Volvo A40 not shifting out of 1st gear

I've got a 1998 Volvo A40 that's new to the fleet it's the first adt I've had the privilege to work on The owner bought it from a auction and it doesn't shift out of first gear I'm waiting on the manual's but just wondering if any of you guys had any ideas thanks

rclay1981, I'm here in Central IL as well (Gardner). I supply heavy equipment components and we specialize in articulated trucks and wheel loaders. I can tell you that we supply probably more Volvo Transmissions than anything else (typically 9000-13000 hours is the life of the transmission in these). More than likely its a point to the transmission, but I can't tell you how many times I have sold a guy a transmission to find out he has a bad harness or an ECU Problem, and its a costly mistake. We have a computer box we use on our dyno to shift the transmissions we rebuild, I could loan it to you to help diagnose... what you can do is hook it up directly to the transmission and try to shift the truck while sitting in the cab (or anywhere else using my shift box. If the truck shifts with my box, you know you have an electrical issue (ECU or harness). Hopefully that is the issue for your sake of course. The issue with some of the dealer software we find is everything points to the transmission itself. The other day I was working on a L120E With a "bad transmission" they brought into our shop, it would not function in reverse, that needed a $130 sensor to fix the whole issue. If you need some help or some copies of a service manual, you can email me at [email protected] . I would be happy to help.

My experience with these is decades out of date, but it sounds like it's probably in "Limp" mode. There's an error, broken wire, bad solenoid, bad sensor, bad speed selector, bed up switch, etc. that the ECU has decided is not right and it's locked the machine into low gear only so you can slowly drive it to the shop. Just a guess.

I think Landtraxco is right. Do you have a read out that gives error codes. I don't know whose brand the controls are. Some will not let you shift if the engine rpm is missing or to low(sensor) Others with any shorted or open solenoid. If you find out who made the controller. Dana/Spicer; Zf; Funk etc. I might be able to give some help

If mwisales will loan you that shift box, that sounds like the quickest and easiest way to isolate whether it's an electrical or mechanical issue... hadn't had my second cup of coffee when I was reading his post this morning, lol.

Missed the loaner box too. no excuse. Da

Thanks guys for the ideas I'm am missing drop box out put speed reading so I'm going to start with that

Well there you go. I am not familiar with this machine but it makes sense if the computer can't tell how fast it's going, it ain't never gonna shift. Lazy truck

One common cause may be build up of wear material on the speed sensor pick up. Try screwing it out, cleaning, then resetting it, as well as checking for the obvious broken or chaffed wires leading to the sensor. Also, the number one cause of no shift complaints in a Volvo is that someone pushed the trans hold button and doesn't realize it. This is especially common with the first Volvo ADT experience. A no shift can also be caused by a faulty or out of adjustment bed up sensor located near the rear hinge point of the bed. The computer can be set to hold first gear until the bed is down to prevent careless drivers from racing around with the bed up. As in the recent mechanics thread, check the simple things first before blaming major components. Good luck.

I'm with Jerry, check the bed down sensor and wiring first, it may be something simple, and less expensive!

Fixed wiring harness for drop box speed sensor and seems to be fine thanks for all your help guys

Having trouble figuring out model number for my adt that isn't shifting out of first gear as well. Looking for a troubleshooting manual. Any idea how to find model number from serial number??

what's your serial number? is it an early "metal" machine or a later "plastic" machine

Serial number is 5350Y60247. It's an older metal body machine.

Its an early A25C Volvo BM type, with probably the smallest machine card I've ever seen, really strange! the machine card just has that it has a TD73KCE616.

If you guys still have problems with Volvo stuff please call me 816-408-7100 we have some of the best Volvo guys in the business here. [email protected]

rclay1981 said: Fixed wiring harness for drop box speed sensor and seems to be fine thanks for all your help guys Click to expand... im having the same problem, where is the speed sensor located

Hi im new in ADT a25c any body knows how to check output speed sensor and input speed sensor for this transmission , Thanks for the reply and appreciate in advance

laycobeau said: Missed the loaner box too. no excuse. Da Click to expand... Helo everybody how to check output speed sensor and wiring harness for this sensor thanks

In the future, post your question in the off road truck section as a separate thread.