Thought I'd give folks a heads up. My 2009 S 80 had what I thought was a blow out on the left front tire at 45 months of age and 51,000 miles. Luckily I was going slow so there was no accident. Upon changing the tire, the valve stem/sensor actually fell inside the wheel ... the stem locking nut had basically corroded to the point it no longer could grip the stem threads. By 47 months, the remaining stems all needed to be replaced. The local Michelin tire dealer said they are seeing quite a bit of this kind of safety defect. So now I am out a new tire, four new valve stem/sensors, and have a glowing TPMS light.

Requests to the Volvo dealership (Evans Motors in Dayton), resulted in "no warranty coverage, you need to contact Volvo." Requests to Volvo North America Customer Service resulted in a letter saying at 51,000 miles, your warranty is over. A formal complaint has now been filed with NHTSA, and letters sent to Evans Motors, and executives within Volvo North America.

So to fellow Volvo owners, if you have a similar vintage Volvo, take a good look at your valve stems and locking nuts. I hope your blow out doesn't happen at high speeds.

 

Anyone else experience this problem?

 

I realize this is a semi-old thread, but I just experienced the failure of a valve stem causing a blowout. It was a head scratcher since I couldn't imagine how the nut holding the valve stem in could have fallen off, but corrosion would make sense. I have the repair kit for the valve that failed, but I will check the other valve stems at the same time to see if they have corrosion.

My car is a 2010 XC60 T6.

 

About a month ago, we had what we thought was a blown front driver side tire. The NTB shop to which we took the tire said the metal lock nut for the valve and TMP broke due to corrosion. $75 later we had new TPM sensor, and new valve lock nut. Fast forward six weeks later and the same thing happened to the front passenger side tire. This time they were able to save the TPM sensor and just replaced the nut. We also preventively replaced the rear ones. We also have a 2010 xc60 Volvo, and I am wondering if this is a safety defect or just New England road salt causing corrosion. (BTW, the dealer wanted $250 to replace and reprogram the sensor. It seems most tire chains can now do it cheaper.) So, anyone out there with a Volvo of this vintage definitely check and replace your valve lock nuts. The $50 do do it is better than a surprise blown tire.

Also, if this happened to you please file NHTSA report. About the only way we might be able to find a safety defect pattern, if there is one.
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/Vehicl...nt/index.xhtml
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After washing the other Volvo today I noticed that one of the rear valve stems actually moved a bit. I remembered the technician mentioning that these valve stems should not move as they are metal against metal. I put some soapy water on the valve and moved it around and bubbles formed and water gurgling indicated a lose nut. Sure enough, took it in, and he showed me where the retaining nut was corroding. They didn't have the rebuild kit so I had to replace the TMPS for another $75. The others seem fine for now. But, I am having the dealer put in the rebuild kit ($20 + $40 labor) for the other ones. Can't emphasize enough, check your valve stems for movement and take it in to a shop for a free evaluation, especially if you live in a place like New England that uses a lot salt on the road because of snow.

 

Yeah, this is pretty common in any area with salt. Salt causes corrosion in there. $75 is a good price. The OEM sensors are about $105 each for just the sensor, plus labor.

 

Road salt is not the root cause here, defective design or defective materials is. A safety minded automaker would choose a design and materials to prevent this.

My 2010 Volvo valve stems had almost completely dissolved in roughly four years. Mine were replaced under warranty, but there is no doubt in my mind that this is a defective product.

 

Have you had your tires replaced at a tire shop, if so most of these shops take the cap off and ruin the seal causing corrosion to be built up. Most of the air in your tires have a small amount of water believe it or not unless you have nitrogen. There's a small amount of water in your gas tank, water is everywhere. Water causes corrosion. Salt accelerates the process. Even if you get the rubber valve stem, they need to be replace at a certain milage. I've seen these on different car manufactures as well. Volvo has this valve stem and cap kit that can used instead of buying a sensor but on some you would need the whole sensor. People are suppose to inspect their vehicles, it's their responsibility. Sometimes people need to be educated. All mechanical things are suppose to break, don't expect to have it last forever.

 

Yes. You are absolutely right. Volvo is supposed to design a car where everything lasts forever and the owners never have to pay to have anything replaced because they read it was an issue on the forums.

 

One of the best statements ever posted on any forum .

 

Oh, I see what you did there. Snarky sarcasm. Clever! I suppose that could be dropped into any forum without actually reading it.

In my case I don't really care about the cost aspects, but really the safety aspect. I really came to this forum to share my experience so that others could potentially benefit. In my case my daughter was driving the car when it suffered a blowout on a four year old dealer maintained car. Fortunately she wasn't injured.

I believe this was partly due to Volvo's choice of an aluminum valve stem which I suspect suffers from galvanic corrosion under relatively normal operating conditions. Note that other cars use a rubber valve stem with TPS which is less prone to this issue. It is certainly true that if I or the dealer had visually detected the corroded valve stems we would have replaced them and avoided the blowout. I will certainly be hyper diligent going forward and I'd suggest that all other owners with aluminum valve stems are too, for safety's sake.

 

Just had the same issue on my 2009 S80 T6, 64K miles. Monitor said tire pressure low, then quickly switched to "tire needs air now". Valve stem was loose and fell out as I tried to drive slowly off the interstate at the next exit. Sounds like it wasn't a fluke and I'll be checking the other tires also. Didn't even try Volvo, since I am well out of warranty.

You would think a car company in Sweden would recognize to the need to use proper materials for possible adverse climate conditions.

 

My daughter in-law just picked me up from the airport with her 5-month old and 3-yr old. We were driving on a hay in Wisconsin when her tire sensor light just pooped on, Within 1 minute we heard a loud bang and smoke from the rear tire. We pulled off the busy HWY had a huge blowout. Rubber burning. When the tow truck arrived he said the Pressure sensor had no nut on it and the sensor was all corroded. She just had her 70k mi. check up at VOLVO, no one ever said anything. After several calls, Volvo came to get her car because the spare was placed on and then the sensor light came back on. We were very lucky, going HWY speed and at risk for a huge accident. Volvo says not aware of any issues. Time to complain and get recalls.

 

The only reason TPMS exists is because of run flat tires. If you don't mind the light (or remove the bulb?) then get on with your regular valve stem life.

 

or you can simply follow the maintenance advise of replacing the stems when you replace your tires and have them inspected when you rotate them. If somebody has 70K miles they are on their second or possibly third set of tires and the stems should have been serviced then.

 

You're responsible to make sure your car is safe out there on the road. If you decide to drive out there with tires that doesn't have tread, it's your choice. Remember the consequence for not using good rubber.

The tpms on any vehicle have batteries and need to get service for that reason as well. If the shop you're going to is not doing its job, find another shop.

For readers out there Check the tpms sensors, if cracked and still under warranty, have them replaced. A lot of you are complaining about the cost of the tpms sensor and decide not to replace them.

 

Our issue had nothing to do with the tire treads, actually the tires were new and VOLVO just did the 70k check up and no mention as to the broken corroded stems. Now VOLVO has the car, replacing all stems, new tire and dropped off a loaner. No costs.

 

The dealership you went to is probably paying for it, unless you have some extended warranty that you don't know of.

That was just an example of what people miss and don't care.

"A vehicle is a deadly Weapon without you knowing it."
Good to hear that now everything is going well for you. Remember those will corrode again so I advise to check them, unless you're getting the rubber kind. Those still need to be replace because they dry rot. Remember, nothing last for ever.
volvo for life.