Volvo Maintenance Hints for 7xx/9xx - Bill Garland's Nuclear ...

transmission from consuming the gasket pieces and various bits of underbody debris you will rub off with your arm- I wrapped mine in a
clean rag (the rear of the transmission, not my arm)
[Chip Removal: Paul Seminara] Replace the bushing, when you do the rear seal. Indeed the bushing will wear and sometimes the wear
will be from small bits that wear the tailshaft flange as well. This is especially so on high milers. This usually will require replacement as
well.
AW-71 Auto Trans Output Bushing Orientation Question. [Inquiry:] In replacing the auto trans output bushing, which way does the hole in
the bushing go? [Response: Patrick Petrella] I did get the bearing issue resolved. Ended up talking with a mechanic in Colorado, who
seemed to know what he was talking about. Volvo was essentially no help. Someone sent me jpegs of two pages out of the Volvo trans
shop manual, which clearly stated that the new bearings come with no hole in the side. I went back to the parts counter at Volvo and was
shown that all their bearings HAD the side hole. A never-ending spiral of confusion. So this Colorado mechanic said he had done this
repair on many AW71 trans, and that the orientation of the side hole was not critical, but should NOT be lined up with either slot in the
tailshaft housing. He puts the sleeve bearing in with the hole at the top. So that's what I did. I would like to know what the hole is for. Maybe
used during manufacture of the bearing, with nothing to do with operation?
Seal Leakage in AW70L Transmission. [Inquiry:] Oil is leaking from my AW70L transmission at the shift linkage shaft on the right side of
the tranny housing. Does anybody know how it is to replace the seal(s)l ? [Response:] That shaft goes through the tranny from one side to
the other, with a seal on each side. On my '83, the seal had simply popped out of the transmission housing, and only had to be gentle
pushed back in. The bad news is that -- at least in my experience -- access to the seal is restricted by the exhaust pipe. Dropping the pipe
first made it much easier. One thing I'd advise is to first clean up that area of the transmission, particularly if it's been leaking for awhile. A
lot of dirt and grime will accumulate -- and you want the area as clean as possible before installing a new seal. I washed it down with parts
cleaner, hit it with compressed air, and let it dry.
AW-70/71 Hard Shifts.
Symptoms. The AW71 in my '86 740 used to shift very hard from 1st to 2nd gear. This shift is the first shift and it usually happens at about
20 km/h (depends on how hard you accelerate). It felt almost like getting rear-ended. [Editor] Hard 2-3 shifts are also symptomatic.
Try the Easy Things First. [David Hunter] A flush may cure the shift problem. On my 88 740 at around 240K I encountered delayed shifting
from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. Also had OD problems. After checking the common causes such as kickdown cable, OD relay and solonoid
I elected to do a flush with Mobil 1 synthetic. The results were immediate and dramatic: all problems went away. In addition, check the kick
down cable adjustment regarding those hard shifts. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Worn Valve Ball. [Toni Arte] The real cause for this problem is a worn valve ball in the transmission valve body. This ball is the "15C" in the
picture. This is a picture of the lower valve body. A replacement valve ball is available, you can order it from your local Volvo dealer. The