We are having a strange problem with our 850 Wagon with 83,000 miles. It has a strange intermittent failure of large parts of the electrical system. The ABS light stays on after starting and the headlights, turn signals, cruise control, shift lock, speedometer and odometer all fail along with it.

I assumed first that it was the shift lock only as it was resolving itself within a minute or two, but yesterday it stayed this way for most of the day. This morning we started the car without it happening, and we drove 430 miles/~700 km without turning off the engine, including fueling with the motor running!

I must admit it, we're pretty much over this car!

I have a similar problem with a 96 850 turbo. First the ABS light was on then off intermetently, then on all the time. Then the speedo and odometer, trip computer, and cruise cntrol stopped working. think its the same ignition elect problem?

Jiggle the ignition key when these problems pop up. If liggling the key brings things back on line, you will need the electrical portion of the ignition switch. Common problem.

Sounds like the electricial portion of your ignition switch needs to be replaced.