Resetting the Service Light

John, Excellent Question wish I knew, been driving for several thousand miles with our service light on. Did change the Oil, Oil filter and so on.

Dale P..........

Erm...rather more than 'several', actually; that may be the #1 FAQ on this group.

OK, here's how:

1. Go to Google Groups and look for 'reset service light 850' in alt.autos.volvo;

1. Read any or all of the many hits you find;

2. Follow the steps therein revealed.

cheers,

Henry

There were several years, including 1996, where you could only reset the service light with a special $2000 Volvo computer, thus guaranteeing that you'd return to the dealer for a $100 oil change every 4 months. In order to ensure the success of this strategy, they also made it extraoridinarily difficult to remove the bulb.

IPD (?) sells an electronic gizmo for about $100 that plugs into your OBD-II port and performs this function (only).

Others have suggested black electrical tape over the light.

You'll probably be going to the dealer for a new transmission soon anyway. Maybe they'll reset the light for you for free with each transmission replacement.

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-RL

Bob, just because you have had a raw deal does not mean that anybody else will. Please, no sour grapes, have a bitch at Volvo themselves, you might find that they will be sympathetic to your plight. Get AAA to check over whether the car needs the other service parts or not. It is not difficult if you go about things in the right way.

All the best, Peter.

I'm sorry, what flavor of facism are you proposing here?

Sour grapes are perfectly justified in my case and, on this board, with typical questions like "should I buy an 850 or a 760" or "what should I look out for on this used 850," etc... it is perfectly reasonable, and expected that I should be venting my rage here.

Perhaps Volvo would like to establish their own moderated discussion board for people with only good things to say.

In the meantime, you can count on me to advise anyone who cares to listen to stay away from mid-90's 850s. If you only want to hear warm fuzzy Volvo-lovers, add me to your kill file.

Finally, in case you haven't noticed, I've been driving and fixing Volvos for 30 years. I know what I'm talking about.

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-RL

Oh, and yes, I will be writing a letter to Volvo. I'll be posting it here for your amusement (unless you've already added me to your kill file).

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-RL

I have to say I agree with you about the service light and the reasons that it was designed to be turned off the way it was. I guess so many people were annoyed by the light that Volvo even changed it "immediately", at least in the sense that 3 model years seems to be about as fast as Volvo can do anything. I have 2 cars in that range, but have free access to the tool to turn my lights off. I have to admit I really like the light - I don't have to worry about the car my wife drives - she tells me when the light comes on, then I do the service the next weekend, and reset the light. Also, I've had very good luck with my '98s, just very poor service and workmanship from the dealers.