I really need your help please. Sorry this is a *long* post - I've included all the detail such that those of you who know the PNP switch changeout can follow what we've done, with an eye to assisting accurately. Please stick with me - I need to fix this thing to get my family away on a christmas holiday.
Background
1997 850-T5, 144k km, New Zealand Market model.
"why are we here, olaf - what's your sorry tale?"
I had no reverse lights, and had checked the circuits and bulbs - all working okay if I held the PRNDL stick in the right place. Diagnosed as PNP switch on it's way out (it hadn't got so bad as to deliver the blinking shift arrow yet), so I ordered the part from FCP Groton (along with some other maintenance items) and waited the 12 days for express mail to get the bits down here. not bad approaching xmas, really. I chose the SCAN TECH OEM part, not the genuine Volvo part.
I was pushed for time in the pre-xmas rush, and arranged to have the PNP switch changed - my chosen European independant mechanic kindly offered to fit me in on the friday before xmas, as I was to take the family away on a 2000km trip for the xmas break.
My mechanic fitted the switch, and I got back to collect the car. He'd tested it, and it was all okay.
Attempt 1: Car would not start. All lights up on dashboard, heard fuel pump relay initialise, starter solenoid click. Tried booster battery 'just in case' - no fix. Left the car with him to have another go. I figured it was a bad electrical connection to something that was removed to provide access (eg - AFM).
Attempt 2: Went to collect car on hearing again it was okay. Mechanic noted he'd road tested it, and it seemed to need lots of right-foot to get going. He was concerned he'd found nothing wrong, had removed and reinstalled the switch. I went to leave and this time found the car would start okay, by now I had the dreaded flashing Shift Arrow on the dashboard whenever the car was running. The lights on the Sport/Economy switch were also flashing. I checked the snow switch - it was in the correct (default non-snow) position. The car was very sluggish - it just wasn't right. We checked out the procedure on Bay 13 (I'd had time to locate this between Issue 1 & 2), and found the bit about alignment.
I left the vehicle with him, accepting that we weren't going to get away on holiday on Saturday morning (we had a boat to catch with the car), and went home to explain to my wife that we wouldn't be going on holiday as planned. She's a saint - understanding, but naturally disappointed. The kids are too young to know.
Attempt 3: Went back to the workshop that evening - my mechanic had been ordered back by his SO to give it another crack. He had aligned the switch by eye after reading the Bay 13 procedure - it seemed a little better, but still had the flashing shift light on the dash. Trans seemed to take some time to actually engage after moving the selector.
Attempt 4: A final alignment. Without the Volvo alignment tool, we noted what the purpose of the tool was to do, and used a short engineers ruler and sighted as accurately as possible between the two flats on the tranny selector, then determined if the switch needed to move clockwise or anticlockwise against the 'notch' at the top. Confident we had it in the right place, we tightened up and tested car. I checked the Haynes manual's write-up also - it didn't have much on alignment - did talk about feeling equal play back-and-forth from the PRNDL stick. I felt this and feel we're in the right place. Took the car for a test drive (still have the flashing shift-arrow), and it felt good for a few minutes around the block (engaged quickly enough) - then it went back to back to the very sluggish 'lots-of-right-foot' to get it moving.
I decided to leave it with the workshop. My mechanic has kindly lent me a loaner runnaround vehicle to get around - we're going to have another shot tomorrow (27th). He's bummed out about this - I'm patient, given he's simply fitted the part I supplied and it hasn't worked out - I don't hold my mechanic at fault. So: what are we missing here?
STATUS:
* New OEM PNP switch installed and aligned.
* Flashing Shift Arrow in all PRNDL positions
* Car enters "get me home" mode - appears to select 3rd only after 5 mins running or so.
* Connector is firmly held together with cable-ties and tape - the old boot fell to pieces on removal.
questions
I figure I have the following to address.
Question 1: Is this a faulty part issue with my new PNP switch? I can remove the new PNP and meter it out against the old part to determine function. If the readings are the same (except for an expected intermittant in the reverse position), that proves the electrical aspect of the switch. If it's faulty, I get another from FCP (I'd be tempted to pay the extra 30bucks for the genuine Volvo item), and reinstall the old part in the mean time.
Question 2: Is this now an electrical issue? Eg, poor electrical contact at the pins on the connector block?
Question 3: Is this an internal lubricant issue - do I need to run the switch through it's ranges repeatedly to redistribute lubricant?
Question 4: Is this still an alignment issue?
Question 5: Have I missed anything in the procedure?
Question 6: What would you do?
Thanks in advance for your help and advice. Merry Christmas!
regards
'olaf' - Wellington, New Zealand
At least my replacing the tailgate struts went pretty smoothly, 45 mins including lugging tools and parts up and down from my house to the street.