NHTSA — Power Train: Automatic Transmission Problems

1.9

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
86,232 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2002 Volvo XC70 transmission problems

transmission problem

Find something helpful? Spread the word.
Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2002 Volvo XC70:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

2002 Volvo XC70 Owner Comments

problem #11

Jun 292011

XC70

  • 77,950 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2002 Volvo XC70 cross country. While driving, the contact stated that the vehicle would down shift, causing the vehicle to jerk. A local mechanic diagnosed that the vehicle needed a new transmission. The dealer nor manufacturer were contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 77,950. The current mileage was 78,000. The VIN was not available.

- Pittsburg, PA, USA

problem #10

Feb 032011

XC70

  • 95,000 miles
Failure of the transmission on the road.

- Long Beach, CA, USA

problem #9

Oct 092010

XC70 5-cyl

  • 70,000 miles
70K miles on 2002 Volvo XC70 when unexpected surging started. Occurs when driving up hill or up a grade. This serious and concerning problem continues to occur, with or without setting cruise control. This vehicle has excellent maintenance history record.

- Salt Lake City, UT, USA

problem #8

Aug 162010

XC70

  • 143,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

2002 Volvo cross country transmission problem. The vehicle has 143,000 and transmission is going bad. According to the mechanic this is a common problem. The transmission slips and jerks when gearing down. I was going through an intersection and the transmission slipped and almost caused me to get hit. The mechanic said that I will have to replace the valve body in the amount of $2300.

- Lincolnton, NC, USA

problem #7

Aug 062010

XC70

  • 101,000 miles
Hello, I own a 2002 Volvo XC70 wagon and am in the process of having my transmission replaced. My coolant constantly needs to be filled and I have no floor heat in my car in the winter and my A/C doesn't work correctly in my car.

- Essex Jct., VT, USA

problem #6

Jul 312010

XC70

  • 144,420 miles
Recently bought a 2002 Volvo V70 XC70 and am having serious issues with gears in the automatic transmission not shifting smoothly and maintaining constant gears at constant speeds. Have been informed that the car may need a transmission replacement. I have seen numerous complaints about this on the web from other 2002 owners. Why has a recall not been issued for this" why should we have to flip the bill for crummy manufacturing"

- State College, PA, USA

problem #5

Sep 222009

XC70

  • 82,885 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Slipping transmission while driving on straight aways and up hills on both of my Volvo's purchased as certified pre-owned vehicle's. the first vehicle (2002 Volvo S60 AWD) was traded in but the second one (2002 Volvo XC70 AWD) was repaired - both after 2 years of ownership and with warranties that had just expired. The slipping transmission occurred constantly while driving and would cause the car to slam into gear when accelerating and propel the car forward once the transmission engaged. I took the Volvo to the service shop and was told there wasn't an issue then when I brought it back again they explained that I would need a new transmission. When I took the xc 70 to a certified Volvo transmission specialist (not the dealer) we tested the transmission fluid and the test came back as positively showing the existence of radiator fluid which had leaked into the transmission fluid. The Volvo specialist explained to me that in recent years Volvo had made a change to how the transmission fluid was cooled. As a direct result of this design change to AWD vehicles (all AWD's) the transmission fluid was cooled by flowing through a pipe directly attached to the radiator. Over time the radiator fluid caused the cooling pipe to corrode and as a result radiator fluid was leaking into the transmission fluid causing the transmission to fail. Besides rebuilding the transmission the radiator also required replacement because we had to fix the leak at the source or it would continue to happen. Even though the repairs were made the problem could present itself again over time. It took only 80,000 for my Volvo XC70's transmission to fail. This seems like a serious design flaw and according to the multiple transmission specialist I spoke with they are seeing this problem more and more with all AWD Volvo's from 2000 to present day models.

- Issaquah, WA, USA

problem #4

Jan 212008

XC70

  • 80,000 miles
Our 2002 Volvo XC70 has a tendency to jerk "violently? forward ?shift flare" and harsh shifting problems at low and high speeds without warning and has done so on several occasions while riding with our family; frightening everyone in the vehicle and potentially causing a serious accident. The frequency has increased over the past year to the point we are unable to operate the vehicle without serious risk of injury or accident. We were denied warranty service by a South atlanta Volvo dealer (that has since gone out of business) and by Volvo North America during the warranty period. There are literally thousands of internet postings with the same complaints. Namely, there are several primary issues including but not limited to the ECU brain of the car malfunctioning, software malfunctions and tcm malfunctioning. The jerking is very freighting and could send one to the hospital with severe neck and nerve injury. We have contacted Volvo North America, Volvo worldwide and parent company Ford motors. The vehicle had an extended warranty contract that was breached by an authorized dealer and by Volvo North America.

- College Park, GA, USA

problem #3

Dec 152007

XC70 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 71,400 miles
Transmission on my 2002 Volvo V70 xc started to exhibit shift flare and harsh shifting that gave control problems at low and high speeds. Dealer downloaded new transmission software and inspected and cleaned the tcm (throttle control module). Tcm was not replaced as dealer claimed it was not part of recall program. Have driven the car for the last few weeks with no noticeable difference in shifting problems. Contacted Volvo North America's consumer support to file report this morning. Visited several online forums concerning the issue and found thousands of posts regarding similar problems with cars using asin-warner AW55-50 gearbox. Especially helpful were posts at Volvo- forums.com and swedespeed.com. One post was from used Volvo dealer complaining of the effect on his business in 2001-2003 Volvo cars saying that the problem was worse than the ETM recall issue. This is a serious problem effecting the safety of thousands of Volvo drivers. Volvo needs to correct the problem.

- Huntington Beach, CA, USA

problem #2

May 162007

XC70

  • Automatic transmission
  • 54,900 miles
2002 Volvo XC70 with transmission problems. Customer states that the transmission is slipping, bucking, and jerking when shifting into lower gears. The vehicle had a significant oil leak from the engine turbo oil return. The headlight and rear marker light would flicker when the consumer drove over bumpy roads

- Marion, IA, USA

problem #1

Dec 042004

XC70

  • Automatic transmission
  • 28,000 miles
There were transmission, acceleration, deceleration and drastic lurching problems that had been occurring for the past 14 months. The lurching problem was not duplicated. The problem would occur in parking lots when the consumer foot was removed from the brake and prior to touching the accelerator. The stick shift would lock as well. There was a re-occurring squeak in the steering.

- Annandale, NJ, USA

Not what you are looking for?