Hi, I'm a Volvo newbie and a newbie to this forum but I hope I can get some help with this. I have a 2009 Volvo S40 with 39,000 miles (no turbo).

The car shakes whenever I start it up. It shakes for like 10 seconds max, but the car says to try slowing down and shifting up. What does it mean shift up? Also, the check engine light is on. I just took it for an oil change the other day.

Does anybody have the slightest clue what's going on?

 

Check for any loose or disconnected vacuum lines.
Guessing the oil change people may have disturbed something.

 

Does the shake occur on both hot and cold starts? I'm wondering about the circuits that trigger extra fuel on cold starts. My V50 revs to ~1200 for about ten seconds on cold starting.

If you can get a DiCE / VIDA scan, you will have a record of the fault that triggered the check engine light, along with a historical list of previous fault triggers. Much better than a Pep Boys OBD2 scan.

 

The car was shaking before the oil change. And I live in AZ. Do you think the hot weather might cause this?

Or does anybody think that it could be a misfire? It's telling me to "shift up or slow down"

 

Go to an Autozone or Advance (etc) and have them read the trouble code. It's a free service and where your starting point is in troubleshooting.