See full version: Transmission. Automatic AW70 and ZF
Fill Tube Removal. Removal. [Editor] What should be a simple task while removing the pan often turns into a major nightmare because the fill tube nut seizes up. If this happens to you, try to remove the nut but realize that you can pull the pan with the fill tube still installed:
The mount will come off, and the tail housing will be clearly visible. Four bolts (14mm I think) hold the housing to the main body of the tranny. The top and bottom bolts are different lengths, so note where they came from. With a little gentle persuasion, the housing will come off. On my particular car, the PO slid it into a ditch and caught the end of the center mount bolt which cracked the housing. This also saved me the trouble of taking off the L mounting bracket. It won't have to come off if you just plan to replace the seal. The seal is easy to get to and *looks* like you could pry it out with a screwdriver, but I have never tried this. You're going to end up with a roughly 6x6x8 inch housing which you can work on at your leisure. If you don`t have the tools to remove/replace the bushing, you can just bring the housing to almost any auto service shop and they will be able to press a new one in for a few bucks. Plan for about 2 hours under the car to get it out. If the gods of rusted bolts are on your side, it could be done in 45 minutes or so, I'd guess. Nothing is particularly difficult about the operation. Although I recently told someone to shoot me if I ever said it, installation is the reverse of removal (BOOM). See orientation notes below. The center flange bolt only holds the flange to the shaft; no pre-tensioning or any of that other technical stuff. here
Any Bands to Adjust? [Inquiry:] I recently acquired a Volvo with an AW-70 in good condition from my brother-in-law. I am planning to flush the ATF and replace the filter in the near future. My friend suggested adjusting the bands while I have pan off. Is this a reasonable thing to do? Does the AW70 even have adjustable bands?
Non-Turbo Transmission in Turbo Car? Can the non turbo tranny be put into a turbo car? [Dale Walmsley] ] I'm running an AW71L in my 740T and would not recommend it. The L is not designed to shift like the standard AW71 under the full power of a turbo engine. [John Martin] I believe consensus here and on turbobricks is that you should stick to the AW71 used in the Turbo cars. It has more robust internals than the AW70 (used on non-turbo 240) and AW71L (used on non-turbo 740/940). I found an equal number of Turbo and non-turbo 940's out in the yards when I was tranny-shopping a few months ago. The trick is finding a wrecked car. And you should absolutely drop the pan and check for chunks first. 1993-1995 will have the roller-bearing tailshafts, which is a nice improvement.
[Another OD Symptom:] I have a '93 940T with an AW71L transmission (or so I've been told. ) Today I was driving on the highway and it momentarily dropped out of overdrive into 3rd, at the time I was at minimal throttle. I dismissed that as a hiccup. An hour later (after making a couple of stops)I began driving and I noticed that the tranny would not go into OD, 3rd gear was the max. All of the other shifts are perfect. I tried pressing the OD cancel button a few times, and I checked the related fuses - no changes. Am I looking at replacing the overdrive solenoid on the tranny? If so, can anyone give me a part# and/or approx. price? [Response: Abe Crombie] It is an AW71 no L. The turbos didn't get the locking torque converter feature. The trouble sounds like the typical OD relay failure. The relay is behind the ashtray in the fuse/relay panel. I believe it is white on that car and square in profile. The fuel system relay is the one to the left that is rectangular.
Auto Trans Overdrive Problems: Solenoid. [Diagnosis: S. SteveSakiyama] There have been a few posts on autotrans overdrive problems (won't shift into 4th) when the brick is cold. The problem disappears when the car warms up. I posted my experience a month ago in response to another member who was having the same difficulty. I'll repeat a summarized version here.
This applies to automatics, don't know about manuals. I have an AW71 in my 85, 245 Ti. When cold it would not go into 4th (OD) until the car had been driven for 10 minutes. This would happen more and more frequently until it was a regular pattern. Sick gut feelings (is a major repair needed?) usually accompanied this problem. I checked/dealt with fluids, OD relay, wiring, and downshift cable but the ultimate problem was overdrive solenoid switch which sits on the tranny. I bench tested it, and it seemed fine. However an experienced tranny tech said "it just doesn't sound and feel right". Replaced it with a used one (with the two inner o-rings), and the brick is fine.
AW-71 Overdrive Malfunction: Fluid Blockage. [Query:] I hope to find someone who understands the inner workings of the AW71 auto transmission. About a month ago, mine stopped shifting into 4th (overdrive). Once in a while it still works when fully warmed up but not always. I've replaced the OD relay with a new one but no change. I then pulled the OD solenoid which appears to be closed when not energized. I replaced the O-rings and reinstalled but no change. Before I buy a new solenoid, I would like to ask the following questions:
1) Is the OD solenoid involved in the normal operation of the trans or does it merely allow the disabling of fourth gear via the switch on the shifter?
2) When operating normally (OD not disabled) does fluid flow through the OD solenoid or is it blocked?
3) When the solenoid is not energized, is it open (to fluid flow) or is it closed?
4) Other than the OD solenoid, what could be causing my problem?
By the way, it's got 147K miles on the clock.
