Hi All, I am new to the forums. Glad I could find such an informative resource. General question if anyone can help:

I have an S40 2004.5 with 100K km on it. A week ago on Sunday, my "Time for regular service" notice came on. I was going to bring it in on Monday after work. However, on Monday morning, as I drove to work, a funny thing happened. I was doing about 120km/hr on the highway, when suddenly, it seemed like my car slipped out of gear. As I shifted, however, i realized that it was instead a sudden loss of power. After about 20 seconds, the RPM gauge started to die down to 1000, and all of my dashboard lights came on at once. At that point, the engine died.

I pulled immediately over to the side of the highway and turned the key to the off position. Tried to restart. Engine turned, but didn't catch. Waited a few minutes. Engine turned, caught for a moment, then died. Waited 10 minutes, tried again, engine caught, ran erratically for about 10 seconds, then died. Figured that was enough of that, so called for a tow to my local garage. They have been open only occasionally because of the holidays. Talked to a guy there today, and he told me the following:

There is an engine management ecm somewhere on the underside of the car. Apparently, there is a service bulletin about this module from Volvo, warning of failures (possibly due to the location?). Of course, it is not part of a recall, and my car is over the warranty period.

Has anybody ever heard of this? If not, any ideas what this might be? Of course, buddy at the garage couldn't spend all afternoon answering my questions, and he did not know the part number as it was another mechanic that ordered it and he did not have the paperwork in front of him. I was checking on some of the ECM units online, and I can see a variance. Are there different types of ECM's for the S40? As you can imagine, I can live with $500 plus labour. $1000 plus labour though... that's less appealing.

 

Welcome to the forum, and sorry to end the year like that.

Please note, that I'm not an S40 driver and am not privy to the S40 lines.

I checked the recall for 2004 S40 (U.S models) and the only fuel system related recalls were those related to fuel lines:

http://automallusa.net/2004/volvo/s40/recalls.html

If it weren't for the recall, I can only assume that it could be:
- Timing belt (though 10k km/3 yearsis still within serviceable interval),
- Fuel pump or relay,
- ECU-related,
- Loss/out-of-range sensor input
- Alternator
- Ran out of fuel(I know this is silly but there are people who have been there & done that).

A reputable shop should be able to see if the ECU (ECM) is causing the trouble. They can also see if there are any trouble codes stored in the ECU.

Wait to see if other S40 drivers or moderators reply, as this is the best I can do for now. Also, if you could let us know in which country you live, it would help a bit too, as different countries have different emissions/safety requirements. And I believe your car is manual, correct?


JPN

 

Thanks for the time you've taken to respond. I live in Canada, and the car is at 100,000 km.

 

Best place to start is by having the codes pulled.

 

The mechanic pulled the codes and told me that it was a defective Fuel Pump Module (not the fuel pump itself). Looks like $500 to fix it.

He clarified formeabout the service bulletin put out by Volvo about this, stating that these units are failing due to their location on the underside of the car. Mechanics are told that, when replacing failed modules, to put them back in the car to keep them from being exposed to the elements and consequently failing.

I can't find the bulletin myself on the Net anywhere, but if true (and this mechanic is a pretty honest guy by my reckoning) one wouldthink the folks at Volvo should foot the bill for a stupid design flaw like this! It's ridiculous.

 

Have the car hooked up to an OBD-II code reader and see what codes it shows stored (if any). I would also check the fuses under the hood and those under the dash. A simple blown fuel pump fuse could cause your problem. Of course running out of fuel could do it too. As said above, don't laugh, it's been done too many times.

EDIT: Looks like we posted at the same time. Never heard of a "fuel pump module" so I have to do a little searching to edumacate myself.

 

Believe me, running out of fuel is no laughing matter, as it has happened to me before. But I can assure you, the first thing I checked was the fuel gauge!

I also asked him about what the Fuel Pump Module was; he said it isthe controller, the computer that regulates the fuel pump. I don't have the first clue about this stuff, so not much I can comment on.

 

They probably mean the fuel tank sending unit on the drivers side.
There is 2 sending units one on each side. The tank is like a saddle tank setup.

