[Chethan B G]

Sorry to hear that.

Please don't worry about the shift-shock, as the mechanism cannot be analysed with highly contaminated fluid lubricating the gear-box. Infact, oil would have become sticky with coolant contamination.

I would go with Sankar's and Ajmat's advice and not worry about other symptoms right now. Any which way, even if the GB has to be replaced, these things are to be done. Therefore, might as well carry it out first and hope for the best!

But if the car is just above a year or two out of warranty, this has to be covered under good-will in my opinion.

[Lightning2]

Hello



Yes flushing the respective Fluids and trying with same Gear box should be opted.


BUT would like to Warn the Owner to drive the vehicle no more than 50 km/h for initial 5000 kms and look for abnormal whining sound, or other abnormality in up or down gear shiftings.
I am saying this because there should not be any Catastrophic failure of Drive Train ( due to any gear box component giving way from current damages )while the engine is running, other it MAY lead to costly damages in crankshaft or connecting rods!!
Thanks

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Since the company is not covering the replacement of the gearbox under goodwill warranty(which they should have since this kind of failure is not acceptable), what Jeroen,Sankar and Ajmat suggested is a reasonable chance to take . If it works, then you have solved the problem at the fraction of the cost of a new gearbox.

[vickster]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I would go with Sankar’s advice. Fix the cooler, flush the box and see what happens before replacing it.

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Since the company is not covering the replacement of the gearbox under goodwill warranty(which they should have

Originally Posted by scorpian

Like other distinguished members of community have mentioned and i would agree with them in totality-"Fix the cooler, flush the box

Originally Posted by Chethan B G

Please don't worry about the shift-shock, as the mechanism cannot be analysed with highly contaminated fluid lubricating

Originally Posted by Lightning2

I am saying this because there should not be any Catastrophic failure of Drive Train ( due to any gear box component giving way Thanks

Thanks for the suggestions. A BHPian Volvo owner who faced the same issue with a V40 whom I spoke to today also mentioned, apart from the above mentioned, the radiator and its related plumbing will have to flushed and cleaned too as there will most certainly be gunk all along.

I have been doing a bit of reading up online apart from speaking with other Volvo owners here on the forum and outside and surprising to note the Gearbox breaking down in Volvos seem to be an occurrence in the older XC90, V40 and the new XC90. Interestingly, most of the issues seem to have originated from the cooler.

In my case, when I last took the into service in June the coolant tank was flushed because of discolouration but I am wondering why they didn't suspect anything else. And I am told apart from Coolant a top up if required, complete change is not something mandated.

[Ithaca]

Originally Posted by vickster

I own a late 2014 XC60 2.0L Diesel D4 with the Aisin 8 Speed Gearbox. The car has run 30,000 kms.

Sorry to learn about your predicament. Can sympathize since you were expecting a flawless ownership of a brand that is known to be dependable / reliable and something like this crops up.
Great that you are taking the advise of our learned members and checking the cooler, getting the system flushed along with the faulty seal replacement.

Pardon my ignorance, but what was the price quoted for replacement of the gear box and is it something readily available with Volvo.
Will they provide a guarantee for the replaced gear box.

[interc00led]

Drain both the engine oil and transmission oil into two separate containers. The aim here is to confirm the source of oil that is getting mixed with the coolant.

A leaking head gasket or engine oil cooler can also cause this issue.

Once the source of leak has been identified and fixed, flush the cooling system ASAP as the seals and other rubber hoses of the cooling circuit can be damaged by the prolonged presence of oil in the coolant.

[vickster]

Originally Posted by Ithaca

Pardon my ignorance, but what was the price quoted for replacement of the gear box and is it something readily available with Volvo.
Will they provide a guarantee for the replaced gear box.

A new gear box I am told costs in the range of 5-6 Lacs rupees. It will most likely have to be ordered and not something the dealer will keep in stock for sure. Not sure about guarantees though. Volvo generally provides a 1 year guarantee for replaced parts at service. This is mentioned in the service Invoice.

[smarth.katyal]

Sadly, gear oil mixing with coolant or engine oil mixing with coolant is not a very uncommon problem. I have had coolant mixing in with engine oil in my WagonR. Although this was a small quantity, I never faced issues because of it. I mostly started changing my engine oil and coolant more frequently(every 3-4 months) depending on the condition before I decided to retire the car as it was nearing the 15 year mark.

As others have suggested, at this point, if the car is out of warranty and if Volvo doesn't want to provide support in terms of fixing the issue, I would walk to a FNG.

