OK, I am a newbie novice ignorant man...

but, I am curious to know how serious the SERVICE light is. Right now, I am broke. Does it just mean get an oil change, or something along those lines?

-OR-

is it a lot more serious than that? can or should I drive until I get it fixed?

Thanks in advance!

Although most people do not believe so, there are few things that are more serious than running your brick on dirty oil.

How does your oil look? When did you last change it?

Oil changes are not a good thing to skimp on, like the Fram ad said, pay me now (oil change) or pay me later (new engine).
--
96 855R, 95 855,854, 90 744 Ti - 340,000 Volvo miles put on 7 bricks

What year is the car? If it's '95 or older you can reset the service light under the hood. If it's '96 or newer you'll need a tool that plugs into the OBD-II data port under the coin holder in the console. If you need the tool you can get one from IPD.


Mike
'95 850T

The service lite comes on for a bit after starting the engine if it has not been reset for about 7.5K mi. It just means you should get an oil & filter change. It is not a Check Engine lite. Not to worry. You can reset yourself if you are changing your own oil using the procedure published here: http://www.volvospeed.com/850slight.htm

hello--

i'm by no means an expert with cars, but i've spoken to several other people who have the same problem with their volvo 850-- they were telling me it can be traced to putting fuel into the car, and truthfully, this is when i first noticed my service light come on as well...

just had the oil change, and coolant flush- my indie volvo mechanic says that a special tool is required to reset this, and it's really nothing harmful... people drive with them on all of the time... (i drove an isuzu trooper with the O2 sensor light on forever- because the swtich just needed to be reset)

i'm not advocating this i.e. to let things go neglected by any stretch of the imagination, but sometimes the lights are just not an indicatior of a SERIOUS problem... after i discovered this, from asking other people and my mechanic, i rested a lickle easier..

best
enjoy the 850,
belle
--
'After silence, that which comes closest to expressing the inexpressible is music' - Aldous Huxley