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Car Forum / Volvo Cars / September 2004How much should I pay to rebuilt a tranny on a 850?
Hello everyone, My car is a non-turbo '96 850 with only 52000 miles and I need to rebuilt the transmission. It is a long story but I'm 95% sure I need a new transmission. Can anyone suggest a reasonable price to pay? I got phones estimates anywhere from $ 1750 to $ 4000. The $ 4000 is from a dealer. The $ 1750 price comes from a small tranny shop which the owner has been doing this job for more than 20 years, but the shop does not look too professional. On the outside I also see mainly older cars parked to be serviced. He would give 12 months/12K miles warranty, which is also waht the dealer would give me for a $ 4,000 job. I checked with another shop which looks more professional and I see newer and expensive foreign cars parked outside. The cost from them is $ 3,000 and they would give me 24 months/24K miles warranty. I would appreciate very much any suggestion. I need to fix the car very soon. Clearly I would go with the small shop but I wonder how complicated is to rebuild a Volvo tranny. Is it something that any tranny shop can do it? Thank you, Pier try www.erievovo.com  Signature"*-344-*Never Forgotten" Is for the New York City Firemen who lost their lives on September 11,2001. The official count is 343, but there was also a volunteer who lost his life aiding in the initial rescue efforts. And I will never forget them as long as I live, nor should any American. "Mow Green" > Hello everyone, > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > Pier > try www.erievovo.com Do you work for that place or something? IIRC they're in NY or something, not useful unless the guy happens to live by them. > Hello everyone, > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > Pier Most automatics are pretty similar on the inside. I would go to the small shop personally, it's less than half the cost, as long as they don't screw things up getting the transmission in and out it should be fine. Could be the reason their shop looks less professional is that they focus on getting the job done at an affordable cost rather than dumping a lot of money into having a fancy looking shop. Wouldn't hurt to ask for referrals though. > Hello everyone, > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Can anyone suggest a reasonable price to pay? I got phones estimates > anywhere from $ 1750 to $ 4000. Here's what to do - spend $1700-$2000 and convert it to manual. Automatics are hideously expensive to replace and offer nothing other than convienence, while a manual offers at least half a dozen advantages. - Less expensive to repair 3-4 clutch jobs = 1 auto rebuild. - Can start the car with a dead battery - Less weight - Better mileage - Control the car instead of it controlling you. - Can start the car in 2nd gear - Months or weeks of warning of a failing clutch as opposed to a few miles on an automatic. There are others, but for a car that old, if you want to keep it, convert it - or get an identical car with stick. O.K., so I've got a looming "solenoid B malfunction." Today it goes to the local tranny shop my mechanic recommended. Maybe it's just the wiring, but suppose they tell me I need a $1750-$4000 rebuild/replace. I never wanted an automatic anyway (but the price was right). So what does it take to make it into a manual? Could my local shop do it or do I need a Volvo specialist? Will they be able to find the parts? Thanks > > Hello everyone, > > [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > There are others, but for a car that old, if you want to > keep it, convert it - or get an identical car with stick. > O.K., so I've got a looming "solenoid B malfunction." Today it goes to the > local tranny shop my mechanic recommended. Maybe it's just the wiring, but > suppose they tell me I need a $1750-$4000 rebuild/replace. I never wanted > an automatic anyway (but the price was right). So what does it take to make > it into a manual? Could my local shop do it or do I need a Volvo > specialist? Will they be able to find the parts? I'd personally sell it and find a nearly identical car with stick. > I'd personally sell it and find a nearly identical car with stick. Loads of folks have said this. It does not help the guy, he has an automatic, if he is in the USA or Canada he had no choice but the stick, retrofitting a 5 speed is not something many folks want to do, and hearing how wonderful your 5 speeds are helps him nil. I have been in Europe and been in traffic--mainly in France a tiny bit in GB and Spain. The traffic I saw, admittedly a tiny bit of the entire universe, but still a lot was not as bad as here--the Paris ring road