First start of the day, tranny goes into Winter Mode with flashing indicator on dash and random flashing indicator lights on the switch and stuck in 3rd gear.

Turn off ignition and must wait awhile for it to start or manipulate shifter.

Anytime later in the day starts in first but lights may continue to flash.

Have replaced Winter/Econo/Sport mode switch - no change.

Your symptoms are prety much identical to mine, except I had no trouble with the slector. It did die a few times but always started up again. Evenutally, though, I had it towed. They replaced botht the mode swtich and the gear position sensor.

I have had aproximately same thing happen to my 960 (95) repeatedly going uphill at about 70 mph. Transmission shifted rapidly by itself through E, S and W modes. I read the codes and these revealed overhating of transmission fluid. The transmission was overheating and trying to cool itself. I suspect slipage inside the transmission as the cause of overheating. I have not been able to get anything from the dealer although this is a brand new Volvo transmission they put on the car. I bought the Volvo transmission oil cooler and I am ready to put in on the car and fill the transmission with Mobil synthetic. But I have to find and fix the cause of overhating first. Please, keep me posted. I will keep you posted. Good luck.

Brooks:

If you do try rapidly moving the gear selector through the gears do it with the engine NOT running!

Brooks:

I think that Dan might be right; the fault isn't in the selector switch for the transmission but is somewhere else (the flashing lights are an indication of a fault in the transmission). I am sure that someone else will respond to this, but you might try rapidly moving the shift lever through the gear positions for ten or fifteen times (ostensibly to clean off the gear selector switch) and see if that makes a difference.

You can also pull up the transmission codes and see what trouble code comes up. Look in the 700/900 guide to find out how at:http://brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/Transmission-Auto1.shtml#On-Board Diagnostic Codes for AW-30-40 Series Automatic Transmissions

Once you get the codes you can repost with the codes and someone who knows what the codes mean will tell you what it means. Note also that there is a procedure for clearing the codes; I think that after you pull the codes you can clear them and see if the lights are still flashing.

Good luck with this.

Mike

It may be your PNP switch. It is located in the transmission. Gets all grimed up from the heat of the exhaust pipe that runs along side of it. They eventually wear out. Mine acted the same way yours is. It was about 300.00 total to replace, the part was about 150.00.

Hello Dan:

Please, what is a PNP switch? Thank you.

Ehat is a PNP switch?

The PNP switch or gear selector switch transmits the gear shift position to the ECU (the computer). After a while it just wears out, being near the exhaust pipe does not help its life span.

Rafael your tranny problem maybe, the emphasis on maybe, your PNP switch has failed, the default mode is the transmission starts out in 3rd gear when the shifter is in Drive. Constantly starting out in 3rd is overheating your unit. Until it is fixed manually shifting may help.

Dan Ray 94 960 176K miles

Hello Dan:

Thank you for your reply. This is a brand new (not rebuilt) Volvo transmission put in by Volvo dealer, or so they claim and got paid accordingly. Would a new PNP switch come with the new transmission, or could old one be on? The problem manifests itself only driving up mountains at speed, not in traffic. Orange arrow flashes with modes rapidly changing among E, S and W. Code read fluid overheating. Dealer balking at honoring parts and labor warranty. The last time I took the car in, they claimed to have changed temperature sensor, orange arrow did not flash, but car was smoking when I got home driving up the mountains. I smell burnt fluid. Read codes and it turns out temperature sensor is disconnected. I appreciate any information you or anybody can offer to help me solve this problem. Thank you again. Best regards,

Rafael