I'm considering the long-distance purchase of a 1992 960. Very clean, well maintained -- the whole nine yards. Till the weather turned cold recently this car shifted like a new car. Now, there's a problem. The car moves fine from first to second. But it "wants" to skip third. The sensation is of going from second to third and then immediately to fourth, whether speed dictates the shift to fourth or not. A Volvo mechanic has said it's 99 % certain to be an electrical problem, not mechanical. He said its the "lockdown solenoid" (lockup solenoid?) Ballpark estimate to fix: $500 -600 ($250 part, rest labor). Does this pass the sniff test with you guys? Anyone seen something like this before? Second question: Owner says this car drives just fine and cruises at 65 mph like a new car (I haven't driven it). Is this car safe to drive a long distance as is?

Pete

The lock up solonoid has nothing to do with shifting through the gears. It's purpose is to "lock" the torque converter when conditions are right.... stable speed, neither accelerating or slowing and in 3rd or 4th gears. Some people may confuse the lock up/unlock as a gear shift. The actual shifting is controlled by other solonoids (2 of them I believe) and the mechanic may well be correct that it is an electrical problem with one of them.
It would be hard to get a good comfort level on this by long distance.
--
David Hunter