was very busy, but almost always 'fluide' even during rush hours, the autoroute was occasionally busy and stop and go but that was rare and just for short distances. London was a disaster--why anyone would want to drive in the centre is a mystery that only inspector Morse could figure out! The outer parts of London are not too bad, like the area around the RAF Battle of Britain museum. The Motorways were not too bad either crowded but moving. In Spain small city centers were very busy, but the rest of the country was fine. Lets contrast that limited snapshot with the USA--from California to Colorado to Chicago to the North East and Mid Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and oh yeah, parts of many other states like Texas and Florida getting out of your local area to a small feeder road is often a traffic filled nightmare taking perhaps 4 or 5 cycles to get through key traffic light controlled intersections. After a while of this crawl one reaches the highway when be it an interstate (autoroute type road) or a traffic light controlled road one can often expect 5 to 10 miles of stop and go traffic Imagine shifting to first and restarting after a full stop several hundred times a commute! Yes I have a 5 speed in my Acura/Honda Integra, but the 850 has a slush and my wife would have it no other way. I would also like to point out that in the USA many kids are never taught how to drive a stick because their family does not own one! >> Hello everyone, >> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > >- Less expensive to repair 3-4 clutch jobs = 1 auto rebuild. But an auto rebuild is a rare thing - this one is needed at abnormally low mileage; most will comfortably last the life of the car. Manuals will need at least one clutch change, guaranteed - possible several. >- Can start the car with a dead battery True. But jump leads are cheap, and it's good to make friends with your neighbours. >- Less weight Is this much of an issue in a Volvo? Maybe a sports car it would be. The difference is small. >- Better mileage Modern auto boxes are much better at this. >- Control the car instead of it controlling you. Eh? >- Can start the car in 2nd gear For starting on ice, you mean? The torque converter helps here, and some auto boxes have a setting for this. Otherwise it's a sure way to need a new clutch even sooner. >- Months or weeks of warning of a failing clutch as opposed > to a few miles on an automatic. I've had a clutch give very little warning of it's demise. I've also driven an auto box for many hundreds of miles, even though it was terminally damaged. Manual gearboxes go wrong, too. >There are others, but for a car that old, if you want to >keep it, convert it Changing from auto to manual will also require changing the flywheel, the pedal unit, fitting a clutch and an actuating mechanism, and probably changing the gear lever surround. Depending upon the car, it may even need new driveshafts and other stuff, too. Far, far easier (and probably cheaper) to simply replace it with a guaranteed secondhand or rebuilt box. A good workshop could do it in a couple of hours, and it is extremely unlikely to ever need any attention again. >- or get an identical car with stick. Each to his own, of course, but I remain unconvinced that the few real advantages of a manual outweigh the convenience and fuss-free driving pleasure of an auto. SignatureStewart Hargrave For email, replace 'SpamOnlyToHere' with my name > But an auto rebuild is a rare thing - this one is needed at abnormally > low mileage; most will comfortably last the life of the car. Manuals > will need at least one clutch change, guaranteed - possible several. I got 270K out of two clutches(original and a replacement) - and the car still ran well when I sold it. At $150 plus parts(my local mechanic), it's no big deal. >>- Control the car instead of it controlling you. > > Eh? Being able to select which gear to be in, especially downhill, is a nice option. >>- Months or weeks of warning of a failing clutch as opposed >> to a few miles on an automatic. > > I've had a clutch give very little warning of it's demise. I've also > driven an auto box for many hundreds of miles, even though it was > terminally damaged. Manual gearboxes go wrong, too. Sure, but most of the time you have lost of warning with the manual. In any case, you can start it in second or you can even shift the thing without a clutch if you get the revs and speed correct. I've never been unable to get a car with a dead clutch to make it to the garage for repairs. A dead automatic - I've had to two one 500 ft down the road - it stopped 1.5 blocks from the transmission shop and that was that. |
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