I was out of town preparing to drive my parents 7 hours in their '86 240 when I suddenly discovered that the OD solenoid wasn't working. The car wouldn't shift into 4th gear. There was NO way that I was going to drive 7 hours at 45 mph...so I had to work fast. Out of town, no tools. Thanks to brickboard. I remembered a quick fix to disable the solenoid. After checking the wiring and OD solenoid good, I knew the problem was the solenoid on the tranny. I removed the solenoid (two 12 mm bolts) and used a little dremmel tool drill thingy to carve a passage from the center hole to the outer hole. After securing both O-rings back into place I replaced onto the transmission...thing worked great. Of course the little OD pushbutton on the gear shifter doesn't work, but who cares?! (parents don't!). Before I tried repair, I called the local Volvo dealer and they wanted $260 for solenoid...which had to be ordered b/c they were out of stock. I DID GOOD. But I want to thank the brickboard for helping me. Whoever came up with that fix was a genius.
Cabbie2169