I purchased a new S60 T5, FWD at the end of October. In December, I started out on a trip out of town and got about 100 miles away when the car stalled, and required towing back to the Dealership. The car only had 738 miles on it when the problem occurred.

Problem code they found was: ECM-P008700, Fuel Rail/System pressure too low. The checked wiring, pump, etc. and no problems found. They did a ECM upgrade, and no repeat faults found...

I discovered that was 2012 model year Recall (243 - ECM Software Update For Fuel Pump - AllData - Technical Service Bulletins) which sounds like similar issue. Is this a case of poor quality control, in that they should they have fixed this before the car was delivered? Also, since they didn't actually replace anything - blaming it on a software problem, should I be concerned?

Ben Sanford

 

Have you ever seen the movie Fight Club?
That was just a joke, btw. Personally I think Volvo has put far too much software in these cars. But I understand why they do it: ensure the customer keeps coming back ($$$). Despite all of that, they still make a nice car and I don't think you need to worry about that issue again. Millions of lines of code, yet any deviation to a part somewhere down the line the whole car shuts down. Yeah it sucks. Shouldn't happen.

 

Unfortunately, I'm replying to this my previous post, because it appears that the same problem has come up again. My wife is on a trip (our 2nd attempt at a long trip) in our S60, and is currently stuck on the side of an interstate waiting for a tow. The symptoms sound a lot like our previous problem (which I thought has been resolved).

Once the dealership looks at it (sometime tomorrow?), I'll have a better idea of what it is this time, but I'm less that impressed with Volvo reliability at this point.

 

In talking to the dealer today Monday, (concerning the failure on Friday afternoon), they initially seemed to see the same problem as previously seen by the dealer who investigated the problem that occurred in December.

But then, after telling them about the coincidence that it was at about a ¼ tank both times, they are thinking about other potential problems -especially since "reloading the software" as had been done previously didn't resolve the problem. Apparently (I relaying this second-hand since my wife is the one stranded, and she talked to the dealership), there are two fuel tanks?, and apparently there is a transfer that occurs at around ¼ tank – which apparently didn’t happen - could be a pump problem, kinked hose, etc?.

The repair manager told her that they are ordering a new “fuel pump assembly,” and he said that they had to get approval from Volvo for that – since apparently Volvo is “tracking” those replacements. Dealer said that the tracking likely means that Volvo knows that there is a problem in that area. There was a recall that sounded somewhat similar last year.

Car failed Friday, it's Monday afternoon - and no estimate when it will be fixed...

 

Seems like your original dealer or Volvo should provide a rental car or loaner while these issues are sorted out. I haven't checked, but what is Roadside Assistance supposed to provide?

Sorry to say it, but sometimes even the efficient modern production facility screws up and produces a lemon. It might be a good idea to start looking into lemon laws in your state. I believe here in Texas they get three tries to fix the problem (in the first year or two), and after that they have to take the car back. Or something like that. Don't quote me, I'm not a lawyer, I'm not giving legal advice, etc., etc.

 

With a little investigation I found that there is an existing service bulletin # TJ-27271 for this car. The NHTSA ID # is 10050399. This was issued on January 14, 2013.

SUMMARY:
VOLVO: PRIOR APPROVAL FOR 2013 S60 T5 FUEL PUMP, LEVEL SENDER, AND TANK. THE PRIOR APPROVAL DEPARTMENT MUST BE CONTACTED FOR ALL WARRANTY FUEL PUMP, LEVEL, SENDER, AND TANK, REPLACEMENT CLAIMS ON THE VEHICLES LISTED IN THE TJ HEADER. *JS

I'm not sure what the service bulletin really means, I can only pull up the summary off the internet. My guess is that there are problems in this area, and that DOT is monitoring it, and that if they see a lot of maintenance required for these parts in S60's, they will force Volvo to do a recall.

 

The dealer contacted my wife about the problem a bit after noon on Thursday (they have had the car since Saturday morning, but didn't really look at it until Monday. They have been in contact with Volvo maintenance, and apparently have identified the problem (I hope so). They have replaced the fuel pump assembly, and the replaced one is being sent back to Volvo for them to do further investigation. Once I actually get the repair paperwork, I might know more about the fault codes that were found.

The dealership was very helpful and did arrange to pay for a rental car while this one was being repaired.

 

Car picked up on April 2nd, after the lengthy repair effort:

The initial code from the computer was the same as from the problem experienced in December:
* * ECM-P008700, Fuel Rail/System pressure too low

However - since this had occurred previously,*a more thorough investigation was indicated.

Summary from the repair invoice:

Removed fuel tank.
Removed left and right fuel meter and pump to inspect floats and lines.
Replaced fuel pump assembly.
Replaced left half float and siphon assembly per Volvo.
Reassembled and tested.

Although the repairs took a while, since the car had been left in Indianapolis, we had a rental car to resume the trip. The delay wasn't an big inconvenience - we preferred that they took the time necessary to hopefully fix it properly. The dealership in Indianapolis (Tom Woods Volvo) was very courteous and helpful. Volvo did authorize and pay for 10 days of rental car costs.

 

Good information to know!