My 2003 volvo s40 has been driven fewer than 70,000 miles. All volvo recommended service has been performed by certified mechanics and is documented. My volvo dealer determined that the transmission had to be replaced. It is not at all reasonable to have a catastrophic transmission failure at only 70, 000 miles. I feel volvo should be responsible for at least the cost of the replacement transmission. In addition to the cost and inconvenience, this transmission failure presented a hazard that could have resulted in a serious accident. My volvo was being driven on a frontage road with the intention of entering a freeway. When the transmission started to slip, a right turn was made from the frontage road to a 4-lane road in an attempt to avoid high speed traffic. The transmission went to neutral during the turn and the volvo coasted to a stop just past the corner in the right lane of this busy road. Fortunately, a police car was just a hundred feet away, saw the volvo stop in the traffic lane and pulled in behind the stopped volvo with lights flashing to warn oncoming traffic. Only the proximity of the police car avoided being hit from the rear by vehicles traveling in the lane where the volvo stopped. The police called for a tow truck. I have determined that this type of transmission failure has been reported many times between 2003 and the present and feel it should be considered for a safety recall.
2003 Volvo S40: transmission slipping
5 of the 18 complaints about the 2003 Volvo S40 describe transmission slipping.
- owner complaints
- 5
- of this car's complaints
- 28%
- recalls
- 0
What owners say
My 2003 s40 has been slipping gear between 3rd and 4th gear and ocassional hard shift between 2nd and 3rd gear. The car only has 49000 miles. I have gone to the dealer and they said, there is no software update for the TCM (transmission control module)and it needs to be replaced. Cost $800. This gear slip makes driving very bothersome and dangerous on occasion. If you need to speed up to get out of the way, the slip causes the car to lose power. Few seconds makes a difference between life and death. I have taken the car to another import repair shop and had them replace the TCM. Which did not help the issue. Then I took the car back to the dealer and asked to do another diagnostic to see if the TCM is the issue or not. They said, the TCM could not be functioning properly. They want me to replace the TCM through them and see if it will resolve the problem, otherwise it will be a transmission issue. I have researched on the web and through multiple forums, there have hundreds of issues related to TCM and transmission on these models. I do not understand how can a car have TCM or transmission issue with all it's factory recommended service done as scheduled.
Transmission slips between gears 2nd and 3rd
I am currently driving a 2003 volvo s40. It has been experiencing a transmission slip between 2nd and 3rd gears. I had taken the car back to the dealer for two times due to the above problem. The only thing they did was upgrading the program, which it did not help at all. The major problem is I almost got in a major accident on 6/27/2003 while I was making a left turn and the car lost power in the middle of the road. The on coming traffic barely missed running into my volvo. This transmission slipping usually last for 2 to 3 secs and this lost of power can put me into major accident easily. I asked volvo to take my car back, but they said they could not reproduce the problem while the car was in the shop, the turth is, the problem does not happen everyday. I am extremly mad that volvo does not care about the lifes of their customers. In fact, this is a know problem even volvo has a tech note for this. But I guess as long as they cannot reproduce the problem, they dont care even we are taking about potential major accidents here. Please help. Thanks.
Transmission slips from 2nd to 3rd from time to time. Additionally, the car shifts harshly from 3rd to 2nd gear.
Service bulletins that may apply
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2003 Volvo S40 slipping
Is transmission slipping a common problem on the 2003 Volvo S40?
5 of 18 owner complaints about the 2003 Volvo S40 (28%) mention transmission slipping.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2003 Volvo S40?
There are 0 recalls and 2 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
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