Hey,
Today, I looked and in the warning light area, a arrow was blinking. It is the same arrow that is used for winter mode. Anyway, after it blinked for a while, the check engine light came on. I read in the manual that this means a fault in the automatic tranny but it is running fine. What is the likely cause of this??

-Thanks

 

PNP swich

 

That has happened to me in the past. Once it actually make my car limp home (could not drive over 45 mph and would not pick up speed fast). So I connected my code reader when I got home, reset it and it has not come back in over 2,000 miles. I call it a hiccup.

 

I had the same problem right after a Rear Main Seal job. About two days after reinstalling the tranny, the flashing arrow went on along with the check engine light with code 700? Transmission wrong gear? I reset the codes and it's been OK since. According to the Haynes Manual, Volvo's sometimes kick off check engine lights related to areas where work has recently been done. I don't quite understand the underlying physics. Maybe it has something to do with unplugging electrical connectors and the subsequent change in resistence in the circuits monitored by the computer? I did however discovewr that the tranny was two quarts low on fluid, with no obvious leak. To properly check the fluid the engine must be running!!! when the car is running the pump is sucking fluid out of the sump thus lowering the level. When the car is not running fluid drains into the sump thus giving an innacurately high level.

Apparently, the mechanic, who did the RMS did not top off the tranny properly so I was somewhat low on fluid. I am not sure if this was the cause of the light and engagment of limp mode.

FYI, when you car goes into "limp mode" the tranny locks into third gear and allows you to drive home with just one gear, you can manually shift the tranny into second and up to third for less stress on the torque converter on take off. Normally you clear the code the tranny will come back to life and shift normally.

I once had 94 Olds Cutlass that I drove in limp mode for over a year because I did not wan't to change an internal speed sensor, it was a little slow off the line and the mpgs were quite low but the tranny never completely failed. I eventually donated the car and it was still driveable.