AW 55-50 Transmission Glad to help!

[silverback02]

Nick44.

Cheers mate.

Joe.

[easyonthegas]

Also have aw55-50 problem with harsh changedown from 6th to 5th (thud heard) especially when towing - sometimes even going into neutral. Geartronic operation and all other changes fine.
Checked at Volvo dealer yesterday who gave me fault code TCM 0002 indicating solenoids problems. If any solutions out these I would be grateful to know or contacts in N England of who can now help, as Volvo dealer quoting new box at over £4k
Once sorted, I will let you all know!

S60 (06) geartronic

[Chris_Rogers]

AW55 is a 5 speed box, 6th to 5th?

[aitch]

Joined the forum today and overjoyed to find that my V70 is nt the only one in the world with an auto gearbox fault.I have a 2000 V70 T5 with 130,000 miles and it is slow to change from 3rd to 4th, only when cold.Once warm the fault does nt occur again.
I had the transmission fluid changed recently and it seemed improved for a couple of weeks,now its slipped back to its good old ways.I m wondering if its worth changing the fluid again as perhaps I did nt get all flushed through the first time or could it need the B4 solenoid changed as described by member MDS.
I have a "tame" mechanic and more transmission fluid,any ideas?

Thanks so much,
Aitch

[mds]

Remember these boxes are electronically controlled, changes are delayed when the box is cold to aid warm up (normally not noticeable in day to day driving) once the ATF is reaching optimum temperature all should be smooth.

The B4 solenoid will give different symptoms, flaring (revs rise rapidly to 3/4000rpm) between 2-3rd changes. Plus this will happen at all temperatures.

Sadly these boxes seem to have gained a reputation for unreliability (yet they are fitted to the Toyota Camry and Corolla which gained a reputation for being among the worlds most boringly reliable car). What tends to get lost is it is a piece of mechanical equipment and it must be maintained. My own experience having owned and run several cars at a time is even the main dealers seems confused about maintaining them, I have been told they are "Sealed for life" I have been told the "ATF lasts the life of the car" (short and sudden then)
One of our engineers cars started to have issues and after a lot of too'ing and fro'ing and research we carried out our own ATF flush in 2001 on a MY2000 V70 T5 AW55-50 SN we also had to change the B4 as the flaring was there.

Ever since we carried out Oil/Filter changes every 5000 miles and Auto Box flush every 30000 miles (we always get the Dealer to check software and rest the fluid counter after each flush) and touch a tree or two I have not experienced any issues.
For the record the engineer who's car had issues at 40k kept the car when we sold the business he still has it now well over 200k (and he tows a Caravan)
My wife's MY2000 V70T5 is still smooth at 128k and my own V70 T5 Geartronic has no issues, so good maintenance is the Key.

Unfortunately a "Full Dealer History" doesn't necessarily mean the gearbox has been maintained.

War & Peace The End

[easyonthegas]

The gearbox plate states usual AISIN, but the type is TF-80SC with serial number starting 05L. Handbook states it is aw55-50 but stand to be corrected. Definately 6 speed geartronic

On another note a specialist now tells me a need a oil cooler plus oil additive to correct my problem. Very doubtful about this - anyone else have these extra bits fitted to their box??

[prionailurus]

Originally Posted by easyonthegas

On another note a specialist now tells me a need a oil cooler plus oil additive to correct my problem. Very doubtful about this - anyone else have these extra bits fitted to their box??

Our boxes don't have oil coolers!?...
I thought I'd just not seen it yet - that's a must before any remap.

[Jim314]

Originally Posted by easyonthegas

The gearbox plate states usual AISIN, but the type is TF-80SC with serial number starting 05L. Handbook states it is aw55-50 but stand to be corrected. Definately 6 speed geartronic

On another note a specialist now tells me a need a oil cooler plus oil additive to correct my problem. Very doubtful about this - anyone else have these extra bits fitted to their box??

The oil cooler the mechanic is talking about is an auxiliary cooler placed in front of the a/c condenser (which is in front of the radiator). These auxiliary coolers are generally only needed for towing a caravan. Oftentimes they come OE as part of a towing package.

All automatic tranny vehicles come with a tranny oil cooler in the radiator. The hot ATF is cooled by the engine coolant in the radiator, usually the cooler is a coil of tubing inside the left side end tank. You should see two hoses about a foot apart connected to the left back side of the cooling system radiator.

When an auxiliary cooler is fitted the fluid flows through both coolers in series. There is some debate as to whether it is better for the hot fluid from the tranny to flow first through the radiator cooler and then through the auxiliary cooler or the other way round.

I don't know for sure, but I think the ATF in the 6-spd Aisin is full synthetic, and it may really last over 100 kmi. I think the OE ATF in the 5-spd trannies is not synthetic. It is possible that one could fill the 5-spd trannies with the fluid for the 6-speed and it would last three or four times longer than the non-synthetic.

[prionailurus]

ah, so its the same as the Saab 9000s I had, ok. As I remember, the ATF lasted better with an extra cooler in place, so I might source one, removing the side-cooler before it (possibly) splits inside...I hope the rad is good for more than 170k miles
cheers for the info, lets keep these boxes tip-top!

[Chris_Rogers]

Originally Posted by easyonthegas

The gearbox plate states usual AISIN, but the type is TF-80SC with serial number starting 05L. Handbook states it is aw55-50 but stand to be corrected. Definately 6 speed geartronic

On another note a specialist now tells me a need a oil cooler plus oil additive to correct my problem. Very doubtful about this - anyone else have these extra bits fitted to their box??

Different gearbox to the AW55

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AWTF-80_SC
Note:
It utilises a special AW-1 transmission fluid which is labelled as being maintenance free!