850 T-5 Auto PNP Switch

[Joseph Martin]

Hi,

My 850 T-5 Auto after being off the road for almost four years has passed its MoT, however it cuts out when idling, and will only start if the gear selector is held between ‘P’ and ‘R’. I err towards thinking this will be related to the PNP switch (and not the garage’s wrong diagnosis of a faulty alternator). Does anyone have one for sale?

And if anyone has any ideas/tips please, I’d be more than happy to hear for you!

[winsox]

Originally Posted by Joseph Martin

Hi,

My 850 T-5 Auto after being off the road for almost four years has passed its MoT, however it cuts out when idling, and will only start if the gear selector is held between ‘P’ and ‘R’. I err towards thinking this will be related to the PNP switch (and not the garage’s wrong diagnosis of a faulty alternator). Does anyone have one for sale?

And if anyone has any ideas/tips please, I’d be more than happy to hear for you!

HI did you sort this.. ? If the PNP switch is causing your start issue there will be NO starter motor .. no nothing

[winsox]

Originally Posted by Joseph Martin

Hi,

My 850 T-5 Auto after being off the road for almost four years has passed its MoT, however it cuts out when idling, and will only start if the gear selector is held between ‘P’ and ‘R’. I err towards thinking this will be related to the PNP switch (and not the garage’s wrong diagnosis of a faulty alternator). Does anyone have one for sale?

And if anyone has any ideas/tips please, I’d be more than happy to hear for you!

Stalling may be idle control valve which is probably sticking ..this only comes into use when you are off the pedal. If you press the Accelerator slightly will it idle ok ?

[Joseph Martin]

Hi,

Apologies for late reply, just seen your responses. There is nothing when you turn the key - only if you hold the gear selector between ‘P’ and ‘R’ it will crank over and start. The reverse lights also won’t come on unless you move the lever between ‘R’ and ‘N’.

I’ve only driven it out of the garage where it passed its MoT and into a parking space, where it was as if it was misfiring and kept cutting out, was a pig to get going and into the space, where it has been parked up since.

It was doing the ‘non-start unless you move lever between Park and Reverse’ and reverse light thing when it was used regularly, which lead me to think it was the PNP switch.

[winsox]

Originally Posted by Joseph Martin

Hi,

Apologies for late reply, just seen your responses. There is nothing when you turn the key - only if you hold the gear selector between ‘P’ and ‘R’ it will crank over and start. The reverse lights also won’t come on unless you move the lever between ‘R’ and ‘N’.

I’ve only driven it out of the garage where it passed its MoT and into a parking space, where it was as if it was misfiring and kept cutting out, was a pig to get going and into the space, where it has been parked up since.

It was doing the ‘non-start unless you move lever between Park and Reverse’ and reverse light thing when it was used regularly, which lead me to think it was the PNP switch.

Right ..try adjusting position of PNP switch place car in reverse and watch reverse lights ...move switch one way unill reverse lights off..then slowly turn other direction and revese lights will come on again then go off again. You can use this method to find the mid point of the on switch for reverse lights. This will also did the not starting problem...if the switch is faulty u will need to order a rebuild kit. It's easy to do..

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/fo...ic.php?t=14758

[Joseph Martin]

Just a quick update on this....as I have time to type during the current situation.

With reference to the assumed PNP switch issue with my car, I believe that throughout my ownership I have had issues with the switch, whereby reverse lights wouldn't illuminate unless you held the lever between 'R' and 'N', as well as not starting from time to time unless the lever was held between 'P' and 'R'. However I am thinking it is possibly erring towards something more serious.

The last time I drove the car, as in moving it from the garage where it was MoT'd back in January, it was running very badly and kept cutting out, it took me about six attempts to do a reverse park into a parking space. The orange 'shift up' arrow light was flashing. The car has sat where it was parked ever since, largely due to time constraints, and unfortunately due to the current situation I am unable to look over it or attempt to scan for any codes, however I can potentially look at other options whilst sat idle.

Whilst I acknowledge that reading codes first will be beneficial, I am wondering whether this cutting out issue could be related to something such as the valve body inside the gearbox itself. This is just an area of wonder at present, as I will need to prepare for whatever the car will need.

Thinking back to when the car was regularly on the road about 4/5 years ago...it would often kick down to a lower gear on the motorway, say at 50-60mph cruising along, and then without prompting it would change down.

Looking for any further thoughts on this if possible, as I say I'm just thinking over these issues and wondering if there's more I should be looking into before necessarily pulling the PNP switch out or adjusting if it is indeed more.
I do like the car, having had it for years now, but need to ascertain where best to investigate.

[winsox]

Originally Posted by Joseph Martin

Just a quick update on this....as I have time to type during the current situation.

With reference to the assumed PNP switch issue with my car, I believe that throughout my ownership I have had issues with the switch, whereby reverse lights wouldn't illuminate unless you held the lever between 'R' and 'N', as well as not starting from time to time unless the lever was held between 'P' and 'R'. However I am thinking it is possibly erring towards something more serious.

The last time I drove the car, as in moving it from the garage where it was MoT'd back in January, it was running very badly and kept cutting out, it took me about six attempts to do a reverse park into a parking space. The orange 'shift up' arrow light was flashing. The car has sat where it was parked ever since, largely due to time constraints, and unfortunately due to the current situation I am unable to look over it or attempt to scan for any codes, however I can potentially look at other options whilst sat idle.

Whilst I acknowledge that reading codes first will be beneficial, I am wondering whether this cutting out issue could be related to something such as the valve body inside the gearbox itself. This is just an area of wonder at present, as I will need to prepare for whatever the car will need.

Thinking back to when the car was regularly on the road about 4/5 years ago...it would often kick down to a lower gear on the motorway, say at 50-60mph cruising along, and then without prompting it would change down.

Looking for any further thoughts on this if possible, as I say I'm just thinking over these issues and wondering if there's more I should be looking into before necessarily pulling the PNP switch out or adjusting if it is indeed more.
I do like the car, having had it for years now, but need to ascertain where best to investigate.

This is definitely classic PNP problems.

Can you get dirt on the contacts and therefore intermittently
Incorrectly selections and flashing arrow. For instancetrying to start the car up and you get absolutely nothing unless you move the gear stick a little. also you'll end up with the reverse lights not coming on sometimes. it could do the dropping down gear because it might be dropping into III although I've never had the dropping down experienced its is totally possible.

Have you a PNP switch ? You can buy refurbished kits on eBay where you can put new contacts back in after you clean the tracks in the PNP switch it's easy to do if not a little fiddly.

Search for Volvo PNP on ebay. You will see a kit with 3 wiper contacts in brass. This will fix your issue !!!

.

[winsox]

Right I have a spare PNP switch which was removed from my fully working box before I changed to manual.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/GsHSMW5Ke2XyhmB57

If you pay postage ill send it to you... i dont need it anymore

Dave

[Joseph Martin]

Originally Posted by winsox

Right I have a spare PNP switch which was removed from my fully working box before I changed to manual.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/GsHSMW5Ke2XyhmB57

If you pay postage ill send it to you... i dont need it anymore

Dave

That is incredibly kind of you, I will PM you just now. I hadn't bought a PNP switch as I was still worried it was a tad more serious. Thanks Dave!