on volvo 850, what is the reason if the forward arrow light on the dashboard comes on when on economy driving, then the car stops but the engine runs continously. car moves when switch it to sports driving. thanks

 

IIRC, the forward arrow should not affect your ability to drive at all. It indicates you are either in Winter mode or in Economy/Sport mode in a gear other than D or R, ie. 3 or L. - AB

 

If there is a fault in the system it will Make the Arrow come on and Make the car go into Limp Home mode. That makes it start out in 3rd gear from a stop. So yes it will affect driving. Espically if the fault is in the solenoid that shifts the gears.

 

tech, when i click sports driving, the forward arrow disappears then the car moves, after few minutes click it back to economy everything back to normal. it just happens once in a while. is there any major problem it can do to my engine? is it okay if i just place it on sports driving? i know it's gonna be to much on gas. appreciate for any information.

 

tech, i forgot to ask... you mention something about "solenoid that shifts the gears" is it expensive to have it fix? just want to have an idea how much it will cost. some mechanics are not too honest about pricing. thanks for your time.

 

It might be the PNP switch which is the most common. I am not that good with the prices. I just fix them. I think it is like $150.00 to $200.00 installed.

 

thank you so much for the informations, do you think it will cause major problem to my engine? do i need to have it fix as soon as possible? leaving it on sports driving cannot damage my engine, right?

 

It will not damage the engine. The worse that will happen is to the transmission.

The transmision might just fail.

 

I am having the same problem, sorta, I pulled code 1-2-2, for an open S1 solenoid. I read that they can be replaced with the trans in the car. Is that actually possible? Or should I just leave it to the pros? Thanks.

 

It is kind of a pain you have to drop the front of the Subframe to get the pan off.

It is under the black pan on the front of the trans by the Dipstick.

 

OK I have a similar problem. My son took my car last night to go across town. When he left his friends house, he put the trans in 3 by mistake, for a couple minutes. He put it back in "D", but the dashboard arrow stayed on, then it started flashing. When I started the car this morning, it flashed. But drove it to work and it shifted fine the whole way. Should I be worried, or is there a way to clear this error? If I put it in Sport mode, it hauled a - - like usual, but flashing arrow did not stop. Any help is appreciated.

 

reset the codes. The flashing arrow should go away. If it comes back, then something is wrong.

 

To clear my flashing arrow, I saw where you can turn the ignition on, but don't start it, then 20-30 times quickly run the shifter from P TO L. I started the car with no arrow and it has been fine since.

 

Finally took my car to volvocenter to fix the forward arrow light (Transmission mode "W" or gear position 3 or L engaged) that turns on then put the car on limp mode. These are what they replaced 1 9466012 304377 PNP switch and 1 9128538 703646 switch that cost me more than 400 bucks to have it replaced..... after few days the light comes on again. Tech, any idea what can be the problem?

 

Take it back. If they didn't adjust the PNP switch properly it will throw a code.

I know one of the switches you listed is the PNP the other must be the switch in the console.Im not sure why they sold you that one. They very rarely go bad.

Make them relook at the car. If they try to sell you more hold off and post it on here. Try to get the codes from them as well and post them.

Sorry I forget what year is your car?

 

Tech, Thanks... my car is 1996 850, I'll try to call them today and set an appointment. I live 2 hours drive away from volvocenter. I'll keep you updated.

 

Tech, I have an appointment tomorrow to take it back to volvo center. The center console switch E & S light moves back ang forth then transmision light (arrow sign) on the dashboard comes on, it doesn't happen all the time.... once in few days, it doesn't blink, I just switch it back and forth to economy and sports and it disappears. Do you think it is not dangerous to travel this car for few hours? About the code it's 114-124. Thanks.

 

Did they replace the console switch?

If not then that might be bad.

114=Program selector open-circuit or short-circuit to supply.
124=program selector faulty or short-circuit to ground.

Sounds like a possible bad switch and it moving it makes the light stop flashing all the more reason to look at it.

 

Tech, Yes they replaced the console switch.....just came back from volvocenter few minutes ago and here is what they did "intermitnat fault code, checked wiring harness, earsed code and test drove ok". So, I'll observe if the trans. light will show up again. Now, I just noticed that my cruise control is not working. It was working before they replace switches, is it possible that they accidentally disconnect something that causes the cruise control problem? Thanks.

 

It is possible. But hard to explain what you need to check.