1997 960 Wagon 217K

My daughter's (sidebar: "My daughter's..." is a common theme here. Seems we all like to wrap our little girls in a lot of safe Swedish metal) gearshift on her 97 960 suddenly will not shift between P,R,N,D etc. There is free movement on the gearshift itself, and it feels like something like linkage has disengaged.

Car drove fine until she tried to put in Park in our driveway (thankfully it waited until she got home). Even though she put it to the "P" the car engaged in reverse. She stepped on the brake, tried to put it in Park again, but when it failed, she shut the car off.

Is this some kind of linkage issue? Would it be at the console or underneath?

Over the weekend I had the car up on jack stands. I wonder if lifting it caused any problems.

Any help would be most appreciated.

az

 

 

You was able to access that linkage from unde the car correct? From the passenger's side?

 

nice fix

not broken linkage ...but mine has the notorious ignition switch bug......start the car and you have to turn the key back just a touch.......if you don't turn it back the dash power, radio climate control don't work.......as well as you can't shift it out of park.......i about ripped the shifter out of the console the other day before i realized the radio wasn't on and i turned the key back and proceeded on my way like i knew what i was doing...lol

just another friendly Volvo bug reminder .........nice fix BTW

 

That ignition switch is about $59. It's easy to replace. I actually liked mine being bad. Looked at it as a security feature.

 

I accessed the linkage from the driver's side. Once I got under there, the problem was very obvious.

Good to know about the ignition switch. I'll keep my eyes open for it.

Thanks for the compliment. I was kind of proud of myself. Even my wife was impressed.

 

hey if you can turn a wrench and impress the wife at the same time.....you are in like flinn buddy....lol

rspi......i agree....my daughters battery died in her 850slt and she just jumped in the wagon without asking anyone, not knowing the wife had jury duty ....and viola she couldnt get it to move...................never thought of not fixing it, theft deterrent is a great idea

will the switch eventually not work though...or is the little turn back thing all that it does?

 

Man, I turned my back for years. Worked every time.

Your 850 is a GLT, not SLT, correct?

 

nice...i think ill leave it ..lol

ill double check for sure but it says SLT on the badge to the right of 850

 

RSPI....i stand corrected......took the dog out and looked at the 850, 850 on left side of trunk and GLT under the left tail light ....my bad sir

 

Follow up:

The pin that holds the linkage to the transmission is the exact same pin that holds the hood support to the hood. I recently changed the hood supports and had an extra clip in my tool box. The clip fits perfectly onto the the transmission pin.

So...

Do I leave the threaded bolt and nuts on there? Or should I go underneath and put the Volvo engineered pin/clip combo back in as it was designed?

 

My 1996 850 is having the same type of issue. I've been having to use the shift lock override button more and more frequently; every other time I drive it or so. I think all my lights and radio, etc. still work when I turn the car on, so I'm wondering if the slight counter-clockwise turn solution will work for me? I'm just nervous because the release button seems kind of reluctant sometimes. I am very clueless, and needing to be thrifty, and would appreciate any and all advice! Unfortunately I just moved 400 miles away from my uncle who is my mechanic. I'm going to give him a call tomorrow but was hoping someone could throw me a bone on here, I guess! (A bone of helpful wisdom?) I think I'm also leaking coolant. I replaced the radiator three years ago when I bought the car. Hoping the two problems aren't related but I think I'm going to have to face the music this time.