Volvo Maintenance Hints for 7xx/9xx - Bill Garland's Nuclear ...

Shift Indicator Lamp Replacement. See the Electrical: Instruments section for instructions.
Shifter Detent Button Pops Up. [Inquiry] The button on my shift automatic shift lever popped up yesterday. This won't allow the lever to
be moved into park. I pulled out the button and shaft and it looks like it is attached at the bottom with a circlip. What's the fix for this?
[JohnB] The shift detent rod is attached/held into the detent mechanism with a hardened steel roll pin. The roll pin is available from the
dealer. To reattach it to the detent mechanism separate the rod from the big square button...you may be able to save the button but
chances are you'll need a new one. You'll have to remove the center console cover to get at the shift mechanism and you may have to
remove the neutal safety switch to get at the detent mechanism. Anyway, remove the old roll pin from the detent mechanism and put the
detent rod in past the two holes in the detent mechanism. Start the roll pin in one side and use a pliers or pry bar to get the roll pin in past
the notch (what you think is a circlip setting is a groove all the way around the rod) and into the hole on the other side.
Put everything back in you had to remove to get to the roll pin and take your old saved big square button or a new one and snap it onto the
detent rod. Be aware the big square button goes on either way, but one way the button has a symmetrical relief to the shift selector knob...
wrong way and it sits up at an angle! If this doesn't work you'll have to remove the entire shifter assembly...disconnect the AT linkage under
the car, disconnect the OD wire from the solenoid...there should be a connector between the solenoid and the wire (it was yellow on my
car), disconnect the torque stay from the shift assembly, disconect the electrical bits from the shifter inside the car, remove the four bolts
holding the shift selector mechanism and lift the gear selector assembly out. You should now be able to get to the roll pin easily. Since you
have everything out, now is the time to replace any plastic bushings that are worn or missing and I would probably replace the OD wire too.
The part that goes under the car (through a grommet in the shifter assembly) gets oiled and contaminated and the insulation turns to putty
and eventually flakes off. The 87 OD wire on our 760 went about 2 years ago.
Auto Tranny Refuses to Reverse: Mount Replacement. [Inquiry:] My 87 764 Turbo has 124K miles and the AW 71 transmission has
been serviced every 25-30K miles. Recently it has started to "refuse" to go into "R" gear after 10-15 miles of operation in "D". The selector
seems to operate normally with all the usual detents, but the transmission is still in pseudo-"D" when the selector is in "R" as the car will
creep forward. Putting the selector into "P" results in a slight lurch forward and then the transmission is properly locked in "P". [Response
1: Rick] Sounds like the linkage is miss-aligned. That is, your gear lever isn't aligned to the gears positions on the transmission.
[Response 2: Michael Jue ] It could be something more (read: internal) but I'd concur with Rick on this being the first course of inspection.
Something else you should seriously consider...especially if the shifter is maladjusted as above: the rear transmission mount. I'd been
having a number of small niggly shifter issues in which the shifter "felt" right but the indicator never showed in the clear windows at the
base of the shifter. Then, finally the neutral safety switch failed to work. Diagnosis: bad transmission mount. Sheared the rubber mount
from the metal surrounds. Easy fix (see below). All symptoms disappeared.
Changing the Transmission Mount:
[Tips from Michael Jue and Dan] Jack up the car and support the transmission with a jack. Use a rag or block of wood to prevent