Last weekend I heard a buzzing noise as I started my wagon from behind the radio, the arrow that indicates that the transmisson will not go above third gear flickered I played with played with the button on the lever and the light when on off on flickered went a bit dim, on the highway the car did not go in third gear.


I phoned the volvo dealer they told me that a new relay cost 80$ canadian . Since my parts car is a 1986, I asked them if I could use the relay from a 1986 they said yes , even if the part might bear a different number. I fished out from the left of the glove compartment the relay from the 1986 ,found that on the 1990 the connection for that white box is lower, near the floor. I swapped them, it made no difference I opened the relay housin an pushed by hand the spring loaded contact that is normally actuated by the electro-magnet. Sometimes the arrow disappeared and but soon the thing would rapidly start buzzing as the contact would open and close in very rapid succession .

I identified the thick white wire which feeds the current to the o.d. solenoid and conected a jump wire directly from the fuse box into the appropriate spot in the the connector.

I took the car for a spin on the highway and confirmed that the solenoid worked properly as I got back the use of the fourth gear. Before doing this by-pass, I tried to undo the plastic slotted box which sits on the transmission tunnel to see if there was anything wrong with the wiring but I was never able to figure out how to remove it or get at the push button innards to check the wiring. Can any one help find where the problem actually lays and what is the correct fix? I dont mind the by-pass for now but I am frustrated that I can't fix the thing properly or open the transmission lever casing .

Bearnoel