I have a 1991 740. This car has 129000 miles on it and the automatic transmission is now not shifting into overdrive. The fluid is clean and not burned at all- all other shifts are normal-any suggestions?

Thanks

Had the same problem twice. First time I resoldered OD relay (as many will suggest) and resolved. About a year later the solenoid crapped out. This can be bypassed with a Dremel tool for a temporary fix or replaced if you can find a used one. New ones are a little pricey. What does the orange arrow light indicate, on or off??

Dave:

I once had the same problem. Open the door, turn the key so all the dash warnings light up, then twist the rubber-covered door chime switch to stop the racket. Now listen as you push the overdrive button on the gear selector. If the thing is working you'll hear a click from underneath the car. If not your problems are either selector switch bad, relay in center console not working, no power to the system, or bad solenoid on the trans. (The solenoid has one wire on it, and is held on by two 10mm bolts. A 10-minute fix, really.) The solenoid proved to be the problem on my car. Of course, if you hear the solenoid from underneath the car, then you may have real troubles...

Steve

I just had my 1990 740 serviced for the same thing. The garage replaced a solenoid in the transmission.

It's all a question of time and money. I took my OD solenoid out, found the broken joint at the #87 connector on the board, cleaned and resoldered it. Took about 15 minutes once I figured out where the hidden screws were on the coin tray above the ash tray. I did this at the suggestion of my Volvo dealers parts department because it seems to be a fairly common problem after a certain number of thermal cycles.

Is there a little orange upward-pointing arrow lit up in your dash?

-Mike

88 740 248k

I have a 240 auto SW doing the same thing. The Arrow light on the dash is on when I start the car and will sometimes go off after driving 10 miles (and the overdrive engages). The arrow light will randomly come on from time to time.

Had the same problem twice. First time I resoldered OD relay (as many will suggest) and resolved. About a year later the solenoid crapped out. This can be bypassed with a Dremel tool for a temporary fix or replaced if you can find a used one. New ones are a little pricey.