850GLT-new car, new questions

Hi all,

Goodbye 760, hello 850!

I've had a new Volvo for almost 2 months before coming here with a
question (that may be a record for me). Our new car is a 1995 850GLT
with 160K km and is mainly like new.

I have had one issue to deal with so far and that was tracing the lack
of reverse lights (how did it safety?) and the occasional
unwillingness to start in P (and having to jiggle the shifter in N to
get it to catch) to a failing PNP switch which has since been
replaced.

I have two annoyances to deal with right now:

1. This problem may be related to the PNP and that's what I'm hoping
to find out here. In colder weather I find that once the car has been
started and I step on the brake the shiftlock remains engaged. I can
press the "shiftlock release" button and free it so this is still just
an annoyance. In warmer weather I can feel the lock clicking off
through the shifter. Also when I park I sometimes have to jiggle the
shifter a bit before the ignition will release the key.

So is this problem related to the fine adjustment of the PNP switch
and its installation or is it likely that I just need to disassemble
and lube something?

2. All of the signals and lights on the EXTERIOR of the car work but
about 75% of the time the left turn indicator arrow on the dash will
not light. When it fails the red light above the hazard switch will
flicker randomly (sometimes in conjunction with brake use). It has
happened once or twice that the indicator will come on steadily
instead of flashing but then cancelling+signalling again will rectify
that.

Is the relay that controls this likely to be the flaky bit and, if so,
is it easy to test/diagnose/access/(fix)/replace?

I guess I'll go looking for an 850 Haynes book too.

Thanks in advance,
blurp
ps. as an aside, the replacement of the PNP resulted in the discovery
that there was NO FILTER IN THE AIRBOX. I had driven it for at least 5
weeks that way but I can't say how long it had been gone before I got
the car. Any suggestions as to what I should do (besides put in a
filter)? Is there likely to be damage now done that will reduce the
life expectancy of the engine and, that said, do I get rid of this car
ASAP?

 

There's a microswitch that stops the shift lock solenoid from working
when the brakes are applied except when the gear shift is in Park. This
microswitch fails, causing the solenoid to not work at all.
http://www.volvospeed.com/Repair/Microswitch.php

Any time there's one switch causes some other random part to work, it's
a problem with a bad ground. The electricity is finding the ground path
through the other part.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)

 

Thanks Mike, the step-by-step seems like something I can tackle. As
for the grounding, is it at all likely that the relay would be the
first place to look for the problem? I'm reluctant to pull too much
apart since everything else works so well... I don't want to make
anything else worse!

Any thoughts on the potential damage of running without an air filter?
I may just be over-reacting to that one.

Thanks again,
blurp

 

Every electrical problem is unique. It may be obvious, or you may never
find it, no matter how hard you look. If you have access to a relay,
then it can't hurt to give it a try.

As far as running without an air filter - some extra wear may have
occurred. Change the oil and filter (since some dirt may have ended up
in the oil) and hope for the best.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)

 

Really depends on the air quality, if you're driving around in a dusty
gravel pit with no air cleaner it would quickly turn the oil into
lapping compound and wear down the engine in no time. Driving around on
a clean road in a wooded area in the rain there's not likely to be much
in the way of hard sandy particles in the air so it won't matter so
much. I agree with the advice of install a new filter, change the oil
and oil filter and not worry about it.