I've recently undertaken a kickdown cable change on my Volvo 240 equipped with AW70 transmission. Sizeable job given I've previously done nothing more with autos than fluid drain and refill.

Ive gotten the car back together ( with the kickdown cable disengaged at the throttle end, new cable ended up being a different length and the bracket on the manifold needs to be modified) it seems to drive okay in 1st and 2nd, but now tends to slip in 3rd and overdrive. There is also a whistling noise from the transmission with the car stationary, the pitch varies with the gear selector position.

The old kickdown cable binded in 'kickdown' mode, causing delayed and harsh shifts. Prior to the cable binding, the car drove well

A few notable things

  • I wasn't able to get the kickdown cable fully seated on the gearbox end in it's home, it's probably 95% there.
    -the filter and filter spacer gaskets weren't in fantastic shape, I reused them with the aim of getting the car back on the road sooner
    -the gasket on the valve body looked a bit worn too. It's possible working on the car has disturbed the gaskets a bit

Is there a local source for the filter gaskets and valve body gasket, and would these gaskets being worn potentially cause slippage in some gears? And what else should I be looking at to hopefully get the 240 driving right again?

  • Update!

    Car is back on the road. Thankyou to Ramrod for supplying the correct kickdown cable, and I was able to source a spare AW70 to raid the valve body from.

    A little more adjustment in the kickdown is needed , but I can at least do freeway speeds with no transmission slip.

Did you remove the valve body from the case? You don’t have to to replace the kickdown cable.

Also the length needs to match the original.

Don’t modify the cable clamp to suit a cable that’s too short or long.

    ramrod

    I did remove the valve body.

    I've read that the valve body doesn't need to come out to change the kickdown cable, but looked like there wasn't good access to the cable with the valve body in place.

    On another note, where can I get additional magnets for inside the transmission pan?

      I’m afraid, in removing and replacing the valve body, something somewhere in that process has gone not 100% correct, and either it cannot seal as good as it did previously and or something has fallen out of it or dirt or other foreign matter is somewhere it shouldn’t be.

      It can be a tricky job for a first timer and it’s too easy to forget something or not install something properly.

      I don’t like the incorrect length kickdown cable. Sorry.

      If I were you, I would go back in there, remove everything you did previously and double check everything again and take your time.

      Take pictures and show them here as that would help.

      The kickdown cable controls transmission operating pressure which also changes the gear shifting timing. Without the cable being connected, the transmission has no feedback from the car other than the road speed, so it’s no surprise it’s not changing gears correctly.

      I would be able to identify the correct cable for your car if you get back to me with the VIN.

      I did feel the job was tricky given my lack of experience. If I ever have to attempt it again ,I will source new filter gaskets beforehand and the correct cable.

      I am thinking broken gaskets may be part of the issue. I will try to get hold of some new ones for the filter & filter spacer and possibly valve body and correct cable before I pull it apart again.

      Part number of my AW70 is 1208485. Will that be sufficient to I.D the correct kickdown cable?

        There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s a learning process and you are not a transmission specialist neither am I.

        I will say whether you are an amateur mechanic, seasoned veteran or the king of transmission servicing, the attitude how you approach the job should be the same, you need enough time to do the job correctly or redo it if something was missed. You need to be methodical, take your time, take pictures for reference before disassembling and be extremely clean in your work (especially working on transmissions) and you need the correct replacement parts. Close enough is not good enough, no excuses.

        Working on the transmission and removing the valve body, means 17 bolts for the valve body itself, plus the 5 or 6 for the filter. The valve body bolts are different lengths and if only one bolt goes in the wrong hole, you’ll have problems. You also need to confirm you have the gear selector shaft pawl engaged correctly otherwise you’ll have selection issues.

        The rest is easy, verify the kickdown cable is inserted into the cam correctly, have someone operate the throttle whilst you watch beneath, it should turn easily and remain in its hole.

        The transmission ID number helps, but I would need the VIN also since transmissions are items that can be swapped from car to car.

        The rest of the job is bolt torque specs, fluid level and checks for leaks, and if no damage was done during the last service, you hopefully will have saved the transmission from needing an expensive rebuild.

        GreenGL Part number of my AW70 is 1208485. Will that be sufficient to I.D the correct kickdown cable?

        I thought it would be, but that transmission p/n isn't in the copy of TP 31635/1 Green Book we have in our Tech Archive.

        So after a bit of Googling, I found this -
        https://usparts.volvocars.com/a/Volvo__240/42917779__5696596/Automatic-transmission--automatic-gearbox/GR-59077.html#14

        Item [20] on the list is p/n 1239932 - and that is in the Green Book (on page 6, which is page 7 of the PDF).
        See the second column.

        Image description

        It appears genuine is NLA, but MTC and ProParts ones are easy to find. Of The Usual Suspects, FCP, iPD, VP Autoparts, and Skandix stock them; prices will vary with quality. Berry's or Monash in Melbourne may have stock of them, I don't know anyone else local for sure who might.

        I agree with Ramrod's assessment - there may be dirt or gasket problems now within the transmission. Before having another crack at it, it might be worth having a gasket set and fresh filter kit on hand and ready to go next to your spotlessly clean work bench. 🙂

          I did look into the gaskets for the near equivalent Toyota transmissions and thought the filter gaskets looked very similar. I'll grab a few and the correct kickdown cable and try it all again, and if luck is on my side, I'll have my Volvo back on the road. Otherwise I'll have to find a shop to supply and fit a good used AW70.

          Thankyou all for the tips. Hopefully I'll be able to update this topic at some point with good news.

          It will be slipping most likely because the kickdown cable is disconnected, as the cable isn't just for downshifting, it supplies the load input to the valve body, without it the clutches don't engage enough to hold the power down.

          Edit: I wouldn't drive it until it's fixed

            jamesinc

            Great advice. The car will be parked up until I install the correct kickdown cable

              24 days later

              Well, I was starting to make some forwards progress by sourcing the correct length kickdown cable with the help of ramrod.

              Tried to replace the cable without dropping the valve body. Thought I had it, then the cable jumped out of the kickdown pulley.

              After unsuccessfully attempting to get the cable hooked back in, I dropped the valve body today, only to find the kickdown pulley had damage where the cable goes in, causing it to not retain well and easily slip out.

              Pics don't really show the damage. But can I simply unbolt the kickdown pulley and replace with a good one? Or am I going to need to replace the Valve body?

              Image description
              Image description

              You shouldn't need to replace the valve body, I'll see if I can find the exploded view diagram of it

              Here you go, not much to it. The manual refers to it as a throttle cam. Looks like you'll need to preload the spring. Not sure how it's clocked on the shaft.

              If you have access issues, honestly, it's not that much work to drop the valve body. I think I wrote a guide for this years ago...

              AW70 throttle cam diagram

              Valve body removal: https://ozvolvo.org/d/4096-4096

              I've already dropped the valvebody (again), to allow better access to the ''throttle cam''

              That's when I noticed the damage. Doesnt really show in the pic , the rear side of where the kickdown cable goes in has broken off.

              So I am going to have to replace the throttle cam (If I'm able to source one), or replace the valve body as a unit, again, depending on local availability.

              2 months later

              Update!

              Car is back on the road. Thankyou to Ramrod for supplying the correct kickdown cable, and I was able to source a spare AW70 to raid the valve body from.

              A little more adjustment in the kickdown is needed , but I can at least do freeway speeds with no transmission slip.

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