I have an automatic 1999 Volvo S70 and everything was fine, but then I felt a heavy feeling when I was driving the shifting was heavy going between 2-3 gear. The next day the check engine light and the flashing arrow appeared after 5 minutes of driving. Has anyone had this problem before? I am a grad student and love my volvo, but have a limited budget and am wondering if it is worth the price of fixing it. My biggest fear is that the transmission is failing..... any one else have any advice?

 

Quoth the Google Mystic:

The "heavy" feeling you describe is a car that's stuck in "W" winter transmission mode. It starts from a stoplight in 3rd gear.

A common cause is the PNP switch starting to go. Moving the shift lever from P to 3 several times slightly vigorously will serve to clean the contacts and may get you by for a little while. The dealer price I've seen is about $400 to replace the part, but I also hear that others have had indy's do it for a little over $200. The flashing arrow usually precedes a CEL. Good luck!!

 

If you are mechanically inclined you can clean the switch yourself: http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/201...oval-cleaning/
Here some more instructions: http://volvospeed.com/Repair/pnpswitch.htm
My car has the same problem but I have not cleaned the switch as of yet. I tried the "move the gear selector from park to low back and forth several times" fix. Unfortunately I need to reset the CEL before driving the car again.

 

Sorry to thread jack but my 98 s70 auto just competley stopped moving in all gears. I started it up and took off and it was fine. I got half a mile and it wouldnt move in any gear. No CEL or shift light. Its sitting at a gas station. anybody have any info on what this could be?

Update: did the standard drain and fill twice and it ran great for 20 miles. Parked it fired it up couple hours later got a few miles down the road and got the CEL arrow flash and no movement. What are the typical codes for this? Rapid shifting did nothing.