Can anyone help with a Volvo?

[fat controller]

A colleague of mine has an X-reg Volvo S60 (2.4 Turbo I think), which he has had for years and it seems to have been a reasonably good car to him. It has an automatic transmission, and recently he got a message on the dash along with a warning light, telling him that the transmission needed looking at.

He took it to a local independent garage, who cleared the fault code and told him that the problem was a 'neutral switch' that lives within the gearbox (seemingly its responsible for dropping the car into neutral if it is sat stationary for any length of time). Anyway, the light and warning came back after a few days, although the car continues to drive fine.

The garage tells him that the only cure is to whip the gearbox out for repair/refurbishment, which would cost in the region of £2500 - - in their opinion not worth bothering with given that the car runs and drives fine.

Does this sound right, or does anyone know of any known issues with the Volvos that might be easier/cheaper to fix?

[RickT]

These lads over on the Volvo forum are helpful

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/

Cheers

Rick

[fat controller]

Thanks - I'll point him in that direction, hopefully before he does something silly like spend all that money on it!

[Captain Answer]

Given that it's 10 years old and not causing any issues at present I would leave it "as is" and keep an eye on things

[RickT]

Given that it's 10 years old and not causing any issues at present I would leave it "as is" and keep an eye on things

Thats what i would do too...

Rick

[phil miller]

volvo's are strange things at times, imho id take it to a gearbox specialist and get there opinion on it, cos it may drive fine atm but it could be doing more damage

[fat controller]

volvo's are strange things at times, imho id take it to a gearbox specialist and get there opinion on it, cos it may drive fine atm but it could be doing more damage

He has since sought further advice from a Volvo specialist, who agrees with the advice given by the other garage (and on here) - - basically, let it be as its not doing any harm, as the cost of repairing it would be prohibitive.

I do wonder, though, just how many modern cars end up getting scrapped just because of a prohibitively expensive repair being needed to the electronics?

[JSH]

Can you get a wiring diagram and see what the switch does eg normally open contacts etc , and bridge the switch / remove it. This should confirm if its the fault

an auto electrician should be able to advise

Just a thought

John

[fat controller]

Can you get a wiring diagram and see what the switch does eg normally open contacts etc , and bridge the switch / remove it. This should confirm if its the fault

an auto electrician should be able to advise

Just a thought

John

Good point - I'll pass this on to him when I see him on Monday. His son is a fairly competent mechanic, so I would think that he would able to do it if anyone can.