1992 240 No fourth gear...

  • Thread starter Thread starter mkivela
  • Start date Start date
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mkivela

Hello:

I've tried the stuff I could find on the web, now I'm a bit stumped.

I have a 1992 Volvo 240, 151,000 miles. Automatic.

One day, I'm going down the road, the "Up Arrow" turns on, car
downshifts...

I play with the button, it doesn't go off. A random bump later, it
goes off and upshifts. Another random bump, we're stuck in 3rd again.

Next couple of mornings, started off w/o the Up Arrow...mile or so down
the road Up Arrow goes on, car downshifts.

As I understand it, my car has a 4 speed automatic, with 4th being
essentially a 1:1 gearing. So it's not a true overdrive, still it's my
highest gear.

I pulled the o/d relay. I thought that fixed the problem...but either
it didn't or it was just temporary.

Without the relay, I don't get the Up Arrow...but I can tell the car
isn't using 4th. Today did a number of stop-and-starts getting up to
60mph...I can feel the shift to 2nd, the shift to 3rd...then I don't
feel or hear another shift.

Stopped at a "local" (15 miles) Volvo garage since a dealership is a
special trip for me -- not bad, but still an hour's drive. Picked up a
new relay just off the delivery truck.

Plug it in, UP arrow goes on. Grrrrrr. Not quite ready to go back to
the dealership to claim it's defective though...could something else be
happening?

Took out my meter and determined the following to be true:

On the socket, referencing the pins on the relay:

Pin 15: Always hot.
Pin 86: Hot when I depress the o/d lockout switch on the transmission
shift.
Pin 87a: Hot when the relay is out; I can't get a probe in on it
easily to test with the relay in position.
Pin 87: Cold
Pin 31: Cold

Putting the relay most of the way in, everything stays the same (except
I can't test 87a). I get power on pin 15, I get power on Pin 86 when I
depress the switch...although both cases the voltage is significantly
lower w/relay then w/out (assuming it's finding a lower resistance
path...). Talking 2-3 volts v. 12+ volts just with the empty socket.
I'm not metering anything on pin 87 or 31...although if my theory why
the voltage is lower (path of least resistance) goes out one of those,
maybe my meter just is not an attractive alternative...

I don't even mind at this point if there was just a way to bypass the
o/d lockout -- and always have 4th gear available. Car desn't tow or
see mountains...I have a pickup truck for that stuff!

Thanks!

Matt
 
Hello:

I've tried the stuff I could find on the web, now I'm a bit stumped.

I have a 1992 Volvo 240, 151,000 miles. Automatic.

One day, I'm going down the road, the "Up Arrow" turns on, car
downshifts...

I play with the button, it doesn't go off. A random bump later, it
goes off and upshifts. Another random bump, we're stuck in 3rd again.

Next couple of mornings, started off w/o the Up Arrow...mile or so down
the road Up Arrow goes on, car downshifts.

As I understand it, my car has a 4 speed automatic, with 4th being
essentially a 1:1 gearing. So it's not a true overdrive, still it's my
highest gear.

I pulled the o/d relay. I thought that fixed the problem...but either
it didn't or it was just temporary.

Without the relay, I don't get the Up Arrow...but I can tell the car
isn't using 4th. Today did a number of stop-and-starts getting up to
60mph...I can feel the shift to 2nd, the shift to 3rd...then I don't
feel or hear another shift.

Stopped at a "local" (15 miles) Volvo garage since a dealership is a
special trip for me -- not bad, but still an hour's drive. Picked up a
new relay just off the delivery truck.

Plug it in, UP arrow goes on. Grrrrrr. Not quite ready to go back to
the dealership to claim it's defective though...could something else be
happening?

