Hi folks,

I have a 1988 245 volvo. The car drove fine, until yesterday - the overdrive wouldnt engage. Mind you, this happened suddenly - it never skipped in and out or anything. I can still switch the lock out indicator on and off, and the arrow on the dash will turn on and off. So here my car is, in all its 3 geared glory.

My transmission fluid was about 1 quart low, and I topped it off with no effect. Ive read similar but not idential cases where the solinoid and relay were suggested. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Correct fluid is ESSENTIAL! check solenoid wiring and make sure the fuse (11?) is clean. Relay may still be faulty-open it up and examine circuit board shaddows against a bright light-NOT the Sun! You're looking for cracks and separations, bad soldering will appear dull grey-re-solder with ELECTRONICS solder-use as little heat as you can-they should be shiny and sliverish. How many mi have you done to drop so much fluid? You may have some unpleasant history there. When was fluid last changed-if U don't know, get a filter and gasket, and change it now, and inspect the tranny for sludge, blocked/crushed/broken up filter. If sludge, do power flush after reassembly. IME most troubles like this are from poor servicing, and a drain, filter and flush fixes most of them. It can easily be more serious, but has general;ly not been so whilst I've attended this forum. Expect bad seals both ends of tranny, and bad rear bearing-lots of work for a few cheap parts or keep topping it up - you decide, but DO check you tranny more often for fluid level. 1st of each new month doesn't hurt, and is easy to remember. There's a few other things for that list too. I assumed an automatic tranny for above, which may hold 7L, but the manual only holds abt 2L, so if yours is manual, consider the damages from very low oil levels........

Turned out to be a wiring problem - apparently not the solinoid or the relay. The mechanic had gone home so I couldnt get details.

As per the leak, my front pump seal has failed, which helps explain the drop.

Probably the insulated nylon connector sitting alongside the gearbox that connects the wire from the overdrive switch in the gear-lever to the overdrive solenoid in the automatic gearbox had been eaten away by accumulated oil and gunk and let the wires fall apart/separate.

That happened to me.