95 Volvo 850 Turbo PNP Switch Question

[jasew503]

Hey all.

New to the forums, and Volvo's in general.

Just picked up a 95 850 Turbo Wagon this weekend and had a question about the PNP switch:

Drove it home fine from where I bought it on Saturday, let it sit until yesterday afternoon when I started it up. Started up great, seems to run fine, when I shifted into reverse I started getting the "Flashing up" arrow and it was locked in 3rd gear when I put it in DRIVE to pull back into the driveway. So I pulled back in, shut if off, and went to restart and it wouldn't even crank or click, almost as if it wasn't in PARK (Flashing Arrow Still).

After pulling the key out and waiting 2-3 minutes, I tried cranking it over again and it started up fine, with the flashing arrow however. This time I let it warm up a bit (it was pretty cold outside, about 40'F) for around 5-7 mins. Then I shut it off and moved the gear selector quickly through all the gears several times and then back into park (as I saw in a youtube video.) Went in and waited about an hour and did a bunch of googling about the issue.

Came out an hour later, started it up, and the arrow flashed once right after start with all the other dummy lights, went off, and allowed me to drive put of my driveway and pull back in without issue. (I assume the residual heat warmed up the grease on the PNP switch's contacts?) Not wanting to be stranded, I didn't leave the front on my house with it.

My Question: If there is no flashing arrow, and it allows me to drive normally, will this problem come back WHILE DRIVING the car down the road? (As in, if the contacts fail while moving down the road or at a stop light while in DRIVE, will the car just automatically lock itself into 3rd gear all of a sudden and not let me drive normally?) Or does this usually happen from a start while in PARK?

I'm actually scared to take it a mile down the road to put gas in it.

Any help Appreciated! Thanks!

[osman]

Just open it up while still connected to trans and sand the contacts and stretch the springs and reassemble. The hardest part of the job is dealing with the 3-in-1 harness which if you just leave connected, allows the job to be done in under two hours easily.

[cn90]

Go to the long thread on PNP and read it up...