This has happened twice in our 2000 V40. There is a transmission sensor that goes wonky, or possibly gets a bad connection. You'll probably get engine codes P1618 (Transmission code waiting) and P0705 the actual transmission code saying there's trouble.
Both times I was able to reset the sensor by shifting repeatedly with the engine off and the key in various positions. Sorry I can't be more specific. There were directions on the net and I followed them the first time. The second time I wasn't able to find them and just shifted and keyed for 5 minutes and it was fixed.
Ours goes bad when it rains, so I'm thinking it's a bad connection.
I just experienced this myself. Were you stuck in the snow? I was, and began to shift from forward to reverse in winter driving mode and the check engine light came on and the the arrow started flashing. I undid the battery cable and the flashing arrow went off but the check engine light stayed on. There was an error code due to the fact that the wheels were spinning. I took it to Volvo and they reset the computer and charged me $89 then dropped it to $80 because I'm a member of the Volvo Club of America. That's probably one avenue to go.
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