92 240 AW70 Transmission Late Shifting

Throughout the winter, my accelerator pedal seemed like it was freezing up
or something, but once you would stomp it down, it worked normally.
However, about a month ago I did this, and then when driving I noticed
that the transmission wasn't shifting into 2nd gear as usual. I revved it
up a bit, it shifted, and after that it worked fine.

The next time I drove it, it still was shifting late, but now it didn't
clear up. I have to get going 40 mph to get it to shift into 2nd gear, and
it will shift into 3rd at about 70 mph. It shifts pretty solidly, just not
at the right speeds.

I just did a complete 10 qt fluid push through the system using the return
line method like recommended at IPD Volvo, and unfortunately it didn't
help, although the old fluid looked pretty bad.

Tomorrow I intend to drop the transmission pan and change the filter
screen, but at this point I'm not very hopeful that it will correct the
condition.

Is there a chance that the throttle cable to the transmission was sticking
and subsequently broke (the sticking accelerator pedal)? If so could the
transmission throttle cable cause this late shifting behavior if it were
broken? Also, is there any kind of computer module which could be the
problem.

Just trying to hit all the cheap fixes before I go all in for a new
transmission. Any learned advice would be welcome.

 

No computer, just the cable. A common problem is for the control cable to
stick so it behaves as though the throttle is depressed more than it is.
Operate the throttle with your hand - the engine doesn't have to be
running - and watch the cable (the one that gets pulled tighter as the
throttle is opened) to see if it tries to go slack as you slowly release the
throttle. Lubrication with graphite is usually the fix. Please don't use
WD-40 if you value your sanity.

Mike

 

Your symptoms of a frozen accelorator cable are exactly those of a stiff or
seized kickdown cable which will be making the autobox behave as it is
doing..

Tim..

 

Thanks guys, that was some good advice if I ever heard some. I'm drinking
my coffee now and getting ready to go out and crawl under the thing to
change the filter screen today, so I will be sure and take a look at that
cable. Sounds to me like thats what is going on.

- Doug

 

The kickdown cable was definitely the culprit. I popped the hood and one
glance at the throttle spool told me something was up. The cable was slack
and was looped around one of the tabs on the spool. I fiddled around with
it and worked it back and forth for a bit and it freed it up.

When I went for a test drive it was shifting perfectly, and probably
better than before owing to that complete fluid flush yesterday. I'm not
going to change the transmission filter today since I dislike crawling
around in the snow and spring is on its way soon. I figure I will order a
new cable and replace it when I drop the transmission pan to change the
screen.

Thanks a ton for the timely advice. Once I knew what to look for that was
an easy fix and I doubt the transmission shop would have caught it. That
probably saved me $1500 for a completely needless transmission replacement.

- Doug

 

h what does WD40 do? not that I'm about to admit I did it.

 

Just doesn't work very well mostly, washes out any existing lube then mostly
evaporates itself, it's just too thin to provide much long term lubrication.

 

Well yeah, but often parts have aleady had grease or oil caked with dirt or
some rust and "washing" could be a good thing just to get it moving. Just
sounded like it eats seals or dilutes trans. fluid or something bad. For
mine some parts, like kickdown cables, don't want much lubrication at all...
mostly need to be clean.

 

WD-40 is pretty decent for the first year, but as oxygen works on it it
turns to a gum much like you see if you fail to wash a corn popper for a few
days (not that I'm about to admit I did that!)

Locks are the worst victims of WD-40. I've tried to clean out padlocks that
were WD-40'd but nothing seems to work. Using graphite then, especially my
favorite Lock Ease which is graphite in kerosene, only makes it gummier. At
that point the only thing that seems to work is more WD-40... kind of like
heroin for locks. Before it reaches the gummy stage I think any decent
cleaner, like brake cleaner, is okay for removing it. (Soft Scrub works on
corn poppers.)

