I posted this on Sunday and had another question.."My 89 240DL, automatic transmission with 125,000 miles had the overdrive suddenly stop engaging. Took it to the local independent Volvo shop and they ruled out relay and solenoid. Their recommendation is installing a used transmission, total cost $1,060. Looking at the other messages about this problem it always appears to be a solenoid. Anybody have any suggestion? Thanks"...My other question now is... If you can hear the relay click on and off when you push the shifter button does that indicate it is working correctly? Thanks

With all respect to our other friends, I've come across 3, yeah 3, cars recently with almost the exact same failure mechanism. In all cases, I've both resoldered the relays and then replaced them. All 3 continue to have basically the same symptoms and may need a transmission in the near future. All AW70's.

1) 1991 244. 182K miles. OD worked one time, on a long drive. On this one, the relay is new, the wire at the shifter box has been fixed (it was frayed) and the solenoid makes a sorta weak click. No OD action now under any conditions. Fluid hasn't been flushed yet. Solenoid looks visibly cracked or damaged on the top where it's sealed. Looking for a solenoid before I write it off....

2) 1989 745GL. 235K miles. OD has been working intermittently on long trips. Light goes on and off reliably with switch. Solenoid clicks but I've not actually been under the car. Resoldered relay; replaced relay. Results as before: OD eventually turns on if the car is driven at high speeds for a long time (1/2 hour or more). HAven't been able to flush fluid on this one yet either.

3) 1988 245DL. 246K miles. OD just started being intermittent. Drove it yesterday to see what it does. No OD when driven normally. Resoldered relay; same results, BUT was able to get it to 75 mph on a clear stretch of road- bang, OD on like nothing was up. Hit the button, OD off again until it was accelerated hard past 70. Perhaps solenoid is plugged partially? Solenoid makes a strong click but haven't visually inspected it up close. Haven't flushed it either. Additional history- Owner reported very hard banging 1-2 shift several months ago. That's gone now. Also owner ran it really low on fluid aparently due to a tailshaft leak developing over the last 6 months. Added 2.5 qts. *sigh*.

Anyway, yes, usually the relay or solenoid is at fault, but in some cases the transmission internals go bad too, and OD gear is the usual victim.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 225K, 88 744GLE- 209K, 91 244 183K. Also responsible for the care and feeding of: 88 745GLE, 229K, 88 244GL, 146K, 87 244DL, 235K, 88 245DL, 236K

Before you do another thing, RESOLDER YOUR OD RELAY.

$0, 15 minutes, no risk, clean 'n easy work. If it helps nothing, you're out nothing.

Your OD relay is GUARANTEED to fail at some point. (Your fuel pump relay, too.)

Rather than spend the $35-$65 dollars that it costs to buy replacements (that are infected with the same crummy solder connections), try resoldering. The chances are excellent that it will solve the problem.... and, if not, no money from your pocket.

The transmission shop wants to get their wrenches locked securely onto your wallet.

The relay clicks when it energizes. However, the most common failure is the big mutha solder connection between the relay and the solenoid connector -- so the "signal" may not make it to the solenoid.

Want some pictures of the repair job?
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Don Foster (near Cape Cod, MA)

Yes, I understand where the relay is bu the solder points I am unfamiliar with. Tell me how to find some pix. Thanks much. This board is great.

The first picture below (sorry it's not more clear) shows a defective OD relay before resoldering. You can see several cracked solder connections in the picture, and there were several more that didn't show well in the picture.

The second picture shows the fully resoldered relay.

The third picture shows the relay part way through resoldering (while resoldering, I discovered an additional problem and stopped to grab this picture). At the top left (circled in pink), you can see a burned foil trace. This failure results when the wire to the solenoid has chafed through and shorted to ground. This often blows the fuse, but sometimes it burns the copper foil.

Obviously, the chafed wire must also be repaired.

In the second picture, you can see the jumper I installed to fix this problem.

This repaired relay worked properly for years until the car was junked due to rust.

Incidentally, this burned foil prevented OD from working even though the relay clicked.

Yes, if you hear the relay click, the relay is working corrextly.

I don't know how they tested the solenoid.

I'll tell you this, though: rarely does the entire transmission fail in a mode that just eliminates one gear.

If you're up for DIY, there's a flowchart of procedures to check this out. If not, find another shop.

With all due respect to Evan's reply that relay can be bad even if heard to click. The click simply means the coil is energising and contacts are moving
but it does not mean that it is conducting current to the solonoid. The relay is subject to a common failure whereby the solder points on the small PCB go bad and the relay will fail. What is the arrow up light doing? Resoldering or replacing the relay is then an easy fix. More importantly can your hear the solonoid on the tranny clicking? This an easy check by turning on key, toggle the push button while someone listens up close under the car near the solonoid, you can also feel the solonoid transfering as well. If the solonoid is clicking OK then I would try a transmission flush preferably changing over to Mobil 1 synthetic ATF. Myself and others have actually cured a failing OD problem by doing this. If all that fails I would get another opinion from an independent shop that knows Volvos. Do not go to a transmission shop or another dealer, don't trust either of them myself.
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David Hunter