850 Tranny question

I have a 94 850 non-turbo with an automatic transmission. About a month ago
I had the transmission fluid drained and replaced twice (the car has 138000
miles on it). The transmission normally works fine, but lately, as the
weather has turned colder (about 40 degrees overnight) when I first start
the car the transmission slips in low gear and is hesitant to shift to the
next gear. As soon as the car warms up it works perfectly again--it is only
that first cold start of the day. Could this have anything to do with the
fluid change? Any suggestions as to what is needed or how to fix it?

Chuck

 

I wonder if they filled it with the correct fluid? Check the
dipstick, does it look/feel unusually thick? Collect some, take to
transmission shop and ask if they think it looks / smells like ATF.

 

They definitely used ATF in it. I watched as they did it to make sure.

Chuck

I wonder if they filled it with the correct fluid? Check the
dipstick, does it look/feel unusually thick? Collect some, take to
transmission shop and ask if they think it looks / smells like ATF.

 

Did they use the correct ATF????? There are many varieties of ATF fluid
now. I think your 850 automatic uses a special ATF. Was the work done
at a Volvo dealer or Volvo specialist? If you went to a generic shop
it is quite possible that they might have put the wrong type of ATF in
there ... and I do not trust the "universal" ATF fluids some lubricant
companies are selling.

John

 

That is a good question. I will check to see in the book what is called for
and find out what they put in. From reading other Volvo resource threads I
have heard of the same symptoms as a result of a bad gear position sensor
(PNP) and wondered if that could be responsible for my problem.

Chuck

 

Usually a bad PNP switch will cause the flashing yellow arrow which
indicates the computer has found a transmission problem. This sounds
more like an ATF problem.