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won't start, turn signal lights flashing

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

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850forum
Posts: 237
Joined: 25 June 2009
Year and Model: 1995 850 turbo wagon
Location: USA
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won't start, turn signal lights flashing

Post by 850forum »

seems to me like the alarm system activated & killed the ignition -- but not beeping the horn. Wife had AAA & they say the battery seems OK.
WtF ???
Lately have been getting intermittant Check Engine and ABS lights. Noticed the ABS light came on after I braked fairly hard.

EDIT: the way to deactivate the alarm (& I guess from the reply below, the "immobilizer' is a separate circuit) is to lock & unlock the DRIVERS side door with the key.

Usually what happens is someone reaches thru an open window & opens the locked door, that will trigger the system.
Last edited by 850forum on 28 Jan 2020, 15:30, edited 1 time in total.
NEVER OPEN THE HOOD !!!
NEVER OPEN THE HOOD !!!
NEVER OPEN THE HOOD !!!

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Cookeh
Posts: 522
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Year and Model: 1996 Volvo 850 T5
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Post by Cookeh »

No start with flashing indicators is indicative of the immobiliser being triggered. If you have a key fob then unlocking the car via that should fix the immobiliser issues. If you do not, or that does not work, try the following :

http://www.vpcuk.org/forums/archive/ind ... be87dba889

I do not know if this could be linked to your intermittent lights.

850forum
Posts: 237
Joined: 25 June 2009
Year and Model: 1995 850 turbo wagon
Location: USA
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Post by 850forum »

My wife says that she did lock & unlock the drivers side door several times but still no start.
But now it IS starting. The shop guy made it start, and when I got up there it also started for me.

Wondering if the alarm is only wired to the low note horn -- which doesn't work anymore?
Going to let the shop look at it, other stuff needs done anyway.

re above link to permanently deactivate immobilizer -- why would one want to do that? How do you re-activate it? I can't believe that just pulling Fuse 16 will permanently deactivate it, it could get pulled for all sorts of reasons when someone is in the fuse box. Oh, maybe only when both #6 and #16 are pulled at the same time? Still, why would one want to do this?

The full version shows a photo of where the under-hood part that you have to pull is located. But there is no arrow showing exactly what part is meant, I see a bunch of stuff.

What is a "phase 2 n plate" car?
NEVER OPEN THE HOOD !!!
NEVER OPEN THE HOOD !!!
NEVER OPEN THE HOOD !!!

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misha
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Post by misha »

Phase 2 "N" plate car is just a UK thing.
Phase 1 is 850 '91-'95.
Phase 2 is 850 '95-'97.
"N" plate is UK thing for a year of the car.
'97 850 2.5 20v / fully equipped / Motronic 4.4 from the factory / upgraded with S,V,C,XC70 instrument cluster / polar white wagon
History of Volvos in the family:
'71 144 S
'73 144 De Luxe
'78 244 DL
'78 244 DL
'79 244 GLE
'85 340 GLS

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Cookeh
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Post by Cookeh »

As above, N in this case means the first letter of the cars registration, which govens the year of registration (1995).

It doesn't permanently deactivate it, don't know why that is in there. Had to do mine that way almost 2 years ago, immobiliser still works just fine. The fuse order is important, and does make a difference.

Immobiliser and alarm system have their own horn, which have batteries that can and do die, as do the horns eventually.

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BEJinFbk
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Post by BEJinFbk »

US models usually just have a single horn
mounted high on the center of the firewall.
Just a plain old round horn - Not electronic,
no battery, just a two wire plug.

What often happens to them is that the center
nut loosens, falls off and the horn’s metal disc
diaphram disappears... Plenty more in the yards!
'98 V70 R - Well Equipped for Life Up North... ;)

850forum
Posts: 237
Joined: 25 June 2009
Year and Model: 1995 850 turbo wagon
Location: USA
Been thanked: 6 times

Post by 850forum »

They replaced my bad horn this summer, so if there is only one, then I dunno what the no-start fault might have been.
NEVER OPEN THE HOOD !!!
NEVER OPEN THE HOOD !!!
NEVER OPEN THE HOOD !!!

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