After I drive the car for a while on the highway or city traffic for 20 minutes or so I will apply the brake for a stop and the car will stay in 3rd gear until the engine almost dies then it shifts hard into first. I had the tranny flushed and this has not helped the problem. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

Bet you a million bucks the torque converter lock-up solenoid is sticking. The only option is to replace it, runs about $250 at the dealer. The solenoid is referred to as "Solenoid SL" and is located in the valve body of the transmission. If you drop the pan, it's the front-most solenoid in a line of four. Symptoms of failure are exactly as you describe.

Lance

We're having a very similar problem with our '92 960. I particularly notice the problem when driving around town, going fairly slow, then slowing down for a stop. I am going to look into the suggestions Herb Goltz made in January to "bobp" regarding the same problem in his '89 700 series. Didn't the 900 series replace the 700 series? Have you learned anything since your inquiry?

Your lockup solenoid is also sticking. The problem is aggravated by extreme transmission heat, which is why you notice it more in stop and go traffic, city driving, mountain driving, etc. The AW30/40 transmission is unique to the 960. The 700 series cars all used the AW7* transmissions, which are not electronically controlled like the 30/40.

Lance

I have an appointment to have the transmission looked at by someone claiming to be a specialist. I will let you know the outcome.

FYI- Volvo will probably tell you that you need to replace the transmission...that's what they told me. In reality, it's a small little solenoid that goes bad, but the Volvo tech. probably won't want to do that much investigation. I'm still sticking to my million-dollar bet that it's the lockup solenoid sticking.

Lance

Volvo had a problem with the torque converter solenoid sticking on 92 960s and published a service bulletin for it. Check the archives. Someone reported on this in the last 6 weeks. Might also be in FAQ.

Do you know the location of the service bulletin? I have been looking with no luck. Thanks a million for your reply!

http://www.volvotechinfo.com/index.asp

TECH-DCS No: 43-02 release date 11/04/94

Hard upshift and shudder slowing down.

Replace SL solenoid pn 3515644-7

FIXED!!! Thank you for the info. Had the part put in today. Again MANY MANY thanks to everyone who pointed this out!

I have the exact problem you had. I have my 92 960 wagon scheduled to go into the shop next week. Did you have yours' fixed by the dealer or an independednt shop? Cost of part and labor? Thank you! sanjosemom@aol.com

arejohn your help is greatly appreciated! Hopefully I will have this problem resolved ASAP. I will keep you posted. Once again, this message board has saved me $$$$$.

Disregard previous message. I went back at looked at arejohn's reply. I hadn't seen the whole message. Thanks!

I looked on the link that was suggested and didn't find the bulletin. It sounds like you did. I found the list of available bulletins for 960s but didn't see one that looked right. Where exactly will I find it?