Hello Brickboard members,

I have a 1991 240 w/ automatic transmission. It developed this problem a couple of years ago after a long road trip:

When the car is warmed up the transmission slips when put into drive from a stop. This problem is worse in the warmer months and sometimes nonexistent if it's very cold out (well under freezing.) It is most pronounced after a brief stop, say for refueling, after driving for a while. I start the car, put it into drive and then when I press on the accelerator there is a noticeable *clunk* before it starts to move. I can anticipate it now and I go very easy on acceleration, but it will still happen.

This does not happen when the car is cold. It does happen if I shift from reverse back into drive when the car is warmed up. And it happens sooner in the summer months, sometimes after only 15 minutes of driving if it is very warm out.

When driving (town or highway) there doesn't seem to be any problem between gears and it shifts fine. OD works, but I don't use it much since I'm worried it may cause more problems if I do use it.

I talked to a (non-Volvo) transmission specialist about it last year and he wanted to rebuild it -- said there were probably some bad seals in it. (Not sure about this since it doesn't leak.) I opted not to do this since it was going to cost quite a lot.

My Volvo mechanic in northen Vermont advised against doing anything -- they said to just drive it until it fails. They advised against even changing the fluid because they said that sometimes new fluid will exacerbate the problem.

Other than this problem the car is pretty good. 178,000 miles, no rust, good interior, drives well, etc.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Should I have the transmission fluid changed? Or drive it into the ground?

Thanks for any words of advice!