When I went out to dinner last night in my Volvo 2002 s40, I noticed when I put it in gear that an upright arrow was showing on the dashboard. I could do nothing (like stopping and changing gears and then changing back to the original gear) to remove this light from my dashboard.

When I left the restaurant and returned to my car the arrow light was off when I put the car in gear. It never came back on.

What is going on?

What happened here?


Respectfully,


Newport_j

 

My wife did this to my S40, turns out she hit the little anti-skid button next to the gear selector. I think it turns off once you turn off the car and start it back again. Maybe you pressed that by accident?

I call it the anti-skid button... but really I have no idea what that button does, except that the up arrow comes on when you press it.

 

There's no anti-skid button, at least on my 2000 V40.

The "S" button on the console is for Sport mode and changes the shift points on the transmission.

The "W" button on the console is for Winter mode and is supposed to improve your traction by forcing the transmission to select second gear from a standstill. This bogus feature causes the large orange up arrow to be illuminated while it's engaged. That's probably what happened to the OP.

 

Yep, its a W on my S40, right next to the gear selector. Thanks for the insight on what exactly that button does. But I wouldn't call it bogus, it did help me this winter to get my car out of a frozen/slushy gravel driveway. And now I understand why it works too!

Newport_j, any updates on the cause of your up arrow light?

 

I consider it a bogus feature because it's the cheesiest bush-league form of traction control.

I just checked my manual and when the gear selector is at D and the W button is pressed, the transmission is actually forced into THIRD gear from stationary, not second. That doesn't seem like the most brilliant idea to me.

 

Since the transmission's job is to multiply torque to move the vehicle, and having too much torque will cause the wheels to spin, the Winter button makes the transmission start in 3rd gear. Since you have a torque convertor this causes no issues other than a little heat in the trans. Since you are using it in winter and for short periods it does no damage. I would suggest it gives you a useful feature with a minimum of 'extra' parts to fail which would be a good idea.

 

Except no-one understands this feature or what it does.

Of course, if people understood their cars they could just select 2nd gear on the shifter in icy conditions.

 

what if the light stays on all the time in the day to Arrow light

 

Sounds like your "W" button is pushed and/or shorted.

 

+1. Winter mode forces the car to start in 2nd gear to reduce torque - the upshift indicator is telling you your starting in that gear.