Hello,

I am new to this forum and have found it a great resource so far in owning a 10+ year old Volvo (1996 850R Wagon). We purchased it new and absolutely love the car.

We seem to be having some electrical problems. When you turn the car on the headlights do not turn on immediately (5-20 second delay). And during this period of no headlights we can not shift the car into gear. If you manually press the shift override button it will go into gear but not on its own until the lights come on. We are stepping on the brake when trying to put it in gear as well.

The other strange thing is that the radio gets all static, no stations at all. Sometimes if you turn the radio on while waiting for the lights to come on so you can shift into gear, when the lights do come on the radio picks up the station and acts like normal.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
TJ

 

My bet is that the electrical portion of your ignition switch is going bad. The next time it acts up on you try to jiggle the key and see it it clears up. If it does then it is the switch for sure. A fairly cheap part and a very easy fix.

...Lee

 

I agree....I'll bet it is the ignition switch. Does moving the headlight switch affect when the lights come on, or does it not affect the 5-20 second delay you mention?

 

I agree as well.