hey,
I have a question about my 850 turbo 96 sedan. last night i was on my way to work, and my dashboard lights went out. sometimes i would lose the light behind my speedometer and a light tap on the dash would usually fix that issue, but last night i lost all the lights on my dash from the radio to the actual instrument gauges. i need to fix it soon so hopefully someone has had this issue before and can help me out considering im new to working on my own car. oh and also my speedometer will show a speed sometimes and others it wont, is that a easy fix too?

 

The light issue could be the dimmer control slide switch either dirty or not working.

 

I had the same problem. It's most likely the dimmer/slider above the foglight switch. The contacts get "scratchy" and don't make contact correctly. I took one out of a 850 at the Pick n' Pull and now it works great. You could try taking yours out and cleaning it with some contact cleaner.

As for the speedometer, it might be a bad speed sensor or a bad wire to the instrument cluster. You can take the dash apart and check the plugs going to the cluster. Sometimes unplugging them and then re-plugging will make a stronger contact.

This should be similar for the 850.

 

just faced the same problem. the culprit was the switch for the lights/headlights. contact points on them were not so good. just remove them and have a look.

 

http://atthetipwebs.com/technologyin..._volvo_850.htm

http://atthetipwebs.com/technologyin...ash_dimmer.htm

If the dash lights are out, check to see if you have other light issues. Check parking lights and other lights. If it's only the dash lights it's likely the dimmer. Usually the dimmer will work full bright when it goes bad.


The dash pad on the 850 is different from the S70, here is a link:

 

Speedo issue is likely you ABS module going out. www.MidWest-abs.com

 

hey guys, thanks for the information. i really appreciate it. ill definetly take a look and keep you guys updated. as for the abs module, the whole abs system is going out and the abs light has been on the entire time ive owned the car, however i heard thats a common issue with these cars. anyone else have the same problem?