Took out my meter and determined the following to be true:

On the socket, referencing the pins on the relay:

Pin 15: Always hot.
Pin 86: Hot when I depress the o/d lockout switch on the transmission
shift.
Pin 87a: Hot when the relay is out; I can't get a probe in on it
easily to test with the relay in position.
Pin 87: Cold
Pin 31: Cold

Putting the relay most of the way in, everything stays the same (except
I can't test 87a). I get power on pin 15, I get power on Pin 86 when I
depress the switch...although both cases the voltage is significantly
lower w/relay then w/out (assuming it's finding a lower resistance
path...). Talking 2-3 volts v. 12+ volts just with the empty socket.
I'm not metering anything on pin 87 or 31...although if my theory why
the voltage is lower (path of least resistance) goes out one of those,
maybe my meter just is not an attractive alternative...

I don't even mind at this point if there was just a way to bypass the
o/d lockout -- and always have 4th gear available. Car desn't tow or
see mountains...I have a pickup truck for that stuff!

Thanks!

Matt
Click to expand...



This is such a common issue I'm amazed you didn't find the answer online.

Pop the cover off that relay, look at the circuit board and you'll see
cracks around the big pins in the solder joints. If you have a soldering
iron and some rosin core solder just heat up those joints and flow a bit
of fresh solder in them, if you don't then take it to any TV repair shop
and ask them to reflow the cracked solder joints for you. Another option
is to just replace the relay but they're about 50 bucks. You can bypass
the relay with a jumper but it's so easy to fix I really see no reason
to monkey around with modifying the setup.
 
Hello:

I've tried the stuff I could find on the web, now I'm a bit stumped.

I have a 1992 Volvo 240, 151,000 miles. Automatic.

One day, I'm going down the road, the "Up Arrow" turns on, car
downshifts...

I play with the button, it doesn't go off. A random bump later, it
goes off and upshifts. Another random bump, we're stuck in 3rd again.

Next couple of mornings, started off w/o the Up Arrow...mile or so down
the road Up Arrow goes on, car downshifts.

As I understand it, my car has a 4 speed automatic, with 4th being
essentially a 1:1 gearing. So it's not a true overdrive, still it's my
highest gear.

I pulled the o/d relay. I thought that fixed the problem...but either
it didn't or it was just temporary.

Without the relay, I don't get the Up Arrow...but I can tell the car
isn't using 4th. Today did a number of stop-and-starts getting up to
60mph...I can feel the shift to 2nd, the shift to 3rd...then I don't
feel or hear another shift.

Stopped at a "local" (15 miles) Volvo garage since a dealership is a
special trip for me -- not bad, but still an hour's drive. Picked up a
new relay just off the delivery truck.

Plug it in, UP arrow goes on. Grrrrrr. Not quite ready to go back to
the dealership to claim it's defective though...could something else be
happening?

Took out my meter and determined the following to be true:

On the socket, referencing the pins on the relay:

Pin 15: Always hot.
Pin 86: Hot when I depress the o/d lockout switch on the transmission
shift.
Pin 87a: Hot when the relay is out; I can't get a probe in on it
easily to test with the relay in position.
Pin 87: Cold
Pin 31: Cold

Putting the relay most of the way in, everything stays the same (except
I can't test 87a). I get power on pin 15, I get power on Pin 86 when I
depress the switch...although both cases the voltage is significantly
lower w/relay then w/out (assuming it's finding a lower resistance
path...). Talking 2-3 volts v. 12+ volts just with the empty socket.
I'm not metering anything on pin 87 or 31...although if my theory why
the voltage is lower (path of least resistance) goes out one of those,
maybe my meter just is not an attractive alternative...

I don't even mind at this point if there was just a way to bypass the
o/d lockout -- and always have 4th gear available. Car desn't tow or
see mountains...I have a pickup truck for that stuff!

Thanks!

Matt
Click to expand...

Aside from the relay, you may want to check the wiring from
the switch, to the relay and to the solenoid, especially the
section that runs along the floor. It's prone to degrading.
 
Hello:

I've tried the stuff I could find on the web, now I'm a bit stumped.
Click to expand...

Usually this is caused by the wiring between the shifter mechanism and
the side of the transmission failing. I think IPD sells a kit to
mechanically bypass the whole silly switch and just let the automatic
transmission do it's job. I don't see any reason to disable the 4-th
gear overdrive ratio except perhaps when pulling a trailer.

