Part 2: PNP Removal

Post by **precopster** » 01 Jan 2013, 05:51

The other day I had two PNPs in front of me, a 850 '96 GLT that had been pulled from a low mileage transmission at around 70K miles and a PNP from a 960. I was supposed to have cleaned the 960 PNP but instead the brain went foggy and I opened up and cleaned out the 850 one. It had near perfect straight copper contacts and the grease looked OK so I cleaned it up, retensioned the springs and put some new grease inside.

By contrast the wife's '95 850 PNP was toast earlier this year at 82K miles with steeply worn coppers that had to be filed back quite a lot. It worked brilliantly after the clean with reverse lights being restored and no more flashing arrow and stuck in first syndrome. It got me thinking that Volvo must have either overtightened the wife's one, or used a different supplier or perhaps these things just wear out markedly once the grease inside goes stale and crusty.

Post by **cn90** » 14 Mar 2013, 07:22

polskamafia mjl wrote:I like having my car work the way its supposed to. I agree most times there is no reason to worry about whether it will start in neutral or not, I just prefer having things work the way they were meant to. I still believe some precision should be used when aligning the switch. Everyone is free to use their own judgement however.

I finally have a little time to play with this "no crank in N" issue.
- Remove Air Filter Housing: 2 min.
- Remove battery and battery tray: 2 min.

I played with the adjustment 13-mm bolts to adjust the cable to all kinds of extreme: all the way to the front and back and anything in between, roughly 10 different settings: guess what, car does not crank in Neutral.

Then I discovered that (same observation as someone else earlier) that if I leave the shifter in "N" but push it just a tiny bit forward (still in the "N" slot but at the forward limit of it), then the engine crank! Try and you will see.

I do not have the starting circuit in front of me, but I wonder if the neutral start circuit is somewhere below the shifter itself (rather than on the PNP switch).

As I mentioned before, I never used this feature (crank in neutral) in my 14 years of ownership.
However there may be a rare exception: if you are on highway and engine stalls, and you want to re-start engine ASAP, so you would shift to neutral to start. So I can see this feature useful in very rare situation.

jrs4 · Post by **jrs4** » 04 Sep 2013, 16:50

Hi, I have problems to pry the shift arm up, I'm stock right here cant remove it I don't want to pull to hard, any suggestions?

jadnhm · Post by **jadnhm** » 24 Nov 2013, 05:52

Mine is very stuck as well. The earlier tip to thoroughly clean the shaft before trying to pull the shift arm, and later the switch, is prob the best advice here. Maybe some light lube like WD-40 or something... Anyway, getting the shift arm up was really though and I struggled with getting the switch up for nearly 2 hours yesterday before I had to stop. Hopefully I'll be able to get it all the way off today. Right now I'm just praying I don't bust it up to bad in the process.

Post by **osman** » 24 Nov 2013, 11:36

Just dont pull with both hands while your head is over the shifter, you WILL smack yourself in the chin with the shifter knob when it finally breaks free (it will eventually.)

KCB1988 · Post by **KCB1988** » 10 Dec 2013, 18:44

So I have 95 960 and is the installation pretty much the same as this post or will have to do something completely different?

Post by **precopster** » 10 Dec 2013, 18:56

The PNP is located on the exhaust side of the gearbox on 960s. You need to remove the large 22m nut and the 12mm bolt for adjustment. The basic design is similar to a 850 but the wiring harness wraps around the gearbox over the top to the left side of the car where there's a large square connector.

Post by **MoVolvos** » 10 Dec 2013, 19:21

jrs4 wrote:Hi, I have problems to pry the shift arm up, I'm stock right here cant remove it I don't want to pull to hard, any suggestions?

Do not use WD or any other greasy spray/lube. Silicone spray worked the first time and was enough to dislodge or remove any gunk inside. Mine had been sticky for about 1 year and would not return after being depressed so the shifter can go into any gear at anytime especially when it is cold. Still smooth after 3 months of light silicone spray.

Blessings,

BKM

_

Post by **MoVolvos** » 10 Dec 2013, 19:44

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I had to clean the PNP due to a no crank in Neutral. No other issues with the lights etc... It would start in Neutral if you pull the Shift Lever back a little.

The problem with not having Neutral start is if you are moving and the engine cuts out you must come to a stop and in Park (stand still) before being able to crank/start the engine. There are times you may need to test the car for noise by shutting it down at speed to see if it is engine, transmission or suspension/tire.

I found 220 or higher grit sand paper to be very effective but one needs to be very gentle using multiple passes and even pressure following the curvature of the tracks. Too much removal and you're done.

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=59216

Blessings,

BKM

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Post by **erikv11** » 10 Dec 2013, 21:13

Hmmmmm I don't think I would put sandpaper to those tracks, unless I found a whole bunch of corrosion or something. The removable contacts sure, in fact flattening them out is the most important part of the cleaning, but no sanding the tracks. As you point out, too much removal and you're done. I've cleaned three of these PNPs, only ever used rags and degreaser on the tracks.

Part 2: PNP Removal

Re: Part 2: PNP Removal