# '91 Volvo Auto-transmission **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [February 1, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/91-volvo-auto-transmission/25856 "2009-02-01T00:13:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![napewastewin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/977dab/32.png) [@napewastewin](https://community.cartalk.com/u/napewastewin)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/91-volvo-auto-transmission/25856/1 "2009-02-01T00:13:09Z")
My transmission does not shift into overdrive for the first 20 miles or so on the road – longer if cold, shorter sometimes if warm. My mechanic tried changing a relay switch in the dashboard, to no avail. He thinks it’s a celenoid in the transmission and is waiting for a used one to come in for the part. He advises me in the meantime to get an extra key, leave the engine running and lock the door when I have to stop awhile, but I live where I must take a ferry to the city, and ferry personnel do not take kindly to engines left running! Help? ---
**Author:** ![BustedKnuckles](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bustedknuckles/32/25_2.png) [@BustedKnuckles](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BustedKnuckles)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/91-volvo-auto-transmission/25856/2 "2009-02-01T00:25:42Z")
I suspect the dreaded ‘morning sickness’, which is common on older, worn down transmissions. I’d just live with it, because the only real solution is to re-build the transmission. You can try to replace the solenoid, and you may get lucky. But I fear it will not.