Hello all, new to the site and looking for some guidance. Im hoping someone has dealt with this same issue. We just purchased a 2004 Volvo L40B a month ago and have been having issues with the hydrostactic transmission going into 2nd gear and staying engaged. The issue is that when the lever is turned to 2nd gear and give it throttle it will stay engaged in 1st for a while and then will kick into 2nd and stay there for a while. Sometimes it will shift in 2nd and it will engage/disengage sporatically. Other times it will be in second gear and then all of a sudden just go into 1st and stay there for a long period of time. Also, this is occurring while not under a load. Simply transporting from one place to another. I was advised to clean up the high/low electrical connections on rear axle hydraulic pump. So I have taken off the high/low electrical connections on the axle hydro pump and cleaned them up, cleaned up the ground on the frame and have had no luck. After that we took it into a dealer and had them work on it. They told us they recrimped the electrical connections to ensure there was good connections, and that solved the issue. They test drove it down the road and no problems they said. I drove it when we picked it up and it shifted into 2nd after about 5 seconds and after about 10 seconds in reverse. They said this was normal and it had to build pressure before it shifted and the revers was a delay. Thought it was fixed till I ran a snow pusher out to a place and sure enough acted up again, shifting sporatically, not shifting at all for a long period of time, or just staying in 1st. Every time I would come to a stop, it then would stay in 1st for a period of time or not shift at all. Super frustrating to say the least. Had to leave it in the shop when we just had a 10" snow storm past two days. The shop is sending a tech over sometime this week, but any advice on how to trouble shoot this myself is greatly appreciated. Machine is in great condition, solid, tons of power when operating correctly. Just need to get this bug worked out and get it running normal before the next snow. Thanks in advance for the help. Mark
Mark the hydraulic motor is defaulted to min displacement which is second gear. Therefore I doubt your issue is related to the 1st-2nd shift coil. It could possibly be due to the directional coil and its circuit, though the issue should be seen in only one direction. The machine is designed to shift to 1st from 2nd when it reaches enough load to do so. Is it possible you are carrying a heavy pusher and driving up grades that would produce the pressures that would shift the motor to 1st gear? Also are you on and off the throttle? That may cause the symptoms you are seeing. This is hydrostatic drive and pedal control will certainly effect how the machine operates.
Thanks Ben, All of these issues are happening while not under a load, not even with the pusher on it. It acts up in both directions and I was up down on throttle to see if that cause it to shift with no success. It acts up the same no matter the direction just transporting. It was so annoying I didn't even use it to push.