 

The fuel pump has a relay but i have yet to locate it. I'm hoping it is simply a standard Bosch style 30 amp relay but probably a much more complicated setup. I have read about other Volvo's like the C70 using a voltage controller with a large circuit breaker. This varies the voltage output to the pump so it produces more pressure. When the pump goes bad and draws too much voltage it pops the circuit breaker. Your local dealer replaces the controller ($$$) which fixes the problem until the fuel pump draws too much voltage again. I sure hope the S40 doesn't have this setup. My UK Haynes manual shows a relay only. Now to find that sucker.

 

Hi All,

$500 later, the problem was with the Fuel Pump Control Module that was mounted on the underside of the car, and when replaced must be mounted on the inside instead (like the newer models).

I have attached the service bulletin for you to look at. I am holding the defective (and dirty) part in my hands. It is a BOSCH unit, made in Spain. I will list the numbers on the back if they help: 6-033-MD0-178, 040729, 1039E01025, 48729, 5601-0415. That may mean something to some of you, and hopefully this will help someone else as well.

Now, for my next step: calling Volvo Canada and demanding they reimburse me for the amounts. I understand this is not a recall, but I should not have to pay for servicing on a piece that failed because they decided to mount it on the outside of a vehicle. Their design flaw should be their expense, not mine.

I will let you know how it goes.

 

I just had a 20 minute phone call with Volvo Canada. The young lady who I spoke to tried to explain that they would not consider reimbursements unless the determination of the defective part was made by an authorized Volvo retailer. I explained that this was ridiculous. As a consumer, I have the right to take my vehicle to any authorized repair facility I choose. This amounts to Volvo saying that in order to qualify for any protection, you must use them exclusively or you get nothing, which is unacceptable and monopolistic. My mechanic is an authorized Volvo garage, and he gets his parts directly from Volvo. More to the point, if Volvo doesn't want me dealing with "outside entities" then why give them the stamp of authorization in the first place, and why sell them parts?

I wonder, using their logic, if I go to the mechanic, and he replaces a part with a Volvo part that he got from Volvo, and the part turns out to be defective within the part's warranty period, would I be SOL because I didn't buy the part myself from Volvo? Of course not! They would honour the warranty on the part through the mechanic. So what's the difference here?

Not a promising start. She tells me that she will "investigate further" and get back to me next week. I will keep you updated.

 

Good luck. Of all the vehicles I've ever owned, Volvo is the absolute worst as far as their "The customer is too stupid to own our cars" mentality.

The tech note should be all the evidence they need to reimburse you. Mention of a lawsuit forcing a recall may be a good threat.

I always joked that the only thing I ever got from Volvo service was a $300 cup of coffee.

 

Sorry to hear it cost so much but glad its fixed. For some reason I thought this was for the 2000-2004.5 S40 but yours is the newer style.

 

Can you post a pic of the old part?

 

I definitely will as soon as I can find my digital camera.

Update. Having given her all my particulars, including VIN, the young lady calls me back, and says, "yes well sir, you are definitely correct, there wasa tech bulletin, but it only applies to the S40 and your car is an XC70".

And I literally was at a loss for words. I told her, no my car is an S40. She says (I kid you not) "no it's not". (!)

I politely explained that I know the model of my own car. I suggested she copied the VIN down wrong, and yes she did. Then she tells me that the tech bulletin is only for 04's. I once more politely told her that she needed to look a little closer at the tech bulletin, which says 04- (oh four dash), meaning 2004 and newer with the specified chassis. And my chassis was the one specified. At that point she sheepishly asked me to fax her the bill and the bulletin. I gladly obliged. At the very least, I hope our little joust was proof enough that she isn't dealing with a total idiot.

What next? Stay tuned for the continuing saga of Mr. Smith Gets Screwed By Volvo, Episode IV!

 

Atleast you are progressing foward fairly quickly.
I have seen people wait many weeks to get a return call.

I will wait to see the pic.

 

Here are the pics of the part. It was substantially dirtier than this. I cleaned it up for the pics.

 

WOW I can't believe they mounted them outside the car.

I haven't seen many of the newer cars like this come in but now I have a heads up for the future.

 

Heard back from Volvo last week. They just flat out refused to reimburse. I asked for an escalation, they told me up to 72 hours to hear back from a manager. That was up yesterday, no phone call.

Volvo... why must such a wonderful car be sold by a company with such poor customer service and condescending staff?

BMW, here I come.

 

That really sucks that they treat their Customers like this.