1997 Volvo 850 sedan, non-turbo, plethora of electrical pr..

Ah, the ghost is in MY machine......so I have a '97 Volvo 850 sedan, non-
turbo, and I think it may be possessed. I've owned the car for about two and
a half years, and for the first year or so the dash lights would randomly go
out while I was driving, usually after hitting some kind of bump or dip in
the road. I would pull over, turn the car off, and restart and the lights
would be back on. After a year or so of this the lights stopped working
entirely and then, a week or so later, they began working perfectly and I
haven't had a problem (with them) since...I think my car aspires to be a self-
cleaning oven....

Now for the real problems....

The fan blows on low when the max/min slider is in the max position, but
sometimes it surges into high, then back into low. In any other position,
including off, it will blow however hard it wants to for however long it
wants, usually switching between high and off or low every ten seconds to one
minute. The doesn't match up quite right on the dash gauge...it never
really looks like it's on max, but it doesn't move any farther to the left.

The cigarette lighter doesn't work, but I really haven't tried to fix that
yet. I assume I'll probably just need a new one.

The seat heater randomly turns itself off and on. This is a relatively new
development and it doesn't seem to turn itself on very often, however when I
try to keep it on, it usually turns itself off after a while. Sometimes it
comes back on, sometimes not.

The Winter button doesn't seem to do much...or if it does I can't tell what.
I did get it to turn on once, but then never again.

And last, the running light on the rear passenger side no longer works. I've
changed the bulb, checked the wiring going into the array, and cursed at it,
but nothing seems to have helped.

Any ideas, or shall I call for a priest?

My son had similar problems on his car, with randon electrical faults.....In
the end I took a day of work and set about every relay, fuse, plug and
socket I could find. The culprit was a loose pin in one of the multi-pin
plug and sockets that are a feature on modern cars. As in your case going
over a bump would make things work or fail.

Take a day off and have a go.Its very character building, get your loved one
to ply you with cups of tea and don't go anywhere near the cat!!

ttfn.....Alistair

"LucifinaMae" wrote in message
> Ah, the ghost is in MY machine......so I have a '97 Volvo 850 sedan, non-
> turbo, and I think it may be possessed. I've owned the car for about two
> and
> a half years, and for the first year or so the dash lights would randomly
> go
> out while I was driving, usually after hitting some kind of bump or dip in
> the road. I would pull over, turn the car off, and restart and the lights
> would be back on. After a year or so of this the lights stopped working
> entirely and then, a week or so later, they began working perfectly and I
> haven't had a problem (with them) since...I think my car aspires to be a
> self-
> cleaning oven....
>
> Now for the real problems....
>
> The fan blows on low when the max/min slider is in the max position, but
> sometimes it surges into high, then back into low. In any other position,
> including off, it will blow however hard it wants to for however long it
> wants, usually switching between high and off or low every ten seconds to
> one
> minute. The doesn't match up quite right on the dash gauge...it never
> really looks like it's on max, but it doesn't move any farther to the
> left.
>
> The cigarette lighter doesn't work, but I really haven't tried to fix that
> yet. I assume I'll probably just need a new one.
>
> The seat heater randomly turns itself off and on. This is a relatively
> new
> development and it doesn't seem to turn itself on very often, however when
> I
> try to keep it on, it usually turns itself off after a while. Sometimes it
> comes back on, sometimes not.
>
> The Winter button doesn't seem to do much...or if it does I can't tell
> what.
> I did get it to turn on once, but then never again.
>
> And last, the running light on the rear passenger side no longer works.
> I've
> changed the bulb, checked the wiring going into the array, and cursed at
> it,
> but nothing seems to have helped.
>
> Any ideas, or shall I call for a priest?
>