Alright.. I know this is my first thread here, and in every forum of any kind I've been part of before, I hated it when people signed up and asked questions that hundred others had asked before. I am trying not to do that. I have used the search engine.
I don't know what to do, or think, and hope for your help.

We have a 2000 S70. This is our only car. We bouught it used a year ago, and it has about 109,000 miles on it by now. We have been faithful with maintenance, to the best of my limited knowledge.

Since about a month, the "Check Engine" sign has randomly showed on the dashboard. Very randomly. One time it came on when I started the car. AFter I drove 5 mins, I stopped at a Starbucks. Afterwards, the light was gone... go figure. "Electricity issues" I thought.

Now though, a blinking arrow has come on on the dashboard. According to my manual, this is transmission related. And indeed: when I hit the gas pedal after stopping, it takes longe r(and audibly more hard work) for the car to get up to 30mph or so.... once it is there, it drives fine, I can hear or feel no issues.

I am somewhat alarmed. WHAT in the world do you think is going on? I'm a student, our car budget is limited. I am living in Chicago and have not found a good Volvo expert mechanic yet.


Any ideas? Thanks so much, in advance.

 

1st thing: Have the codes pulled from the OBD-II port. It will tell you what errors the computer has detected. Even if the light goes back out the code may still be in the computer.

2nd: 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 3,000 miles. I call it a hiccup. It happened another time when I was driving with the car between gears, 3rd & D.
Here is a link to that thread: https://volvoforums.com/forum/showth...smission+arrow

You may want to invest about $60 to $120 in a decent OBD-II Gauge. It will save you a lot of time and $$$.

 

is the RPM Arrow blinking on the idle ?
if so, this problems seems to be more related to the CONTROL SLIDE (p/n for 2000 S70:9454745 ) or MAF Sensor.
i had the same problem on my 2000 S70 GLT SE and it was easily solved by cleaning CONTROL SLIDE.

 

There is a 99% chance that your ABS is bad. I just sent mine in for repair and got it back two days ago, for the exact same problem you're having. The ABS controls the speed sensor, so you might also notice your speedometer cutting out to 0mph, and your odometer/tripmeter displaying "---.--".

I would highly suggest sending removing your ABS and sending it to Victor Rocha for repair. He repaired mine, and even though it's only been a few days, the problems are all gone. Here is his website. I have a 2000 S70 non-turbo, and had the flashing arrow, the "Brake" light, and the check engine light. Removing the ABS is EXTREMELY simple on the S70 - you only have to remove one aluminum tube to get to it. You do, however have to purchase (or own) a Torx E5 socket to get it out, but I found an entire set of Torx sockets at Harbor Frieght for $7, so you should find it very simply.

He only charges $140 to fix and ship the unit back to you, and that's MUCH less than the $800 or so the dealer will charge you for a new ABS - and that's not even including labor. The other thing it could be is the PNP sensor on the shifter. You can see if it's this by turning the car on and shifting through every gear, back and forth, about 10 or 15 times, and see if the flashing arrow turns off.

However, with the car being this old, I would highly suggest you go ahead and ship the ABS in for repair. It's more than likely that it's defective already, and Victor can really work some magic for you.

I hope it all works out! Best of luck!

 

don't really think that it's abs problem, because, when ABS fails ABS and TRACS/STC lights comes on together with Check Engine. and speedo is not working as well. so there is nothing mentioned about these problems above.

 

Good point - I only suggested it because the flashing arrow started before the ABS, Brake, and CEL came on in my 2000 S70. There were also transmission shifting problems, which he didn't mention, so you're probably right - it's most likely something else.

 

On second read, this actually is a transmission problem. From what you're saying, it sounds like it's pushing the car into 2nd gear when you stop, making acceleration pretty much impossible from a stop. This is exactly the same thing that happened to my S70. I'm not saying it's not something simpler, but having my ABS repaired took care of the problem for me.

I wish I knew what the ABS controlled. Perhaps its connectivity with the ECU had something to do with the transmission's shifting...

Anyhow, try the less expensive fixes first - aka clean the control slide - and if that doesn't work, I'd highly suggest getting the ABS checked out. Sorry to sound like a broken record, I just really don't want anyone else to go through what I did.