I have a 2005 Volvo s40 T5 , it was my first new car and it has been the worst experience ever. Since the day I bought it I have always had to go to the dealer for one thing or another, it was worse than when I had my old used car. The problem I have now it has a "Check Engine" light that turns off and on. I have taken it to the dealer and they wanted to ccharge my $4,000 to fix it and they said they did not know if it would even resolve the problem!! I took it to a place where they specialize in Volvo cars and they were able to fix it but it came back on and today I have the "Engine System Required" turn on. I don't know what to do anymore. I have always been consistent with my service and if anyone knows why this is happening or have had any experience with this please advise me. I woulld truly appreciate it.

 

I was hoping Volvo would have taken care of this problem. My 2001 S40 has had its check engine light locked in for over 2 years now. Its become totally useless, because its getting a constant signal stating the O2 sensor(s) is/are bad.

Only thing is, they're not. I even replaced one and the light came right back on. I refused to spend $300 more to replace the other one, especially since the shop ran voltage checks to verify both sensors were working. I doubt the one I replaced even needed it.

I haven't had many other bad experiences though, sorry to hear you have. Mine's over 200K miles, going on 10 years old, and has never had any real engine difficulties. I go through the occasional bearing replacements, rotor replacements and tires, all the usual, but nothing truly big. I'm trying to figure out if I can replace the serpentine belt myself to avoid another $400 chunk, but I can't complain about the engine!

Sorry I can't be of more help on this, other than to say you're not the only (by far, I think) who has the perpetual check engine light issue. I believe its a purely sensor/computer issue and doesn't reflect any real problem when it does this.

 

So what were they going to do for $4,000? The one dealer didn't fix it the first time and you kept going back to that dealer? I would try another dealer. If it is a re-occuring problem then it may be covered even if your warranty is up.

 

Typical of the high mileage S40's is the Catalytic converter to fail. That will also potentially damage the O2 sensors.