Mike

 

Never known that to happen, maybe I just haven't noticed. You have to go
looking for graphite here (in Australia) it's nowhere near as ubiquitous as
WD40 & friends. Wonder if it has to do with lower temperatures or salt or
some other environmental?

 

That's always possible. My experiences with it have been pretty much limited
to the Phoenix area, where temperatures are high and humidity is low much of
the year. (There are only four months that have never reached 100F in
Phoenix, and the weathermen call anything below 110 "sunny." My favorite
forecast was "Tomorrow, sunny and cooler, high 113.")

Mike

 

Oh well it's not cold weather then. Sounds hotter than here.....
"Diary of Perth Weather (by a Pom)

August 31st: Just got transferred with work into our new home in Perth!! Now
this is a city that knows how to live!! Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy
evenings. What a place! I watched the sunset from a deck chair on the
verandah. It was beautiful. I've finally found my home. I love it here.

September 13th: Really heating up. Got to 35 today. Not a problem. Live in
an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to
see the sun everyday like this. I'm turning into a sun worshiper.

September 30th: Had the backyard landscaped with tropical plants today.
Lots of palms and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing lawn
for me. Another scorcher today, but I love it here.

October 10th: The temperature hasn't been below 30 all week. How do people
get used to this kind of heat? At least today it's kind of windy though.
But getting used to the heat is taking longer that I expected.

October 15th: Fell asleep by the pool. Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my
body. Missed 3 days of work. What a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson
though. Got to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this.

October 20th: I missed Kitty (our cat) sneaking into the car when I left
this morning. By the time I got to the hot car for lunch, Kitty had died
and swollen up to the size of a shopping bag and stank up the $3,000 leather
upholstery. I told the kids that she ran away. The car now smells like
Wiskettes and cat shit. I learned my lesson though. No more pets in this
heat.

October 25th: The wind sucks. It feels like a giant bloody blow dryer!!
And it's hot as hell. The home air-conditioner is on the blink and the AC
repairman charged $200 just to drive over and tell me he needed to order
parts.

October 30th: Been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bloody
$450,000 house and we can't even go inside. Why did I ever come here?

November 4th: It's 35 degrees. Finally got the ol' air-conditioner fixed
today. It cost $500 and gets the temperature down to 25, but this bloody
humidity makes the house feel like it's about 30. Stupid repairman. I hate
this stupid place.

November 8th: If another wise arse cracks, "Hot enough for you today?" I'm
going to strangle him. Bloody heat. By the time I get to work the car's
radiator was boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like
baked cat!!

November 9th: Tried to run some messages after work. Wore shorts, and sat
on the black leather seats in the ol' car. I thought my arse was on fire. I
lost 2 layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and my arse.
Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried arse, and baked cat.

November 10th: The weather report might as well be a bloody recording. Hot
and sunny. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. It's been too hot to do anything
for 2 damn months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week.
Doesn't it ever rain in this damn place? Water rationing will be next, so
my $2,000 worth of palms just might dry up and blow into the bloody pool.
Even the palms can't live in this heat.

November 14th: Welcome to HELL!!! Temperature got to 38 today. Now the
air-conditioner's gone in my car. The repairman came to fix it and said,
"Hot enough for you today?" My wife had to spend the $2,500 house payment to
bail my arse out of jail for assaulting the repairman. Bloody Perth.

What kind of a sick demented idiot would want to live here?
December 1st: WHAT????? This is the first day of Summer???? You are
fu*king kiddin g !

 

....

I lived in Phoenix when it was 50C (122F), spent a day working under the
hood on the A/C in my wife's Dodge when it reached 48C (119F), and remember
a morning when the overnight low temperature was 34C (93F). My wife and I
were working at a Cub Scout event in the desert the earliest day on record
the temperature exceeded 100F (38C)... the first Saturday in spring. I am
*so* glad to be out of Phoenix.

Mike

 

There are many places here like that, Perth is not so extreme. In the places
similar to what you describe, work is often dictated by whether you can
touch your tools - they have 3 taps on the showers... one is chilled water.