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Anyone ever use IPD Auto Overdrive Mini-Kit? 200 1989

Everything is working; relay, solenoid, shifter button but the overdrive will not engage. Otherwise the tranny is running fine, 129k miles and recently flushed. Have been looking around for a used tranny but have read about rebuilding the overdrive and I am wondering if it is worth the effort. What kind of outcomes have people had with this? Verses just paying for a used tranny. There is obviously a BIG difference in cost. Thanks








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Anyone ever use IPD Auto Overdrive Mini-Kit? 200 1989

If you have the Automatic transmission w/OD (AW70/71) and you can not get the OD to engage even though you have checked everything then I would advise you bypass the current system and just "FIX" you OD solenoid permenantly so that the car is a 4-Speed all the time. When my OD stopped working I was left with two choices: 1) buying a new solenoid for 2 arms, 1 leg, and half a foot or 2) just using a dremel tool and 10 minutes of my time in order to fix my OD woes. Below is a link to the fix for the OD solenoid, I must warn you that it is a long post but it makes for good readin so grab yourself a drink and take a seat. Enjoy!!!

CLICK HERE!!!

Sincerely,
--
Julio Meza

1979 264GL B27F 124K --> BW55->M46, CLS, IPD Sway, 81+ Dash, Gauges

1979 262C B27F 159K --> Restore Project w/Possible V8

1984 245DL 211K -->Wifemobile








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A bit confusing -- clarification needed.... and offered. 200 1989

Hi.
I'm sorry but, to start, I'm a bit confused. You headed your post "...Auto Overdrive...", in which the "Auto" to me means that you've got an automatic transmission. Is that right?
And your message reads, "...the overdrive will not engage.... but have read about rebuilding the overdrive and....", which makes me think that you think it has a separate, rebuildable overdrive, like those added to the back of older manual transmissions. Could you, by any chance, actually have a manual transmission?
Otherwise, I should tell you that your automatic transmission does NOT have a separate, rebuildable overdrive. The overdrive gear is built into the transmission -- work on it requires dismantling the whole automatic transmission, something that (I'm sure you know) is not recommended for someone inexperienced or without the right tools, which I don't think you have, viz. your questions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This confusion aside, and assuming that you have an automatic transmission, maybe I can help clear up some things.
First, given that you wrote, "...Everything is working; relay, solenoid, shifter button but the overdrive will not engage....", those are the main components, so it should work -- therefore I have to ask you how you know that your overdrive is NOT working.
First (and you'll have to pardon me for offering this, but this is a matter that sometimes comes up with new 240 owners), when the little light on the instrument panel lights, it actually means that overdrive (4th gear) is locked out (the light on earlier models used to read, "OD out", but later models only carried a little 'up' arrow, leading many new owners to think that the overdrive is "on") -- i.e., you're blocking its use, as when you might be using engine compression to hold back as you go down a long incline, or when you're towing something. Thus, when the light is lit, you've only got three gears to work with. You only have the overdrive available (and therefore four gears, and three upshifts) when the light is not lit.
Second, assuming you already knew everying in the preceding paragraph, do you have a tach? That is, are you determining that you're not going into 4th (overdrive) gear by counting the feel of three upshifts? Or by a tach's engine rpm indication when cruising at highway speeds. If you have a tach, you should do about 3,000 rpm at 70 mph when you're in overdrive (4th). If you're truly stuck in 3rd gear (i.e., your overdrive is not working), you'll be doing about 1,000 rpm more (~4,000 or so) at 70 mph. This is rough, of course, depending on hills and your tires' size, but it's rigorous enough to know for sure if your transmission isn't shifting up into overdrive.
Third, if it really isn't shifting up, and your dash light isn't lit, it could be problem of a burned out bulb combined with a bad relay or shorted wires (e.g., worn insulation) from the shifter's switch. Did you just buy the car from a previous owner -- maybe they never fixed the problem and the bulb finally burned out? Anyway, unfortunately, the default condition of the overdrive actuation in the transmission is to lock out overdrive (keeping you in 3rd or below) when there's a problem (bad relay or shorted wires). You can only go into 4th (OD) when everything is working properly.

In any case, first either confirm that you knew all the above, or check out your car with the above in mind, and then feel free to repost.
Hope this helped, though. [and, if what I told you was already obvious to you, I apologize -- sometimes we get "newbies" who are confused by Volvo's inscrutible ways, e.g., the OD light indicator. But I thought it prudent to first cover the "basics".]
Best regards,







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