Hey Folks,

I'm a pretty die-hard manual transmission driver, but when I stumbled upon this 2002 C70 convertible with an auto tranny, I couldn't pass it up. Slowly but surely I'm getting used to driving an automatic, but I'm not sure if it's shifting the way it's supposed to.

It shifts great, going up the gears, especially cruising down the accelration ramp to the expressway. But, driving in regular suburban traffic, I notice some behavior that I'm not sure is "normal."
1. While accelerating slowly, the car seems to take it's time shifting through the gears. It won't shift into 5th until I get up to about 40-45 mph. Every once in a while, inbetween the low gears, the engine RPM will shoot up slightly just for a split second.
2. As I pull around a corner coasting, I'll step on the accelerator slightly and sometimes it feels like the transmission is in too low a gear. The engine begins to advance, and then the transmission "kicks" in after a slight delay.
3. Sometimes, as I slow down to come to a stop, I can feel the transmission shift down. Is that normal?

I can't help but think that maybe there is a vacuum leak somewhere, which might be causing this behavior. But because I've never driven a 5-speed automatic, I don't know what to expect.

Can someone shed some light on this subject and educate a Volvo Newbie?

congrats on your C70. great car. i think that the c70's had a feature on their auto trannys that stayed in neutral as you coasted and stopped, a feature that i think was placed there to save fuel. have you changed your oil recently? if not, check to see that it is not low. if it is time for an oil change in your tranny, go for a full synthetic, it seems to cure alot of minor annoying problems. volvo automatics, besides volvo engines, need timely maintenance to keep them up. it's not like a chevy or a ford that you just beat the crap out of it and it keeps on going. a little preventative medicine will keep them going and purring for a long time. good luck and keep us posted.