I thought I would ask what the meaning of the red up arrow on the furthest right means on my 92 240 means. Ever since I've bought it the red up arrow would stay on for like a minute than go off, sometimes when driving it will go on also. Is this a sign of transmission failure or bad electronics/wiring? I know it has something with overdrive but I've driven it everyday 50+ mph and nothing wierds happened. It shifts up super tight,no bucking and I don't hear any noises. Anybody want to explain this and if I should be worried about it? Thank you!

 

on our 87 240, the 'overdrive disabled' light is a yellow/orange up arrow. this toggles with the button on the side of the shifter lever.

find some open road that you can full stop on. roll forward accelerating mellow and count the gear shifts, you should feel it go 1-2-3-OD, OD typically will engage around 30-40MPH if you're not on the throttle hard.

 

I think I felt two maybe 1 cannot fully tell I got to 45 but main road with traffic? held down that button before I drove and that light stayed on whole way home. Pretty sure it's a coincidence because it's been coming on more often. Ik the overdrive relay behind the glove works, when you turn ignition half way and press it you can hear it clicking. Does it seem like a problem?

 

the button is a toggle. when you push and release it, the yellow light should toggle. on to off, or off to on.

when the yellow arrow is ON, then overdrive is disabled, so you are in max 3rd gear (overdrive is like 4th gear). when the yellow arrow is OFF, then overdrive is enabled, the transmission will shift into overdrive (4th) when it wants to.

when the light is OFF, a solenoid on the side of the tranmission is POWERED ON to enable overdrive. if the light is stuck ON, then that solenoid is NOT powered, and the car won't shift into 4th. bass ackwards if you ask me.

the light and solenoid are controlled by a relay behind the glovebox thats controlled by the button.

failure mode #1: button or wire to button is bad. often results in erratic behavior, hard to repair.

failure mode #2: relay is bad. easy to repair but its not a cheap relay. don't use cheap off brand chinese relays like Uro, they are junk.

failure mode #3, wire to solenoid, or solenoid itself is bad. in this failure mode, the light should still toggle, but the OD doesn't actuate, so we can probably eliminate this here.


ideal fix, identify the root cause and fix it (button, wires, relay, whatever).

cheap fix if ideal fix isn't doable, remove the solenoid, and dremel out a notch in it according to some instructions online, and reinstall the solenoid. remove the light bulb, remove the relay. your overdrive is now permanently enabled, it will shift into 4th when it wants to, and you can't lock it into 3rd for downhills, etc.

alternative to cheap fix, IPD USA sells a plate to replace the solenoid that does the same thing as the dremel attack. replace your solenoid with this plate, then the rest is the same as the previous paragraph.

oh look, I've said this before...
https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...rplexed-73035/

(with some pics)

 

Wow thank you so much,very informative. From everything you said I am guessing it is #1 the wire to the solenoid/ button. When the arrow is off or on, the button does not toggle it so I know something's iffy there, I am positive the relay does work- like I said it does click pretty loudly but I am not experienced one bit in wiring or this strange overdrive deal so I am guessing I will have a tough time diagnosing pretty much anything.Sometime soon when I flush and replace tranny fluid-(probably will have questions on that too) I will look around there and study to try and understand it. Should I be concerned about driving this car or is damage bieng done? Appreciate your help very much

 

you're just wasting gas at speeds much over 40mph because you're stuck in 3rd. you can go 70 all day long in 3rd gear, it won't hurt the engine.

possible temporary fix?

pull out your glovebox, find the OD relay behind it. unplug the relay, and install a jumper in the socket between pin 15 and pin 87, and your OD light should stay off, and your OD enabled solenoid should stay enabled, and the transmission should shift into 4th/OD at the appropriate speeds (cruising steady anywhere above 35 or 40 MPH). to make this jumper, use 1/4 spades the same size and thickness as the pins on the relay, and crimp a short piece of wire between two such fingers, then plug them into the relay socket, wrap in tape.

when you pull the glovebox, the OD relay is on its side, stuck into the center of the dash with its plug side facing the glovebox opening, right below the center air vents.