[Response 1: Scott] My first guess is the OD solenoid. The solenoid is naturally closed cutting off the fluid flow necessary for 4th gear. When energized OD on/light out the solenoid opens up and allows the trans to shift into 4th. The first test is to park in a quiet place open the drivers door and switch the OD on and off while listening for a click under the car. If you don't here it it is bad. If you do hear a click that does not necessarily mean it is good. Also check the wiring under the car to the solenoid. It tends to deteriorate near the shifter. [Response 2: Brian Oliver] I learned about the inner workings of the AW71 when we had this problem on our 87 740. It smelled too much like a control problem so I messed with the downshift cable (no effect), had the OD solenoid wiring checked (100%, oddly, as this is the typical culprit) and even took the car to a transmission shop, who suggested a valve body overhaul. New fluid and diddling the level had no effect.
Finally my wise old Volvo mechanic suggested that the plumbing internal to the solenoid unit, which has a right angle turn at the valve seat, could be plugging up. Problem: On my car the bolts may have been seized, and if one breaks then the transmission has to come off just to drill out the broken bolt. I took the chance, and half an hour later the solenoid unit was off, blown clear with compressed air (energized, I think, to open the passage) and reinstalled. The transmission worked perfectly.
Transmission Output Shaft Bushing. Why Replace the Seal and Bushing?
. we replaced ours ('89 745) a few months ago, at approx. 115,000 miles. Why? I noticed that the output shaft was spraying a bit of oil onto the underside of the car. and my experience teaches me that such leaks only get worse, plus tailshaft play accelerates other wear. more
[Procedural Notes from Bill Lauber:] VOLVO AW70 REAR BUSHING REPLACEMENT [links]
Regarding Volvo Automatic transmission AW70 rear bushing replacement . I found significant play in the end shaft and proceeded to get the parts from my local Volvo dealer. The bushing was quoted at $36 with the seal at $11 and the gasket for about $5. I checked the yellow pages for a automatic transmission parts house .. found one and learned the following. They carried every thing I needed, the only difference being I carried the parts out for a total including tax of $9.70. A entire rebuild kit for the Volvo automatic was quoted at $108.00 and the dealer said the Volvo AW70 was one rebuild an individual could be successful with. I have installed the bushing, seal and gasket and all is working well. [links]
AW-71 Auto Trans Output Bushing Orientation Question. [Query:] In replacing the auto trans output bushing, which way does the hole in the bushing go? [Response: Patrick Petrella] I did get the bearing issue resolved. Ended up talking with a mechanic in Colorado, who seemed to know what he was talking about. Volvo was essentially no help. Someone sent me jpegs of two pages out of the Volvo trans shop manual, which clearly stated that the new bearings come with no hole in the side. I went back to the parts counter at Volvo and was shown that all their bearings HAD the side hole. A never-ending spiral of confusion. So this Colorado mechanic said he had done this repair on many AW71 trans, and that the orientation of the side hole was not critical, but should NOT be lined up with either slot in the tailshaft housing. He puts the sleeve bearing in with the hole at the top. So that's what I did. I would like to know what the hole is for. Maybe used during manufacture of the bearing, with nothing to do with operation?
AW-70/71 Hard Shifts. [Great Tip from Toni Arte] The AW71 in my '86 740 used to shift very hard from 1st to 2nd gear. This shift is the first shift and it usually happens at about 20 km/h (depends on how hard you accelerate). It felt almost like getting rear-ended. Nothing really helped. I tried to adjust the kick-down cable, change the fluid etc. Then I heard that this is a common problem on AW70 series transmission.
The real cause for this problem is a worn valve ball in the transmission valve body. This ball is the "15C" in the picture. This is a picture of the lower valve body. A replacement valve ball is available, you can order it from your local Volvo dealer. The part number is 1377746-1 (small blue valve ball). [links]
The majority of Lock's tight window throws are up against the sideline, in 9 ball situations. In that context, despite his arm talent, Lock struggles to regularly run the football safe (protected from the DB) and accordingly leaves passes to be batted, intercepted, or out of the WR's cylinder of play. It's one thing to have arm strength, but you need to be able to uncover man-on-man receivers downfield when you get one-on-one matchups in the NFL. [links]
Now those numbers can get skewed because of sample size concerns, but that's okay -- as I chart more passes for Lock, evne though those numbers may normalize and regress to a mean, we should still expect that mean to remain higher relative to other members of the class. more
As it stands, Lock is simply an inconsistent player in terms of accuracy. He makes some bone-headed mental errors that don't help, but his arm is wild and when he goes to recruit velocity, he leaves balls hanging too far outside or drives them into the turf. The biggest get for Lock this week would be not glaring in comparison with some of his steadier companions, like Gardner Minshew or Ryan Finley.
While I don't think that Lock's arm is as powerful as many seem to think, his greatest strength is still his velocity and reach down the field. Lock can hit 20+ yard windows on a rope, and does well to attack downfield windows before closing safeties can affect the catch point.
Lock's ball placement falls under two benchmarks that you really like to see, from the CQ. His accuracy beyond the line of scrimmage is under .9, and his placement is under .6.
Contextualized Quarterbacking is a charting method that helps break down what to expect from the Draft-eligible quarterbacks. By tracking things like ball placement, depth of target, progressions, and throws into tight windows, the CQ can answer questions about which systems helps certain quarterbacks in certain ways. First up? Missouri QB Drew Lock.
Took it to the dealer today. Nothing recorded on car's computer. They can't/won't do anything.
2) Mirrors shakin like grandma w/too much caffeine.
4) 10 days later #3 happens again.