Yesterday I was in a traffic back up in my 1999 V-70 with a 4-speed automatic transmission; 257,000 miles total. While sitting there, I shifted the transmission to neutral. When I put it back into drive, the car did not want to move. Nicely, the good citizens of Louisville, KY did not blow their horns at me during the minute that it took me to realize that if I mashed the gas far enough, the car would start to move. Reverse worked normally.

The car did not move forward normally. The RPMs would rise to about 2000, and the car would struggle to move, but it did move. When I took my foot off the gas, the car would stop as if the brakes were lightly on. Given enough of a run, it would get up to 50 or 60 mph, though it acted as if the engine was governed to about 2200 RPM. All the while it was doing this, the up-shift arrow on the dash was blinking. I was able to drive 10 miles to a convenient place to park it.

Because of the blinking up-shift light, it occurs to me that this could be a minor electronic problem, such as a blown fuse or relay. The only thing I checked was the transmission fluid level, which was full while idling in park. Anyone have any suggestions as to what might be wrong? If it is not something very minor, I am afraid it is time for this car to go to Volvo heaven.

The only other thing I can think to add is that for several years, on occasion, the car would “hunt” for the proper gear when travelling around 35 - 45 mph. I have guessed that this was an electronic throttle problem, but I don’t really know.

Thanks,
Charley