Transmission light/arrow flashing...

[JelT5]

Had to do a road trip to Paris and back yesterday:
Under load (ie kickdown) uphill the gearbox arrow has come on. I stopped took the transmission ECU out and then put it back in again- light out, no probs. Kickdown uphill (punishing an Audi driver lol) and on comes the flashing arrow again; Transmission fluid colour is ok, no slipping or loss of power so I'm a bit bemused as to what's causing it.

Can very low temperatures cause an electrical fault or should I be very concerned for my transmission (again!!)?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this issue.

[p fandango]

what the flashing arrow means mate, is its time to scrap it & put in a proper gearbox with a clutch

no help but i couldn't resist mate

[5seaterT5x2]

what the flashing arrow means mate, is its time to scrap it & put in a proper gearbox with a clutch

no help but i couldn't resist mate

Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssss ;-)

[5seaterT5x2]

Had to do a road trip to Paris and back yesterday:
Under load (ie kickdown) uphill the gearbox arrow has come on. I stopped took the transmission ECU out and then put it back in again- light out, no probs. Kickdown uphill (punishing an Audi driver lol) and on comes the flashing arrow again; Transmission fluid colour is ok, no slipping or loss of power so I'm a bit bemused as to what's causing it.

Can very low temperatures cause an electrical fault or should I be very concerned for my transmission (again!!)?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this issue.

thing to do is get codes read is it pre 96? has it got the reader under bonnet by washer bottle filler cap? i had a few problems turned out to be PNP switch bout a £100 plus fitting fitted it myself not to terrible a jobby

[JelT5]

thing to do is get codes read is it pre 96? has it got the reader under bonnet by washer bottle filler cap? i had a few problems turned out to be PNP switch bout a £100 plus fitting fitted it myself not to terrible a jobby

It's a '98 so I'll get the codes read. Cheers for the reply

[JelT5]

what the flashing arrow means mate, is its time to scrap it & put in a proper gearbox with a clutch

no help but i couldn't resist mate

pmsl very good mate- why did I know you'd give that answer?!

[Dangerous Dave]

All those powerstarts have finally started to take their toll?

[p fandango]

pmsl very good mate- why did I know you'd give that answer?!

just showing my love for the auto lol, hope its nothing serious tho mate

[JelT5]

All those powerstarts have finally started to take their toll?

Not done any powerstarts on the replacement box mate. so don't think it's that this time

[JelT5]

just showing my love for the auto lol, hope its nothing serious tho mate

Car drives absolutely fine so don't think it is a serious prob. Seem to be a couple of intermittent electrical faults at the mo, the alarm/ central locking sometimes doesn't work, the flashing arrow (lol), nearside elec window a bit slow etc. Don't think I'll bother throwing any more money at it as it's going in 6 months; some other faults as well, slight leak on the rad, wishbone bushes...
spent too much in the last year as it is; so will do enough just to keep it going for now!

[S70T5Chris]

Hope its nothing too major Jerry.

[kowalski]

hi jelt5 was your auto in econ or sport mode when the shift arrow illuminated? mine did exactly the same thing today until i switched into sport mode (not recommended this weather!) the light went out immediately then i switched back into econ also was the snowflake symbol illuminated ? presume this weather it was if thats the case the auto box puts itself into winter mode ie starting in 2nd gear and staying in 3rd gear without torqueconverter lockup when the outside temperature is above freezing you may find the arrow light on the dash goes out

[kowalski]

just to clarify the shift arrow is illuminated because the transmission is in 3rd gear and not 4th/lockup what with keeping the speed down for the now road conditions and how easy these cars run at normal b -road speeds its easy to mistake 3rd gear for 4th/lockup or to test it yourself with the shift arrow illuminated shift manually down to 3 on the selector you will find the gear/revs stay the same

[JelT5]

hi jelt5 was your auto in econ or sport mode when the shift arrow illuminated? mine did exactly the same thing today until i switched into sport mode (not recommended this weather!) the light went out immediately then i switched back into econ also was the snowflake symbol illuminated ? presume this weather it was if thats the case the auto box puts itself into winter mode ie starting in 2nd gear and staying in 3rd gear without torqueconverter lockup when the outside temperature is above freezing you may find the arrow light on the dash goes out

That's exactly what's happened! Now the temp has risen again en France the light has gone out...bizarre; I was in sport mode when it went on- I never use economy mode to be honest- don't see the point in it.
Thanks for the info- really useful

[JelT5]

Hope its nothing too major Jerry.

Seems to be ok now thanks Chris- I wonder if there's a bit of an electrical issue as the central locking/alarm is working again too now the temperature has risen above freezing point- a bit strange considering the fact it's a Swedish car and designed for low temps. It did go down to -10C at one point, but a Volvo should cope with that no problem. Odd

[S70T5Chris]

Seems to be ok now thanks Chris- I wonder if there's a bit of an electrical issue as the central locking/alarm is working again too now the temperature has risen above freezing point- a bit strange considering the fact it's a Swedish car and designed for low temps. It did go down to -10C at one point, but a Volvo should cope with that no problem. Odd

Thats good mate, now all seems to be ok. I haven't got anymore auto boxes lying around!

[kowalski]

hi jelt5 yeah your not alone theres probably zillions of 850 owners wondering the same thing right about now! as you say a volvo should be able to take that sorta stuff in its stride been reading about the frozen washers issue on here too guess everything could be designed a little better maybe! merry xmas fellow volvoholics! ps how bad was the snow in france?

[JelT5]

ps how bad was the snow in france?

Bad enough to stop the TGV service between Paris and Metz and put a stop to Eurostar for a few days...all gone now though

[JelT5]

Thats good mate, now all seems to be ok. I haven't got anymore auto boxes lying around!

Curses! Mate, I thought you were a dealer in transmissions lol