New to Volvo! Questions about factory service information & tools
 

Hi!

I've just received a clunky US market S90 (964) with every fault lamp lit and probably no service since the warranty expired 130,000 miles ago, and it leaks like it was made in England. The body's nice and I think I can save it from being broken up. I'll blog about the car in the proper forum.

I think I am pretty good at fixing European cars as I have two which are in excellent shape for their age. I like to use the official information and computer tools from the carmaker, and replace parts with originals from the aftermarket or dealer. But I have never dealt with Volvo before, I have no idea how their company or publications are organized. I'd be extremely grateful for a few minutes of hand-holding so I can get up to speed, build a small library about the model, and become comfortable enough with it to start working on it.

My questions are:

How did Volvo provide service information to dealers? Are there computerized databases for repair instructions and wiring diagrams, or are they organized as flat documents? What are these information systems/manual sets called?

What is Volvo's parts catalog/database called and does it cover the S90/960?

What is the dealer diagnosis computer called? Are common folk able to run it locally, or subscribe and use it as an internet service, using a J2534 passthru or other simple or common gateway interface? Maybe there are several different generations of diagnosis computers and more than one has coverage for this car? If so which one is easiest to get working at home?

Did Volvo organize training workshops to familiarize dealer mechanics with the cars or their systems, and are these training materials in circulation?

When I find out what I should get, I will get it and start looking at how the car is built and how to evaluate my problems. Thanks in advance for all input (except referrals to psychiatric services) and I'm looking forward to reading your tips. Cheers!

Well here's what I found.

Volvo has an EWD wiring diagrams system but coverage does not start until year 2004.

I found a DVD with pdf's of original wiring diagrams.

I also found VIDA and VADIS, both are purported to have service manuals and diagnosis routines. Im not sure if both cover this car (VIDA is very new) or if either/both will diagnose using my J2534.

A lot of forum members refer to this site for wiring diagram issues on many models.
It may be where your dvd pdf's came from?
Worth having the link anyway for on line reference and it gets updated occasionally.

Volvo Wiring Diagrams

This may also interest you.
http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/vol...-documentation

Welcome aboard here,
I hope you have a great time out here and enjoy the stay.


123Movies

I did not see the Volvo Wiring Diagrams site but this looks like an easier way to obtain the one manual you need, as is my situation. The pdf file there that covers the S90 I have is exactly the same as the DVD I got from torrent site.

Matthews Volvo Site has an article about installing VADIS, I will be referring to it when I try to get that going this weekend.

I installed the 2009 EPC and it is pretty helpful to this new guy so far. This EPC is the snap-on system, and the dealers may use something different today. It has parts lists and diagrams. It can also take a part number and determine which different vehicles the part was applied to. Some of the part numbers are outdated but putting the old number into a dealer parts order form gets you the new number. There is no lookup by VIN on this system but after browsing the catalog for my S90/964 it looks like there were not many year to year changes as some other carmakers do.

This EPC was marked as "EPC USA 2009" and covers back to the 1975 240 and 260. It looks like only data for cars built for north america are included.

I got the Wiring Diagram DVD, VADIS, VIDA, and the EPC from a torrent site called rutracker.