Warning light

bobkirtley · Post by **bobkirtley** » 19 Nov 2005, 09:17

I have a Volvo 960-1995. This mirning (temperature 29 degrees) a flashing arrow on the dash was on.The manual says there is a fault in the automatic gear box.Has anyone had this experience, and what is recommended that I do. Thank you,

Bob Kirtley

Dave B · Post by **Dave B** » 22 Nov 2005, 07:52

Bob,

I am experiencing the same problem with my 1994 960. It is intermitant. But when it does occur, initially it feels like I am staring out with tha hand brake on. No pick up. That usually disappears within the first mile. Also get the alternating flashing on the gear shift lever panel between the "W" and "E" modes. Any one other than Bob and I had this experience and what was done to correcty it?

Dave B

GUEST · Post by **GUEST** » 23 Dec 2005, 09:47

I have had constant problems w/my '92 960 sedan's automatic gearbox. I bought the car used in '99 after driving an '86 740 for years. I've put so much money into correcting this problem and the dealership I bought it from cannot figure out what's wrong w/it. I'm very unhappy w/the situation and considering buying a new S40 and never buying a used car again.
The dealership has charged me crazy amounts to "fix" this and nothing has worked, but they also say, "you may have a fault w/the sensor itself." There may be nothing wrong w/the gearbox, it's the sensor that needs to be reset. To reset it, you can take it to a Volvo mechanic or dealership. My dealership told me I could crank the car 5 times in a row w/o actually starting it up. Just crank it to where the dashboard lights illuminate. This will cause the light to stop flashing. I have done this before and as recently as last week and it worked for about a day and then the light would flash again. Today this car is making me so angry and I can't even control the flashing w/this trick I was taught. It'll decide on its own when to cut it off and when to start flashing.
I was also told that it is okay to drive the car while the warning light flashes. I don't understand this, but I am very worried that this may actually be harming the car. This car is on it's last leg and looks great, but I don't have the time or the willingness to put more money into it. I'd rather invest in a new car and save myself from the stress.

KMB · Post by **KMB** » 23 Dec 2005, 09:51

I forgot, I also have the lights flashing on the gear shift level panel on my '92 960 sedan.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 24 Dec 2005, 17:15

Don't fret. I'm a Volvo mechanic so I can tell you in confidence that it's okay to drive the car with the lights flashing.
Now on to the problems. Two things on top of my head are the gear selector switch or the mode selector switch (the switch beside the gear shifter with WSE on it). The mode selector switch would be my first guess if you notice a fuel cutoff type of feeling going uphill at part throttle. Also does anyone's overdrive work?

KMB · Post by **KMB** » 30 Dec 2005, 13:16

I've never really noticed how my overdrive is reacting. The car has been sluggish and I felt like I was driving in another gear, but I was actually in 'drive'. I'm also noticing that at the same time I need to fill up, my coolant light comes on. This light comes on when I have about less than an eigth of a tank left. When I gas up, I check my oil and other fluids and everything looks fine. The coolant level is not low, it's not high, it's exactly in the middle. I don't understand why that light comes on as well. This has happened the last two times I filled up.
On the bright side (if there is one) the warning light for the automatic gearbox hasn't been flashing. It cut itself off again, but I know it's going to come back on any day now.

dpauto.com · Post by **dpauto.com** » 30 Dec 2005, 14:19

On 960 92-95, you can manually retrieve trouble codes from your transmission control unit at Diagnostic Socket A-1. If you get a code 3-1-3, you need to replace the Gear Selector Switch ... which is very commonly go bad.

Regards,
Dave

KMB · Post by **KMB** » 02 Jan 2006, 09:52

How do I go about doing this w/o screwing anything up? Another quick question: is it possible to replace the passenger sun visor? I noticed the visor won't stay up b/c the rod that connects to the roof bolt is cracked. I was wondering if I could go to my local Volvo salvage store and find a used one to replace it. I'm about to sell this car and I want to get it in selling shape. Thanks!

andrew.christensen · Post by **andrew.christensen** » 28 Feb 2007, 18:30

1993 Volvo 850 GLT (non turbo)

This has happened before about a year or so ago and went away real fast, like the next time I started the car.

But over this last year we have had numerous issues with the car and have spent over $1000 on it.

A little history:

It was having the stalling issue that apparently many 850's get. Before I knew about this being common and before discoving this site, I replaced: plugs, cap rotor. This winter the fuel pump died so we had that replaced. Still stalling. Then we replaced the Mass Airflow sensor because the computer said it was getting an MAF error. Guess what? No luck. The last thing I did (two days ago) was to replace the Fuel Pump Relay. I have tried resetting the codes numerous times and the engine light never would go out. But magically yesterday the light went out. We thought all was well.

Then today, that arrow light started flashing like a new york city streaker on Riddlin. Anyway, now it's stalling again!

I am so tired of this. Anyone have any ideas short of taking it out back and putting it down with a .50 cal machine gun and never buying another Volvo?

CarVolvo · Post by **CarVolvo** » 28 Feb 2007, 19:58

on an 850 the warning light you speak off could mean you moved the car into winter mode.. or the tranny pnp switch needs replacing.

There are many write ups on this on the 850 forum.

I know on 240's if that light flashes its an indication that you are NOT in overdrive mode. This could mean you have pressed the remove overdrive mode (winter mode) and you will fee the car drive more aggressivly.

On the 240 it could be the overdrive relay that is causing this issue.. but there is also a solenoid located on the tranny that sometimes needs to be worked on.

Im guessing if you have a 940 it may have similar issues since the engines are the similar.

As the guest wrote.. you can drive the car all you want .. you might find that its a lot noisier on higher speeds and ofcourse you will use more gasoliine.