John
 
Hello:

I've tried the stuff I could find on the web, now I'm a bit stumped.

I have a 1992 Volvo 240, 151,000 miles. Automatic.

One day, I'm going down the road, the "Up Arrow" turns on, car
downshifts...

I play with the button, it doesn't go off. A random bump later, it
goes off and upshifts. Another random bump, we're stuck in 3rd again.

Next couple of mornings, started off w/o the Up Arrow...mile or so down
the road Up Arrow goes on, car downshifts.

As I understand it, my car has a 4 speed automatic, with 4th being
essentially a 1:1 gearing. So it's not a true overdrive, still it's my
highest gear.

I pulled the o/d relay. I thought that fixed the problem...but either
it didn't or it was just temporary.

Without the relay, I don't get the Up Arrow...but I can tell the car
isn't using 4th. Today did a number of stop-and-starts getting up to
60mph...I can feel the shift to 2nd, the shift to 3rd...then I don't
feel or hear another shift.

Stopped at a "local" (15 miles) Volvo garage since a dealership is a
special trip for me -- not bad, but still an hour's drive. Picked up a
new relay just off the delivery truck.

Plug it in, UP arrow goes on. Grrrrrr. Not quite ready to go back to
the dealership to claim it's defective though...could something else be
happening?

Took out my meter and determined the following to be true:

On the socket, referencing the pins on the relay:

Pin 15: Always hot.
Pin 86: Hot when I depress the o/d lockout switch on the transmission
shift.
Pin 87a: Hot when the relay is out; I can't get a probe in on it
easily to test with the relay in position.
Pin 87: Cold
Pin 31: Cold

Putting the relay most of the way in, everything stays the same (except
I can't test 87a). I get power on pin 15, I get power on Pin 86 when I
depress the switch...although both cases the voltage is significantly
lower w/relay then w/out (assuming it's finding a lower resistance
path...). Talking 2-3 volts v. 12+ volts just with the empty socket.
I'm not metering anything on pin 87 or 31...although if my theory why
the voltage is lower (path of least resistance) goes out one of those,
maybe my meter just is not an attractive alternative...

I don't even mind at this point if there was just a way to bypass the
o/d lockout -- and always have 4th gear available. Car desn't tow or
see mountains...I have a pickup truck for that stuff!

Thanks!

Matt
Click to expand...

With your voltage drop, it sounds like your fuse is corroded. Try
cleaning/replacing the overdrive fuse (#11?).

You're not getting anything on pin 31, because it's the ground for the
relay.
You're not getting anything on pin 87, because it's connected to the
solenoid.
If you make a jumper to connect pin 15 (power from the fuse) to pin 87,
then your overdrive relay will be bypassed.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)
 
With your voltage drop, it sounds like your fuse is corroded. Try
cleaning/replacing the overdrive fuse (#11?).
Click to expand...

Thank You!!!! That was it.

I'm kicking myself now..I'm far too young to be going senile.

I should've figured it out

Not only have I had fuse issues before on the car (after this, I think
I'm just gonna go to NAPA on Saturday, buy enough to replace all the
older ones, and clean the terminals, too).

But I even used to play around with electronics...I thought the voltage
drop was odd and probably important but I just didn't engage the brain
to think it through!

Well, $60 relay later, problem was resolved with a 25 cent fuse...
 
Thank You!!!! That was it.

I'm kicking myself now..I'm far too young to be going senile.

I should've figured it out

Not only have I had fuse issues before on the car (after this, I think
I'm just gonna go to NAPA on Saturday, buy enough to replace all the
older ones, and clean the terminals, too).

But I even used to play around with electronics...I thought the voltage
drop was odd and probably important but I just didn't engage the brain
to think it through!

Well, $60 relay later, problem was resolved with a 25 cent fuse...
Click to expand...


I hadn't thought of the fuses either and should have since that's a
common issue. Scrub the contacts and brush on some dielectric grease,
it'll prevent them from oxidizing in the future. I'm not real fond of
the fuse panel design in the 240, though it is easy to access and work
on, if the panel in a 700 melts it's an enormous job to replace it.
 
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