Right, that breakable plastic strip. Those 900 AW transmission shifters can become a real nuisance as the car ages. In 240's with a similar shifter box and trans linkage, they can generally be expected to last the life of the car only needing the odd indicator bulb and eventually a gear selector neutral safety switch. Plus of course the occasional do-nut linkage bushing. The 700 shifters are somewhere in between. In our two 940s, an increasing problem for me in recent years. The shifter assembly changed for '94/95, making them even more complicated to work on. So far in our daily driver 940: neutral switch twice failed (plastic retainer studs easily break getting the push lock washers off), two shift indicator blinds (as Volvo calls them, tails break off, major PITA to replace, little square bulb window easily lost and not included with the replacement blind, need to remove NSSw to access, difficult to mount without breaking again), three bulbs (mild PITA to access), bulb holder wires easily break during handling, stuck park lock solenoid (late models only, major PITA to get at, removed in disgust, associated cable to ignition switch also a nuisance), gear shift knob (deterioration), mounting tabs for the top cover easily break, shift lock override plastic stick easily breaks. I'm sure there's more. My other 940 hasn't been quite that bad, mostly because problems occur first in the other car and I've now had practice with how to get at things and not break stuff. If needed, I can now disconnect and fully remove an entire shifter assembly in maybe 25 mins -well over 2 hours the first time. NSSw is now easy to get off as I always replace the push lock washers on the thin plastic studs with acorn nuts. And who decided to move the OD button low on the back? -no label to give a non-900 driver a clue. At least the new gear shift knob I just got looks like better material.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now