Volvo: headlights, blinkers and gear shift work sporadically, electrical impulse, volvo 960

Question
Ray,

I have a similar problem to the 3/26/2006 1996 Volvo 850 to bilbothegreat.  Often, especially in hot weather, our 95 Volvo 960 gear shift will lock, the blinkers, headlights and electric windows will not work.  Sometimes if we turn the car off and restart everything works fine.  I took the car in and the mechanic said all I needed to do is apply the brakes to send the electrical impulse through the wiring in 1995 Volvo's.  While it does seem to work, it doesn't always work immediately and is really annoying.  Can you help?

Answer
Allex,
When this happens try to turn the ignition key very slightly back and forth to see if things begin to work. The electrical portion of the ignition switch gets worn after some time and causes a problem as you are discribing. While you do need to apply the brakes to allow the shiftlock to unlock, the addition of the other accessories make it very possible that the switch is wearing out.... So what I mean is that the other things should work without appling the brake.