Hi there...first time poster. I have had a couple volvo's in the past, most notably a 1974 164E. What a beast of a car!

I needed something to tow a boat and a tent trailer and really wanted 4 wheel drive as I live in Quebec, Canada, and my brother suggested a Volvo XC70.

I bought a 2006 with 270,000km on the clock and was assured it was dealer maintained and needed nothing.

Well....I paid way too much, 3000$ plus had to do more than I expected in repairs,....2000$ later, I actually like the way it drives.
I can deal with the many many service messages.
But...the 4 wheel drive works intermittently.
I am hoping its not a tough fix.
We just got our first snow and the 4 wheel drive will work for around 10 minutes. I then get the "anti skid needs service" and the 4 wheel drive does not work, I can actually stop the engine, and start it up again and it will work for another 10 minutes.
This is all city driving. When I take in on the highway, I get a "brake assist needs service" and then "skid control/abs needs service" and the ABS light comes on.

So...I know enough to know its electrical, not mechanical as it will work for a while.
Any ideas??
This might not be possible, but I would love to have the 4 wheel drive working, and lose the skid control and ABS all together.
In the snow, when the 4x4 is working, it will actually drift like a rear wheel drive car which is very cool.
I also would like to use the handbrake for winter drifting, but the stupid ABS kicks in.
I know its probably several parts that need to be changed and not an easy fix, but I am posting in hopes that someone might be familiar with the intermittent aspect of the 4x4.
I tried posting on a terrible XC forum and the only replies I got where to dump the car, and its old an worn out.
Please don't tell me that.
I even bought a scanner, but the engine needs to be off to use it. Can you plug in a scanner when the engine is running and i have the anti skid messages???
I spent 5k on it. the engine is awesome. Stereo is great, heater is great, I just want the 4x4 to work and i will keep if for as long as I can,.
Cheers from Canada!!!

 

There should be some fault codes stored - you need to have them scanned - just make sure you use a scanner that can read ABS and transmission codes (the cheaper units won't) Most scanners these days have both a real time data mode and a fault code mode so they work with the engine off or on. Start by plugging in your scanner and then turn the key to position 2 (dash lights on, engine off) and ask it to display the codes. If you get nothing, it probably means your scanner can't talk to all the different computers, just the ECU.

My sense is you either have a wheel speed sensor issue, a steering angle sensor issue or the ABS controller board may have an issue. Check out sites that rebuild the ABS controllers like Midwest ABS, Rocha-tek, Xemodex etc to see if your model/year is part of the common problem cars.

 

All 4 wheel drive volvos are most sensitive to having 4 of the SAME size tires. Your symptoms smell mightily of some different tire sizes - maybe different front to rear, like someone mounted snows on just the front ? Worth a check. BC