You driven Volvo?

No trucks have a park, as far as I know. Idk what that lever could be. Can you post pics?

 

The Volvo’s in the shop too?

 

You say that like the idea surprises you.

 

I currently drive a 2014 Volvo 670... It has the shifter mounted to the right side of drivers seat... Marked with R for reverse, N for neutral, D for drive, and M for manual. It also has + and - buttons on the side of shifter closest to seat.

R, and N are self explanatory. When in D it will shift as to how it is set in computer, both up and down. OR while in D you can use the + and - buttons to over ride that somewhat, it won't let you over rev it to much or lug it out to much. And will resume shifting as computer wants very shortly after you manually shift it unless you pull it into M after you manually shift it.

M simply locks the tranny in what ever gear it is in (sometimes it will shift once right after putting into M if the computer has already begun the shift sequence) no matter how much throttle you give it. It will however go to neutral if you lug it down to much with the brakes ( it basically disengages the clutch).

I have run through Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, and Montana mountains with it and never had a problem with grades...

Uphill I don't even take the cruise off, I just leave it in D, then hit the - button when I want to downshift the first time and then pull it into M. Then when time to downshift again its back to D, press - button, and pull it into M again.

Down hill I slow down at summit to the speed and/or gear I want and put it in M to lock it there. Use Jakes and/or brakes to slow as needed. If I need to downshift I slow to the point I can shift, select D, press - button, and back to M.

I came across WY on I-80 a few weeks ago in a pretty bad snowstorm. Really slick, lots of snow, little to no visibility (fog, blowing snow, and late at night). And I didn't have any problem maintaining a slow speed that was safe and that I was comfortable with on any of the grades. I did have the power divider locked in at a few really bad spots, but that's it.

I will use the M position to accelerate better also. Say I'm turning onto an on ramp... Once its into a gear between 3rd and 5th I pull it into M so I can get to a higher rpm in each gear before shifting. When I want to upshift I simply select D for a second or less, the computer will begin the shift, and i pull it back into M to lock it into the next gear again. Sometimes it will skip shift if I don't get it back to M quick enough, so then I have to select D so I can manual it back down 1 gear, and back to M. Once I'm at or almost at cruising speed I slip it back into D.

Just remember, if you have it in M and have to stomp on the brakes for some reason it will do the same thing as if you had stomped brakes, then disengaged the clutch in a manual. It (computer) will not let that tranny kill the engine by lugging it out to a stall, it will lug it down to a point then disengage the clutch.

Hope this is helpful.

 

You know you don't have to click it into D to use the buttons on the side right? If you're shifting manually just leave it in M. Otherwise just keep doing what you're doing.

That winter storm in WY, I got caught in that nasty thing headed east, did a relay in Sydney, and had to turn around and come back through it. Had parked for 3 hours in Evanston waiting for the chain laws to drop off then on the road till about 11. On the way back I had to stop in Pine Bluff, because they had shut elk Mountain down and according to trucker path, there was no parking between Elk Mountain and Pine Bluff. What a nasty mess that was

 

On our Volvos it won't let you shift it manually in the M position, it just locks it in gear. I thought you should be able to shift it while in the manual setting but for some reason all the ones my company has you can't.

Yeah it was pretty bad... I was on top of elk heading west right as the worst of the storm was passing over elk as well. It was bad all the way from Cheyenne to Rawlins that night. Coming down Sherman into Laramie was REALLY slick with some snow and fog. But the worst of it was Elk Mountain... Horrible fog, and lots of snow on top of ice, at times the only way to tell where road was at was to watch reflector posts (when you could see them) and ride the rumble strips. When I left Laramie I was the lead truck in a line of about 15 trucks, a few decided to blow my doors off and disappear into a wall of fog (at least one of these guys I later saw in the ditch, at about the 235 mile mark) and all but me and one other driver stopped at the rest area at mile 267 on top Elk... No way I was stopping there if I could keep going (even if slowly) I knew that Elk would be closed in the morning either for weather or crashes and I was headed home. So I pushed through to Rawlins.

I had left Cheyenne at 9PM Wyoming time, and got to Rawlins a little after 1AM Wyoming time... About 160 miles in 4 hours... Every imaginable parking spot was taken in Rawlins. I lucked out and a westbound flatbedder was just pulling out and I got his spot when he left. And sure enough Elk was closed when I got up the next day, and remained that way for most the day, but I was past it and home in Idaho before it opened again.

 

Perhaps, you meant Inter-trashional?

@WesternPlains - it appears God has had a modicum of mercy on your soul. Lol.