OD relay should look like the white one here:
http://www.davebarton.com/pdf/240_Ov...AutoRelays.pdf

 

Where do you recomend starting or finding the problem. Is it not possible replace the solenoid/wiring with a new one? I just want it to work like it should my last thing is wanna do is drill a hole but that might eventually be the solution

 

see post #4. diagnose the electrics with a digital multimeter and your car's wiring diagrams.

 

When I get it up on jacks for a better view I will check solenoid, the wire from solenoid, and go from there checking relay etc. The car sat for a really long time and has some good miles so who knows what's going on. Sense you seem like you know a good sum, if you could recommend a really solid service/repair manual, things like ABS, wiring, brakes,brake/trans fluid flush change, all around everything to keep this car going strong would really help me. Especially for my year and model. Thank you

 

actually, I'd start at the relay, which is behind the glovebox.

find and unplug the OD relay. get a couple spade lugs that are the same size as the relay pins. put one in pin 31, thats ground. turn the ignition on, and pin 15 should be +12V relative to ground. pin 85 is connected to the button which is connected to power, so if you measure the voltage from ground to pin 85, when you push the button you should see 12V and when you release the button you should see 0V.

if you don't see that on pin 85, then its the button or button wiring, and frankly, this is the most common failure mode.

turn the ignition back off.

if you remove the bezel around the shifter, and get behind the carpeting on the right side of the driveshaft hump, just forward of the shifter, there should be a 3-pin connector that has white pin pin 1, and grey wires on pins 2 and 3. unplug this connector. the side of it that goes back towards the shifter, the button is on the two grey wires, pin 2 and 3. put your meter in 'ohms' (or continuity beeper) mode, and connect it to these two grey wires... push the button, you should see 0 ohms (BEEEP), let go of the button, open circuit (quiet). if you DO see that there, but you didn't see the 12V on relay socket pin 85 when you pushed the button, theres only a short bit of wire between those. if you dont see 0 ohms (BEEP) when you push the button, then the problem is the button or the short bit of wire that goes up the center of the gearshift lever.

 

Awesome,assume that radio shack has cheap voltmeter and spade lugs? Sounding not smart here but what excactly is "ground"

 

ground is the negative side of the circuit, the whole car body, engine, and battery - terminal are all grounded together. so most all voltages are measured relative to ground.

you can find those spade lugs at a car parts store too. sears has a fairly decent craftsman digital multi-meters for a reasonable price, better than the noname junk youre likely to find at most other places

that said, if you had to ask what a ground is, I suggest you find a friend or something who knows something about electrics, preferably vehicle electrics, and have them help you on this.

at that OD relay socket, which you get to by removing the glovebox, its to the left of the glovebox tucked in below the center air vents, the full pinout is...

pin 15 - blue-black wire to fuse 11, and grey wire to OD button
pin 86 - gray wire to other side of OD button
pin 31 black wire to chassis ground
pin 87a - yellow-red wire to OD light (other side of light goes to ignition switch pin 15R)
pin 87 - white wire to OD solenoid on transmission

inside the relay, 87a and 87 are wired together. the relay switches both pins to power (pin 15) when its toggled, this turns OFF the light (since the other side of the light is also on power) and switches ON the OD solenoid. when you push the button again, it grounds 87a (which lights the light) and ground 87 (which turns off the solenoid which disables OD).

 

Hey guys, do you happen to know the part number for the block plate? I have been looking on the IDPusa site and don't see it. Thanks!

 

see here for how to hack your solenoid for free.
https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...35/#post363056

or, here's the kit
Automatic Over-Drive Solenoid Bypass Kit

 

Well, nevermind. Apparently that is not a fit for the 740t...darn it!!

 

Thank you Pierce! Does it address the same issue in the 740 or is this only for the 240? The website says it will not fit my vehicle, but not sure if that is just a mistake? Thanks!

 

its the same for all AW7x transmissions as far as I know.

 

Good deal! I'll give it a shot. Thanks!

 

Just an update, got the block plate installed and all is well. My wife now has O/D. It took me about 30 minutes form start to finish with removing the solenoid wiring and cleaning everything up.

Next on the list is to replace the sending unit for the fuel gauge, and then finally, the A/C. Other than that, the wagon is running so well! We are stoked!!