Interesting/unusual transmission issue after oil change. Ais

[Lenarmova]

Hello,

I have bought a 2017 V90 2.0l D4 Volvo with 100k miles. It was in excellent condition, both interior and exterior. As a resonable new car owner I changed all the oils with genuine Volvo products (warmed up the transmission to 140 Fahrenheit (60 Celcius) flushed to the correct level 5 times until the oil was as clear as new). The old oil was totally black and I suspect it was never changed. The new oil made the gear changes so smooth, I could not feel them, so I was very pleased with the new oil.

However, after some time I’ve noticed an issue. After the oil change, when the car is cold and the temperature outside is around freezing, the car feels like it does not “engage” the gears. When I drive with a cold engine the revs go high and the transmission is reluctant to change the gears. It feels actually like a scooter, the car drives and the RPMs increases, but after a gear change, the RPMs drop a little, then go high to the same place where it was with the last gear. Also there is no engine braking while this issue persists.

The car drives and after some time of “heating up“ the transmission while driving (around 5 minutes) the transmission suddenly fixes itself, starts engaging the gears normally and is very smooth.

if I warm up the car on a D gear for around 5 minutes while in a parking lot, the car drives normally, right from the start.

When I went to the dealer they have said that you should have never changed the transmission oil if it has never been changed regularly as it often creates more issues with the transmissions. After asking about this issue of the dealer, they have said that they have never heard about this issue with their Volvo client cars before.

Also I’ve noticed that sometimes when I climb a steepish hill, suddenly on around 4th gear, a some sort of semi-loud chirping sound appear from the transmission, it does not affect the driving, but you know that this sound shouldn’t be there. It goes away if I speed up, or better, if I release my gas pedal a little and usually it does not come back. I have not noticed this sound when I’m driving on a level ground or downhill.

All the transmission resets and updates were done at the dealer.

Have you guys ever heard about this transmission issue? I couldn’t find such an issue on the forums. What are your thoughts on what could be causing this?

Help would be extremely appreciated.

[Backinavolvo]

Just a thought, assuming all the resets were done (cannot be done easily on SPA), it sounds perhaps like the fluid level is a touch too low? That would explain why everything behaves once warm as the fluid has expanded slightly. I am only talking a small amount of course.

This is just a guess/thought, get proper advise!

I have changed my fluid 3 times no issues (Dealer kindly resets gearbox for me with a regular service)

[nu11eaf]

It is quite normal for the gearbox to hang on to low gears longer and increase revs on cold starts in very cold weather until oil temperature increases. It is designed to do this. I believe it is to get engine to optimum efficiency to reduce emissions.

[mannyo1221]

Originally Posted by nu11eaf

It is quite normal for the gearbox to hang on to low gears longer and increase revs on cold starts in very cold weather until oil temperature increases. It is designed to do this. I believe it is to get engine to optimum efficiency to reduce emissions.

Mine does this, always has since I owned it. When air temp temp is less than say 8c, and the engine is cold the gearbox holds gears much longer than you would expect, once the engine starts to warm up, normal service resumes.

its much more noticeable the colder the ambient air temperature gets.

[KarolisG]

Hey Lenarmova, welcome to the club
So I have same 2017 V90 2.0l D4 bought it in 2020 with 113k miles on the clock currently almost 160k.. I service my car every year in Volvo just to have stamp I guess and service it by my self in between, so I can say I look after my brick.. Anyway I've changed Gearbox oil already twice 1st time I did it (around 120k) oil was exactly like you said completely black and I believe I've posted it somewhere in this forum, 2nd time (150k) was better. I've done all resets and box adaptation with my Autel MaxiCOM diagnostic tool and all that.. Now let me tell you something from my own experience. 1st of all Volvo and any other manufacturer out there should stop talking **** that you should not change your gearbox oil or its sealed for life or what ever BS they advertise... Sealed for what life? 60k miles or 3 years which ever comes first?? yeah right what about after when it gets to 100k and up? AAA yeah right when it breaks you will be happy to hand your customer a bill with stupid amount written on it.. It needs to be done and it needs to be done regularly.. 2nd Most of mechanics working in big corporate companies like Volvo Mercedes BMW you name it.. they will read a book or screen in front of them and tell you what's wrong with your car without even looking at your car, why you might ask because that's what pays them salaries... Anyway I feel like I completely trashed Volvo here Sorry I still love my brick So coming back to cold start gearbox not engaging gears its completely NORMAL for any car and I have it too, (matter of fact one of my friends was concerned about his 2016 MB E class behaving exact same in cold weather, its completely NORMAL) Think about it for a sec.. When oil heats up viscosity changes, AUTO gearbox is pretty complex piece of engineering with a lot of moving parts in it.. that's why when you change Gearbox oil, on final fill you need to warm up gearbox to 50-55 degrees and then you drain excess oil.. So when you say Dealer told you that they never heard of this issue before(which is not even an issue), it just makes me think are they really that stupid or they think that you're stupid and trying to take an advantage of you by saying "bring your car for inspection" which going to cost you x amount and we will take it from there?!? Once more I apologise if I insulted anyone, love you guys