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940 Replace auto trans shifter selector switch - 9 series

DET17

Reformed SAABaholic
Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Location
NW Georgia
I've just purchased an NOS switch to resolve an intermittent no start condition on my sedan. Takes some jiggling on occasion to get start enable in P or N.

As it's currently hotter than Hades in GA, I plan to R&R in situ.

Simply pry off the flat star spring locks and remove, right? Sure Volvo designed for such, not requiring shifter disassembly? Any special tool, tricks?

Thanks folks
 
Yes. Make sure to apply pressure behind those springs as evenly as you can so they don't bend if you want to keep that system stock. I ended up pulling the whole thing apart and removing the solenoid too. I like the safety feature, but when it depends on a mouse button mounted on plastic dowels to work, it's more trouble than it's worth. Read all of the sections about the shifter on this page. Not because it's hard to figure out, but because it's so easy to break that plastic if you're guessing.
On that note, make sure the problem isn't that something fell into your neutral safety switch. If there's an obstruction and it moves in the right place to short against the reverse light terminal, you'll see smoke come out of the shifter opening. You can just pry open the metal tangs, clean it, grease it and put it back together. Never mind if the metal cover is a little loose after you push the tangs back in place. That won't hurt anything. But shorting out for too long will melt it. And that little bit of plastic and metal is unreasonably expensive for 9 series cars.
 
Is the shifter loose, hence the jiggling, or are you having to jiggle wires to get the car to start? If the former, make sure the bolts on the underside of the shifter bucket are tight. Even though the trim and the knob are different than the 100/200 series cars, the bottom of the lever still attaches in the same manner as it does on a 1972 144E... You may discover that you don't have to replace the neutral safety switch after all.
 
I only mentioned the neutral safety switch because I had this problem once, and it turned out to be because a piece of the shifter cover somehow fell through the small window in its metal cover. It's far more likely that he'll tighten a bolt or replace the microswitch and have a working shiftlock again.
 
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