My 1995 850 sedan would suddenly refuse to crank.
The problem is rare but extremely frustrating. For no reason or pattern, it would just not crank. There is no noise, all the lights come on, but just no crank.

If I were to wait for a while, it may just crank up and work just fine. Ofcourse the shop has no idea what I am talking about.

Anybody with similiar problems?

Could be that. But could be also starter bendix. My 740 1990 had the same problem and it turned out to be bendix. My problem had no correlation with weather, though. If it is weather related, it is more likely that a sensor is doing it.

My '95 85- wagon also won't start sometimes, usually on cooler mornings (<55 deg. in So. Cal.) after driving the car a short distance, going in for groceries or whatever, then trying to start it again to return home. Playing with the shift override button and the gear shifter and putting it in neutral seems to help, but it's frustrating because it takes about 2 - 5 min. of such "playing" to get it to start. If, instead of going a short distance before stopping and trying to restart, I go further initially (3+ miles?), it starts fine.

I'm also having some tranny problems which I think may be related to the above problems. Tranny light flashes (sometimes) and the check engine light stays on (always) and the car has a hard time shifting out of 3rd until the car has been driven a while that day. A mechanic changed the tranny fluid and reset the code which curred the problem for a few weeks, but the problem is back again.

Any help is much appreciated.

it seems like both of you guys need a new PNP switch. If your is the original then its due for a change. This is a common failure in 850/70 series and usually starts happenning in cold weather.

Ratchetting the tranny lever 10-15 times quickly with engine off is a temporary fix, but eventually it needs tto be replaced
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'98 v70 GLT John, Tampa Bay

John is right,
You both need a new Gear position sensor.

Pete

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If you can't afford to take your car to the dealer for trouble shooting, then sell it. Don't cry when the local shops can't deal with the technology anymore and you're tired of guessing at what parts to throw at it. .......Don't mind me, I'm frustrated.