Hi guys. My daughter's '79 242 automatic starts out pretty good. However, when I accelerate and the tranny goes into first and then shifts to second, to does not want to settle back into drive as it should. I noticed that the fluid was low and I replenished it. Never had any problem before. Could the kick-down cable need adjusting? The cars starts out fine in drive. I am pretty worried about this.

Sounds very much like the issue I just had - here is the link to my original query and the various replys...

http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/?id=704250

I think that you first impression may be correct and adjust the kick-down cable. It worked perfectly for my rig.

This is one of the responses I received. It proved to be answer I was looking for:

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Goto the 700/900 FAQ, found in the "Features" section, and look for the Automatic AW70 Trasmission. Here is part of the info on the kick-down cable:

Function of Kickdown Cable. [Discussion from Abe Crombie] The kickdown cable is used to regulate a pressure in the transmission valve body. This is called throttle pressure. The throttle pressure is effectively a pressure that "tells" shift valves in transmission how hard you are pushing the throttle and these shift valves now have a contest to see if governor pressure or throttle pressure is going to win. This pressure is also used to apply the clutches/brakes that engage a gear and the higher pressure goes along with higher engine power at higher throttle. Firmer shifts are a result of higher throttle pressure. If throttle pressure wins the contest the trans remains in lower gear, if governor pressure wins the trans upshifts. Governor pressure is directly related to driveshaft, and thus road speed. If you tighten cable you increase throttle pressure and the whole shift point/road speed "map" goes higher. If you loosen cable the shift point map moves lower. The trans throttle cable (kickdown cable) also depresses a valve if you (or the throttle spool) pull the cable all the way out past that hard spot which is a detent to make you aware of the actual kickdown feature. The kickdown valve increases the throttle pressure drastically above the linear rate that you get from the rest of the throttle pedal travel range and makes the gearbox goes to lowest possible gear allowed at the road speed you are at when you activate it.

There is lots more troubleshooting info, such as how to adjust it.

[[ southern fried volvo '91 240 144k mi ]]
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Good Luck!
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'90 240 DL SW Baltimore, MD

Change the fluid.

I don't know much about automatics, but I do know that changing the fluid seems to fix problems like the one you are describing.