Transmission Range Sensor Circuit Malfunction

Hi there!

The engine light came on. My OBDII reader reports: "P0705.
Transmission Range Sensor Circuit Malfunction (PRNDL)."

Car: Volvo 850 GLE, Automatic, 1986.

I do not notice any change in the way the car operates. I reset the
code, but it came back on when I restarted the engine.

Is the malfunction a serious one - can I drive for a while before
having the car serviced?

Can I perform the service myself, I'm comfortable with tools and
various vehicle maintenance jobs. Any proprietary tools for this one
needed?

Thanks very much!

 

Correction: car is from 1996...

 

A guess since I have not owned one of those:

Sounds like the "PNP switch" (at least that's what some folks called
it) I think iirc, it is located on top of the tranny, under the air
cleaner on your car. It is called the "Gear Position Sensor" in the
Chilton manual which covers 90-98 models (manual number72302), on page
7-15 in the version I have. This switch is what tells the computer(s)
what gear is selected and it is a lot more complicated internally than
one might assume.

Try this- with the engine off, shift the car through all the gears
(full range of the shift lever) at least 20 times rapidly. This
sometimes cleans the contacts of the switch.

I went through that with the 960 for some time and finally replaced
the switch.
__ __
Randy & \ \/ /alerie's
\__/olvos
'90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate
"Shelby" & "Kate"