I am driving a 2003 XC70 T5 and I love this car. I drive it approx. 80 miles per day under all weather conditions - it performs great.

Except one problem that showed up from time to time in the past and more often recently (approx. 34 k miles). When the transmission wants to shift from 2nd to 3rd gear it sometimes "kind of" slips for approx. 1 - 2 secs.. The engine revs. up to approx. 3000 RPM before the transmission shifts. If this happens under acceleration than the shifting process is very rough - the car shakes quite a bit.
It only happens between the 2nd and 3rd gear. When I try to reproduce this behavior in semiautomatic mode (manual shifting) it's never happening.

I was checking the web and found some hints that I am not the only one who has this problem. I also read that Volvo decided to ignore this problem.

Does anyone have similar problems ? Is there someone out there who knows what the reason for this problem is ? Is there someone who has some 1st hand experience with how Volvo handles this problem ?

Thx in advance for your response.

Has your car had any software upgrades recently?If not they will try those first.Sometimes it is only a software issue.Have you had it to the dealer yet for this concern?You are still under warranty correct?If the software doesn't correct the problem and you can duplicate it with someone from the dealership.They will replace the transmission under warranty.When you take it to the dealer try to get it to happen before you get there.Then ask for the shop foreman to test drive the car with you to duplicate the complaint with him there.That is your best chance to get it fixed right the first time.

Thank you for your quick response.

I have informed the dealer some time ago about this problem but since it is not 100% reproducible ....

Now it's happening more often (a couple times per day) -> I hope I will be able to convince the dealer that there is a problem. (That's why I posted my report in this forum -> the responses may help me looking a little more creditable.)

It would be great if they could fix the problem with re-flashing the transmission ctrl. module.

I am up for regular maintenance very soon. That's when I will present it next time.
I definitely want to have this problem taken care of as long as the car is under warranty (4yrs / 50k miles).

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Let me know how you make out.

I had the same problem and it was very intermittent. Has not occured after s/w update. I also had a slow response after depressing accellerator which was also fixed with the update.

Hi there,
We have a 2002 xc70 awd and the dealer changed the whole transmission a month ago because our problem was that at 60kmh in top gear and with the car going to a slight incline on the highway with the corresponding throttle increase the whole car started to shudder until the kick down was invoked or it kicked down its own or you went into manual mode and forced it down into 4th. They cannot find why it did that. The problem got owrse over a period of 4 months until I could finally do it at will whilst the mechanic was in the car.

It is now doing it again with the new gearbox! They are scratching their heads over this. I have heard that the Throttle Body Module might be at fault (from this forum, search around) and that will be the next thing to look at.

I hate this car now, it's gearbox system is overly complicated. Volvo never used to be like that. It used to be dependable which is why we bought it.

Sorry to hear you are having so many problems with your car.Sounds like the tech's arent checking the car properly to make sure it is fixed properly.As far as the complexity of the transmission you can thank General Motors for those problems because Volvo buys the transmission from them.They are puzzled with the problems as are all of us.The trans is the same as the ones in the Gm full size from wheel drives and in the Cadillac front wheel drives.

TECH -

RRICHTER in above quote mentioned that his 2003 XC70 has 4 year warranty. Do you know why 2005 XC70s only come with 3 year warranty? Has Volvo lost their confidence with their product, I wonder???

SYS

Last I heard it was still 4 year 50,000 miles.I know that the 2005 has 3 year 30,000 free maintance.I never heard that they changed the warranty.

Tech -

My apology. You're right. It turns out that I got the wrong information from the salesman at my local dealership....

Sorry that they gave you the wrong information.Thats what we are at this forum for.To give out info when it is needed.

Hi all! New, joined as my tranny seems to be slipping on my 2004 xc70...I am going in this week to have it checked. Was just curious if this is a problem with this model....

Paula