Daily driver XC70 2004 here with 150,000 miles (I've had it one year). Recently had an intermittent "check engine" light move to ABS / Braking Failure (RED). It appears to be the ABS Module, but my mechanic anticipates a week turnaround w the holiday, and I need a vehicle. He says it should be safe to drive (??). Comments?

Question: acceleration w the error message from a dead stop is slow. I've read blurbs that this is normal, and I gather related to the ABS module. Beyond slow acceleration, are there any things to be wary of?

Thank you in advance.

 

Not that simple. The problem may be motherboard in the rear axle which controls the anti-lock brakes and a lot of other things (meaning you really need to replace it when it fails). These boards fail, even when nothing wrong t=with the ABS, and need to be replaced. There are only a couple of shops in the country who rebuild them, so you need to either order one and install it, of find a mechanic who understands older Volvos and will do this for you. I had this problem with my 2007 XC70 (180,000 at the time), had the board replaced by my mechanic in Annapolis, around $2200, vs local dealer asking $5000). There are a couple of discussions in this forum on this specific topic that you should search. Look at the websites for Midwest Modules and Module Master, the two shops I found that will rebuild your s or sell a rebuilt unit sources elsewhere.