Well, it happened to my 2001 Volvo V70 T5. I got the dreaded "BRAKE FAILURE - STOP SAFELY ASAP" message, with the STC, ABS lights lit, and the V70 T5 limping and pulsing. I crawled to my mechanic's, which wasn't far away. The mechanic said that it was also throwing transmission codes, and I noticed while he drove it into the bay that the lights on the dash were pulsing along with the car.

My mechanic has warned me that this issue can be difficult to troubleshoot and completely eliminate, and from reading posts here and in other forums, I'm inclined to agree. It seems like, from most people who have had this issue, it could be the ABS module, the TCM module, the CEM module, the battery or the harness.

While the car has been generally trouble-free even at its advanced age, it did have the ABS module replaced in 2008 and the battery replaced in 2009.

While I'd love to fix it, at its age (and to save time and sanity), I'd prefer not to throw unlimited money at the problem. Here's my question:

Assuming that my mechanic doesn't find a clear reason for the issue after the holiday, if I had the budget to have him replace *one* of the modules (or perform one procedure costing less than $2000) - after which I'd either drive away or cut my losses - which module would you replace?

I am leaning towards having him replace and resolder the CEM, as the ABS module was already replaced five years ago, and it seems to be the central place where these types of issues come from.

Thoughts? Thanks!

 

Buy a VIDA DiCE on ebay and trouble shoot it yourself. With VIDA you can keep track of issues as they come and it should be much easier to fin the culprit.

I had a few codes and also a total loss of instruments a while back. I recently purchased a VIDA DiCE from Cina on ebay and a cheap Dell 620 lap top to keep it on.

I also been able to get the brake failure by messing with VIDA while the engine is running. Quite scary, the engine refused to start until I unplugged and rebooted the DiCE.

Ulf

 

Fault codes listed but unsure what the problem is
This is a picture of the screen I got

 

my quick guess is your ABS controller is bad. That's the box that bolts onto the ABS pump with the electronics inside. The typical problem is the solder joints crack leading to open circuits - and the wheel sensors feed into the controller, which feeds into the transmission CPU so all sorts of weird error messages can pop up. There's a few shops that will rebuild for about $200 - just google around. Midwest ABS and Victor Rocha are two that come to mind.