Op Wed, 15 Nov 2006 15:37:08 +0100 schreef v8_und_sw  
<fairlane@racsa.co.cr>:

Oscar,

I presume your problem refers to an "automatic" 850. Sometimes it can be  
temporarily solved by moving the gear shift handle up and down about 20  
times. At the end a relay has to be replaced. My Volvo dealer adviced me  
to repalce the automatic transmission, far more expensive that replacement  
of the relay, 120 Euro if I remeber well.

Good luck, Hans

Oscar

I have the same model 850 (90,000 miles) as you and the flashing arrow has
haunted me for years. If you go through the fault codes you may be lucky and
only have one fault causing the problem. ( I seem to remember the RPM sensor
was at fault on my car) I replaced the sensor, this cured the problem for
about a week and the flashing arrow returned, over time I have changed just
about everything and still the flashing arrow is there. ( the error codes
seldom are the same)

Its worth noting that in all this time the gearbox has behaved impeccably
and still does, it changes up and down in all modes as sweet as a
nut..........so I just live with a flashing arrow. Did a 2000 mile trip this
summer to the south of France, with no problems.

On a lot of early 850's there was a problem with the auto gearbox and many
were changed under warranty and my car was one of these. At this time an
extra 'earthing'(?) wire was fitted by Volvo and seems to come from the PNP
switch, going to the ECU, so it might be worth checking that there is no
corrosion affecting any wires.

The PNP switch (beneath the air cleaner mounted on the gearbox) does get
full of dust, so shifting the box through all its positions can help to
clean the contacts and clear the error.

I have now done something like 30,000 miles with the 'flash', so have given
up worring about it, Speaking with other early 850 owners its a common
problem. ( maybe something to do with the changing of the auto boxes on 1993
cars).

One 'cure' is to cut a piece of black tape about 1/2" square and stick it
over the 'flash'. If you cant see it then you tend not to worry about it.

ttfn......Alistair

I have an 850  GLT, 1993, with 47K miles. The shifting yellow arrow in
the dash started to blink this morning.

I drove the car today for about 20 miles in heavy traffic conditions,
the light kept blinking but the car didn´t give any problem at all,
shifting was as smooth and acurate as usual.

I saw the maintanence manual and all the say is "take your car to you
Volvo dealer", and I can bet that they will charge a lot of money for,
maybe, some small detail.

Any sugestion or experience?
Best regards
Oscar