 rather than 6 speeder.

I regularly tow a twin wheel trailer, which loaded is approx 1800kg, or 92% of the weight of my car, without problems... 1800kg of trailer filled with lovely vegetable oil for my Biodiesel making

Mike

[4wheeldriver]

Suspect it could be a flannel job like to stop me complaining bout the box but the engineer did seem to be quite genuine and I AM a believer of take people at face value till you find out otherwise.