Flashing Trans Light
 

Hello Folks,
I'm getting to my witts end with this poor Volvo I rescued from my girlfriends mom. She brought it to an independent shop that said it needed a transmission, they put one in and it had the same problems.
Here are the symptoms:

• Flashing Trans Arrow
• Starts in 3rd gear
• Brakes shudder as if ABS are on
• *May be unrelated* Very hot + wire to battery

What I've tried

• Rebuilt ABS Module
• Swapped Speed Sensors on the trans
• New PNP Switch
• When I rev the engine up to around 3000 RPMS the light goes out
• Reverse works fine, live data in Autologic knows what gear the shifter is in.

There are no codes in the TCM (I've used Autologic and PC retreiver to get both live data and stored codes) however there is one code for the Key Ring Imobilizer. I took the car for a 2 mile ride, mostly on the highway, and it gave no codes. On braking it shudders badly. If anyone has some data on how exaclty to do some diagnostics to figure out where the breakdown is I would love to hear it. I am begining to lean towards the TCM or some bad wiring as when the trans was swapped it got a different set of solenoids, valvebody, and speed sensors and all of the issues remain.
I'm at a loss, any ideas (big or small) are appreciated.
Thanks
Video: Transmission Light on Volvo 1999 S70. - YouTube
Links to prior threads:
http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...hp?f=1&t=56702
Swedespeed Forums - Flashing Trans Light

Did some more diag work yesterday. Realized if I start the car in "L", it feels like it is starting in a slightly lower gear (it has more power/don't have to rev as high to move). Also, while in gear the engine will not rev past 2200RPM's.
Tom

Sounds like it's in "Limp Home Mode". Maybe the tranny computer is bad. Does that car have the "E-S-W" buttons near the shifter?

Thanks for the reply rspi.
It only has a winter button, not the ESW buttons. I've also tried replacing the switch with a known good one; no luck. My boss said he's never seen a trans light flash like that and not be accompanied by a Pxxxx ECM code; and according to my research it's very uncommon.
Tom

Any ideas on this one? Is there a way to manually check trans pressure?

Well, my trans had a internal problem that caused my car to flash the up arrow. It was causing the CEL to light and did give me codes, something like p0750 and some other code as well. I use to reset it while I was driving, drove the car like that for months. I believe it was starting in 2nd gear.

Thanks for the reply, it's so strange it sets no CEL codes.