I recently bought my 3rd Volvo ('90 740, '94 940, and now '93 940) in 3 1/2 years, and with that history comes experience. My OD (4th gear) suddenly died on me (the UP arrow lit up on the dash and the button on the shifter wouldn't eliminate it) two years ago while 100 miles from home on my 740, prompting me to think my transmission was on the outs. I drove home stressfully at 4500K RPMs (3rd gear) and when I got home I read this forum and found it was likely the Hella OD relay under the cigarette lighter that needed re-soldering or replacing (easier). So I ordered one from eeuroparts.com ($30?) and the problem was solved in 5 minutes. Now, when I plan on driving long distances with either my '93 (132K) or '94 (113K) 940 wagon, I am sure to keep an extra OD and fuel pump relay in the glove box.

Sure enough, today on my return trip from Northern Wisconsin (a 500 mile family trip) in my '93 (which I've had 6 weeks) my UP arrow was on after startup from a rest stop. It went away after I suppressed the button on the shifter, and I thought it might be that I had accidently pushed it. But on the next stop, the UP arrow was lit up again, and I couldn't get it to go away. Just to be sure, I drove for one mile before the next exit and, sure enough, I couldn't get out of 3rd. So I stopped, popped open the fuse box, unscrewed the two screws near the cigarette lighter, removed the white Hella relay, which stands nearly alone on the right side of the relay tray, and replaced it with my used eBay $8.99 OD relay. With the arrow immediately off, I was able to drive the remaining 250 miles in 4th gear and at 3K RPMs (70 miles per hour). I had just bought the relays 3 weeks ago. Made me feel really smart when I showed my wife I had the replacement part in the glove box.

Now my only disappointment is learning that I've burned 1.5 quarts of oil on my return 500 mile trip today. No obvious leaks visible, clear exhaust fumes, and 28.5 mpg (17.2 gallons/499.1 miles/one tank of gas). The A/C was on the whole way, but I didn't go much faster than 70. Since this is going to be my wife's grocery/soccer mom car, I would expect (hope for) less oil consumption in the future. No way I'm going to have any major engine work to "cure" the oil burn if all it takes is adding about $5 bucks worth of oil between changes. I'll just keep a close eye on it and keep some Castrol 10w30 on hand at all times. Does this seem reasonable?


1990 740 GL Wagon 170K (sold)
1993 940 Wagon 132K
1994 940 Wagon 113K