Have an '85 245 (4spd stick + OD & 230k) that I've owned for almost a year to the day. Had to replace the rear two tires yesterday (nail in the sidewall of one) and this morning noticed that I no longer had overdrive! Later on in the day, I looked at the fuses and saw no sign of any problem with #11.

Did a search for previous suggestions and was able to find some with photos attached, but they seemed to be for AT cars only. I will take a look underneath to see if I can spot the wire from the gear shift knob to the OD solinoid and hope the problem will be obvious.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated................

michael

Volvodad lists the most likely causes, but since the dashlight is on the same terminal of the relay as the solenoid, the dash light not working usually means the 4th gear switch on the tranny is bad if the fuse #11 is good.

Since you are positive the fuse is good, with ignition on, engine off, gear in 4th, push bbutton and listen and look.

Relay clicks and dash light comes on, lean out and listen for solenoid under auto to click also as you push the button. Check wires on solenoid if dash light on, and no solenoid click.

No dash light or relay click. Pull shifter fuarther back and to the right and try again. If you get dash light and relay click, 4th gear switch is bad.

Since your loss of OD occured with the lifting of the rear end for the tire changes, do not rule out low tranny fluid if the dash light is on and the solenoid clicks.

The tranny shares fluid with the OD and the fluid must get over a hump to get to the OD. Most fluids do not climb over obstructions. A slow drip you'd never notice on the drive over tens of thousands of miles could drop the level far enough to cause a problem.

Could be, in order of likelihood:

-fuse 11 (which you've checked, but have you rotated it in its contacts?)
-gear knob sw wire(s) have come loose at sw. terminals under the knob cap.
-gear knob wire(s) have parted below the rubber shifter boot
-wire has come off either Hot or Ground at the solenoid
-relay has gone south (resolder fix is relatively easy and is free)
-4th gear switch is out of adjustment or bad
-bad solenoid

If the dash "OD" light goes on, your problem is likely #4 or #7, as the light won't work if any of the other things are bad.

--
Bob (son's 81-244GL B21F, dtr's 83-244DL B23F, 'my' 94-944 B230FD; plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, hobbycar 77 MGB, and numerous old motorcycles)

thanks volvodad!

It appears it is #2. After I drove the wagon onto a pair of ramps I started to think about the gear shift knob and tried that first instead. Got it apart and (minus the knob) connected the two wires to the switch, put it in 4th and turned the key without starting it. There was a distinctive click when I pushed the button and the OD dashlight came on. Will try it in the morning when I go to work.

Now the problem is - how do I put it all back together? The two wires won't come up far enough to have the knob on and make the proper connection to the button. Is there any chance there is an extra amount of wire below that is being held back by ???? I can shift for now without the knob, but it would be nice to have it back the way it was.

michael

So you've noticed that Volvo didn't put any extra wire into their harnesses!

Try this - remove the passenger side center console panel, pull back the carpeting a bit, and locate the connector that has a Brown and a Blue coming from under the carpet into it and a Black and a Blue exiting its other end and going up to the dash (they go to the OD relay). Then push down the rubber boot around your shift lever to expose the black plastic sheath containing the (Brown & Blue) wires going inside the hollow shifter up to the knob switch. Feed a little slack into the wires going under the carpet at the connector while you pull that slack toward the shift lever and push a few mm into the lever tube. With a pair of needle-nose pliers, gently pull the little spade connectors in the shift lever upward that few mm. Repeat until you have those spades protruding enough to replace the knob and still be able to grip them with the pliers while you reinsert the switch contacts. You can "squeeze" the connectors a little with pliers to tighten their grip on the terminals before you insert them. Press the switch down into the knob and re-cap it so that it is actually compressing the wires a little.

After reassembling the knob, run the shifter through all gears and watch the still-exposed connector down by the console...if it moves around, you need to try to feed a bit more slack into the wires until it doesn't. Otherwise you are "sawing" the wires back and forth on the edge of the hole in the trans tunnel and they'll wear through, and short out or break, again leaving you with no OD. This should keep them in place there for a few thousand or so shifts.
--
Bob (son's 81-244GL B21F, dtr's 83-244DL B23F, 'my' 94-944 B230FD; plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, hobbycar 77 MGB, and numerous old motorcycles)

Had it in my head that the two wires go directly down the the transmission area. Thanks for the explanation. Will give it a try this weekend.

For now I have the two wires & switch hanging from the side of the gear shift shaft with the knob on. Seems to give enough room for the reverse ring to slide up and still allow the button to work. Stopped by a local junk yard that has an '88 740GLE wagon for sale and found out that this make do is not that unusual.

michael

So hey, is it the same for an auto trans? That if the dash light OD light is on, meaning OD is OFF, that it means either solenoid or solenoid wire is bad?

For the automatics, dash light on usually means bad relay. Somewhere in the many files is a post or instructions on how to resolder the automatic relay.

Thank you...