Flashing Arrow on dash, but no codes...

telegrammatic · Post by **telegrammatic** » 11 Apr 2006, 22:29

Any ideas?

1996 850 R with 120 K miles. Intermittent flashing arrow on dash (throws into limp home mode). Replaced the econ/sport switch, flushed the tranny. Still, the flashing light. I can get it to stop when I put it into sport mode. When my Indy mechanic scanned for codes, nothing came up. Any thoughts?

White850Turbo · Post by **White850Turbo** » 12 Apr 2006, 03:52

Take a trip to Autozone and see if their scanner works; it's free. Even if the light is on intermittently, there has to be a code stored.

telegrammatic · Post by **telegrammatic** » 12 Apr 2006, 19:38

Will do. It's odd that my Indy mechanic drove around for miles with the arrow flashing and the scanner plugged into the ODBII scoket, and no codes appeared. Stay tuned...

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 12 Apr 2006, 19:57

Flashing arrow is usually a PnP switch going south. Starts intermittent and then goes on more solidly. Someone here has taken his apart and cleaned it and put it back together. Can't recall the exact link but you can do a search...it's bound to come up.

telegrammatic · Post by **telegrammatic** » 12 Apr 2006, 20:26

Okay - people at AutoZone were no help - they claimed that they could only scan when the "check engine" light is on. As far as the PNP switch goes, that's what I have suspected all along, but since there's no code being thrown, my mechanic doesn't want to needlessly install a new PNP switch. In theory, if it's going south, it should throw a code - but it's not! I am really tired of having my car throw itself into winter mode when it's no longer winter!

I am fairly mechanicaly inclined - I recently installed a new Walbro fuel pump. However, the PNP switch install looks fairly difficult judging by the Bay 13 tutorial.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 12 Apr 2006, 20:36

I think that there probably is a code stored but it's not showing up on the equipment that is being used. You might call your dealer and just ask them what they would charge to read your codes with their machine. My luck though would have me go to the dealer and they can't find a code and the arrow won't show itself to them (intermittent right?).

Where do you live? If near me I would let you use my scan tool...it's fairly thorough. btw, I'm in East TN.

Edit: Just saw your profile...Denver, huh? Hmmmm.
Hope you get this figured out.

telegrammatic · Post by **telegrammatic** » 12 Apr 2006, 20:53

Thanks for the offer to borrow the tool - I appreciate it! Yeah, Denver is a bit far from TN. That's what I feared - taking it to the dealer = $$. That's what's so great about my Indy Volvo guy. He doesn't charge for scanning unless they actually fix something. Here's what's really wierd:

I was on my way home the other day, the flashing arrow/limp home mode engaged, and I drove straight to the mechanic. He plugged in the machine while the light was on - still no codes. He said that usually they will get a code that says "improper gear shift" on the machine if the PNP goes bad. Hmm.

pcar1947 · Post by **pcar1947** » 15 Apr 2006, 11:22

How to on the PNP Switch Replacement can be found at www.volvospeed.com Bay13 . You can do a google search on bay13 and it will come up.