95 Turbo - Crank but no start, flashing arrow

Nick777 · Post by **Nick777** » 18 Feb 2020, 00:37

The other day my 1995 850 Auto trans had symptoms of a low charge on the battery - no crank, dim lights, etc. No flashing arrow light on the dash.

Took the battery to AutoZone. Diagnosed as bad, and replaced under warranty.

Installed new battery and noticed the dreaded flashing arrow. The car cranks very strongly but won't start. Noticed the backup lights work when shifted to R. Tried rowing the shifter 30 times as its been said can help a bad park neutral switch connection.

Q: is the bad battery replacement and appearance of a crank no start with flashing arrow just a coincidence? Again backup lights work when shifted to R.

Thank you ver much for your input.

Post by **Clemens** » 19 Feb 2020, 04:09

It could be the ignition switch/lock wearing out.

Post by **misha** » 19 Feb 2020, 14:19

Check fuse no.1(Ecu and Tcm).

Nick777 · Post by **Nick777** » 20 Feb 2020, 02:42

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll definitely look into both possibilities.

I forgot to mention that I had my mechanic replace the pcv system (i wish i had the time to do it myself, but alas i do not) about a month ago. I've read here that a bad TPS connection can trigger the dreaded flashing arrow. Perhaps it wasnt reconnected properly.

Another thing, I'm going to pull the Trans codes via the OBD1 system on board, and then clear them out. Its my understanding that while clearing the TCM codes on an OBD2 is a colossal PITA, it shouldn't be an issue with the onboard OBD1 system. Hopefully, as another possible avenue of attacking the problem, it might be the case that some whacko voltages threw the TCM into a tailspin and now its stuck with incorrect codes --> and erasing those codes erases the problem.

Anyway I've been busy and relying on my second 850 so i havent tackled the diagnoses yet. But now i have some ideas so thanks misha and Clemens.

Btw if any of my reasoning above sounds off please correct my thinking.

Post by **misha** » 20 Feb 2020, 03:28

Low voltage or voltage spikes can make all kind of problems with modules.

Unlike ECU....which can reset and clear the codes with just removing negative battery cable...TCM codes will remain stored untill read and cleared with specific Volvo scan tool.

In your case,where you have obdI diagnostic under the hood,you can do that on your own.

But....write down the code(s) just in case to have a clue what's going on.

davhaney · Post by **davhaney** » 22 Feb 2020, 21:22

Few months ago, I had crank but no start with up flashing arrow. It was not the PNP switch -- my TPS sensor had finally worn out. The transmission computer module picked up the error before the ECU, and flagged. The transmission control module uses throttle position to help compute upshift/downshift and kickdown. The no-start condition was probably bad TPS data sent to the ECU causing too-lean or too-rich conditions unhelpful to ignition. New TPS sensor was the fix.

At this point, I went ahead and refreshed the other engine sensors which were still original from factory, as they're more than 25 years old now. Also, as someone else said, if your ignition switch is original, I would replace as preventive maintenance if you're in this for the long haul.

Nick777 · Post by **Nick777** » 09 Mar 2020, 20:22

Just an update in case this thread helps anyone.

I read and erased the transmission codes via my 95 Turbo obd1 code station under the hood, cleaned the positive and negative batter wires with dilute water and backing soda, and tightened them on nice and snug --> and it fixed the problem. So in my case it was almosr certainly bad transient voltages to the electronics due to a poor connection and bad battery (though i will say as suggested here that there may be evidence of a very early transient ignition switch issue - maybe).

Thank you Clemens, misha, and davhaney for your input!