1. Start by finding out the source where the oil and the coolant mixed. In my case it was not clearly visible and was most likely in the coolant jacket around the engine, but most likely in your case it is the oil-coolant heat exchanger.
2. Once you've identified the source, by that part from Volvo, ask to FNG to replace that.
3. You would then need to clean the radiators and the plumbing.
4. The next would be to flush both the systems with some additives that help this process. I've seen some things that claim they "clean and lubricate" the gearbox. I'm sure there will be chemicals that can be added to the coolant and gear oil to remove gunk and stuff.
5. Fill in fresh OEM oil and coolant. Drive and see if it fixes the problem.
6. I would ignore the dealer saying that there is shift shock as it will be there because of contaminated gear oil. Damage to the gearbox can only be confirmed if you face shift shock with the correct and un-contaminated gear oil or by a visual inspection.

[V.Narayan]

What is the status here. Any response from the Volvo India management to your calls/mails? Please share. And of course if help is needed please PM.

[vickster]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

What is the status here. Any response from the Volvo India management to your calls/mails? Please share. And of course if help is needed please PM.

I have not received any replies to the many e-mails that I sent to Volvo India. I have written to their Sales, Service and specific people within the company as well. I had also mentioned in the e-mail that I would be sharing my experiences with members of Team-BHP so that existing and future Volvo owners do not face my fate.

Also, I managed to speak on the phone to a senior Director from Volvo India. But since that conversation he has not been answering my calls.
Meanwhile, the dealer contacted me offering me a discount on a new Gear box. The price offered after discount was Rs 5.2 lacs.

[vickster]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

What is the status here. Any response from the Volvo India management to your calls/mails? Please share. And of course if help is needed please PM.

A senior service Director from Volvo cars India has informed that they will not offer good will warranty on the gearbox and it has to be an out of the pocket expense. This is inspite of me sending invoice copies of the service done a month ago. I get the feeling that Volvo treats second owners as second class citizens.

So much for Volvo reliability and a sad ending to the Volvo experience ! So folks, if buying a pre-owned Volvo do ensure its within the warranty period to avoid disappointment.

[spookey]

My cousin had almost finalised the XC90 but after reading your ordeal he has changed his mind. Thanks for sharing.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by vickster

A senior service Director from Volvo cars India has informed that they will not offer good will warranty on the gearbox and it has to be an out of the pocket expense. This is inspite of me sending invoice copies of the service done a month ago. I get the feeling that Volvo treats second owners as second class citizens.



So much for Volvo reliability and a sad ending to the Volvo experience ! So folks, if buying a pre-owned Volvo do ensure its within the warranty period to avoid disappointment.

At the end of the day this is a five year old car. I think it is just not realistic to expect Volvo to cough up. Go with the advice mentioned earlier and you might be good to go for many years and tens of thousands of kilometers.

Which manufacturer would offer such a repair free of charge or offer good will? In all honesty I think you are expecting to much. Can't fault you for trying, I would. But at the end of the day, these things just happen. Get it fixed as suggested, very likely you won't need a new gear box at all. Get over it and enjoy your car for many years to come

Jeroen

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by vickster

So much for Volvo reliability and a sad ending to the Volvo experience ! So folks, if buying a pre-owned Volvo do ensure its within the warranty period to avoid disappointment.

I'll agree with Jeroen - you gave it an attempt and they responded in the negative; which is pretty valid for an older car. Going by the earlier responses on this thread, this seems to be one of those issues that could (& has) happened across brands, so moving on with the workarounds discussed is the best way forward.

You have V.Narayan's offered help as an alternative; if that gets you some discount, nothing like it. But I'd suggest to give the benefit of doubt to Volvo brand pretty much on this case, and continue on the ownership.

[vickster]

Originally Posted by vickster

Get it fixed as suggested, very likely you won't need a new gear box at all. Get over it and enjoy your car for many years to come

Jeroen

I completely agree and I am very thankful for the good advice BHPians gave. The thing is that the car has some serious shift shock and improper shifting that even the workshop has confirmed. So I think there's no other option other than gearbox replacement. After talking to multiple Volvo outlets that I know, all of them have said this is a one of case of failure.

How come the problem wasn't noted during service 45 days earlier? The coolant was replaced, coolant tank was cleaned and vehicle was lifted for an underbody inspection. The service bill is attached below.

My only reasoning is if it is a one of case why can't they treat it as a one of exception at least considering the low mileage. I have told them clearly that I was willing to bear the additional cost other than the Gearbox.

[Jaggu]

I really don't know why manufacturers make such a hue and cry for such failures, they should just blindly do a good will replacement and be with it. 30,000 kms and gearbox failure itself is a good enough reason.

Imagine the amount of good will Vs these negative feedback? Plain stupid these folks acting like.