winter mode

sleeper850 · Post by **sleeper850** » 12 Jan 2007, 21:00

I have a 95 turbo wagon. When I press the winter button, both green and orange lights are on. When I start to accelerate, the orange light will turn off. I do not notice any difference in traction at all. The manual says I can do this when the shifter is in drive, third, and low gear. THe both lights appear at the same time only in drive. No lights appear when I try to do this in third or low but the manual says winter mode can occur in third and low. Any suggestions?

Post by **JRL** » 12 Jan 2007, 21:07

sleeper850 wrote:I have a 95 turbo wagon. When I press the winter button, both green and orange lights are on. When I start to accelerate, the orange light will turn off. I do not notice any difference in traction at all. The manual says I can do this when the shifter is in drive, third, and low gear. THe both lights appear at the same time only in drive. No lights appear when I try to do this in third or low but the manual says winter mode can occur in third and low. Any suggestions?

It's not right but do NOT use winter mode anyway.
Not good for these transmissions.
If operating properly it will start out in 3rd gear, very SLOWLY
Puts a big strain on the tranny

sleeper850 · Post by **sleeper850** » 13 Jan 2007, 09:25

I thought that volvos were designed for snow. It looks like there is a problem with my winter mode but don't know how the system should properly function

Post by **luketrash** » 13 Jan 2007, 11:13

Just wait for your PNP switch to fail, and then you'll be in winter mode

My 960 and 850 both have this.. It's totally useless in my opinion. I bought studless snow tires for my 850 and it is unstoppable on both snow and ice, since it's front wheel driven.

My 850 also has TRACS on the dashboard, and I leave it off. Basically it's for people who don't know to let off of the gas pedal if your tires start spinning from a stopped position. Mostly useless for anyone who is over 17 years old or under 75 years old.

My 960 has an optional limited slip rearend, and even in winter mode, when it's snowy (like it is today) I would just be doing donuts in the road.

And like JRL said, winter mode just doesn't feel good at all.. Your transmission is groaning and begging you to stop.

Post by **billofdurham** » 13 Jan 2007, 11:24

Winter mode is poorly named. It would be better if the designers had called it "Use this setting if you have got yourself well and truly stuck and your wheels are spinning on the ice and you can't be bothered to get a shovel and chip some ice away." Of course they couldn't get all that on the switch.

I do know some people who use 'Winter' mode from the beginning of December and stop in April. As JRL and luketrash have both said, their gearboxes don't last very long.

If it is used at all, it should be very sparingly.

However, with both lights on you have a gearbox problem and should get it checked ASAP.

Bill.

sleeper850 · Post by **sleeper850** » 14 Jan 2007, 17:38

thanks for the advice. I noticed the tracs light on the dash how does one engage this mode even though it is useless

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 14 Jan 2007, 18:53

If the TRACS light is on I would also suspect the ABS and thus it's an ABS control module issue and needs your attention. If you search here on this site you'll find information about having it rebuilt for about $150.

Post by **luketrash** » 14 Jan 2007, 22:00

With TRACS turned on, my car makes a hell of a noise out of the front end when it engages. It's like ABS, but the noise is a lot louder and the pulsation is a lot faster.

I immediately turned it off.. TRACS engages when you spin the front tires. Similar to ABS, the car knows when one wheel is spinning and applies the brake to stop it from happening.

I'm guessing mine is working right, but I've never had another car that has it, so I don't know. It's not a good sounding noise

Post by **billofdurham** » 15 Jan 2007, 09:43

I noticed the tracs light on the dash how does one engage this mode even though it is useless

If the tracs light on the dash is on constantly then, as MIJ says, you have a problem and need the ABS module sorted. If the tracs light only comes on when you switch on the ignition, part of the vehicle self check, then goes out that is OK. To switch on tracs there is a switch on the dash marked tracs. When it is engaged a warning light comes on in the switch. It only operates at less than 25mph.

Tracs is not totally useless. If you do have one wheel spinning and tracs is engaged the ABS will stop the spinning wheel and can help you out of trouble. It is not advisable to have it permanently engaged.

It's like ABS, but the noise is a lot louder and the pulsation is a lot faster.

I always found on driver training that the noise coming from tracs helped to stop the spinning wheel because the driver was so alarmed at the racket coming from the front end he automatically took his foot off the accelerator, thereby reducing the revs.

We also had problems with some drivers when the ABS engaged as they tended to back off the brake pedal when it started pulsing. Oh the joys of advanced driver training, how I don't miss them.

Bill.