My 2001 Sonata got totaled so I'm buying this car through the dealership where I work at (open title). A client gave it in to pay off an account they had for a pickup truck.

It has almost 90.5k miles and I already ran the VIN through our software and it came out clean. They sold it to me for $2.7k.

Some known issues, the last one is the one I'm worried about:

- The turn signal switch needs to be held in position for the turn signals to stay on (either one), but I can buy the stalk and replace it myself.

- The right turn signal flashes really fast (both front and back) but that's most likely a bad bulb or fuse/relay/etc. The mechanic where I work at is gonna look at it for me.

Here's the main one:

When I turn on the car the text window (left-bottom of speed cluster) never turns on and it has a red exclamation point lighting up in the middle (no check engine light). I figure the mechanic can run it through the computer and see what's wrong, but I believe the instrument/speed cluster might need to be replaced since the text window never turns on.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

If you did a big system reset, would that not get the window text to work? My computer was all weird along with my radio but i had them all reset it and now it works fine, including the phone which didn't work beforehand.

 

How can I do a big system reset? I tried doing this but nothing happened:

Best answer - Volvo s60 computer reset? - Yahoo! Answers

I know these cars are delicate in the electronic department so i don't want to just unplug the battery like on a normal car.

Also, when I press the Trunk unlock button on the remote the trunk unlocks but it doesn't go up, is this normal? I'm thinking the struts are blown.

 

Ok, so the red exclamation point is actually yellow. It was red because my door was open but once I closed it it turns yellow.

I've tried resetting it with a popular procedure involving the ignition switch and trip meter reset button, but no luck. But it is a known fact that you have to keep trying because it can be stubborn.

 

That reset will only turn off the triangle if its on due to the service light being on. If its on for something else, like low washer fluid, burned out taillight bulb, it won't. Can you read the display if you shine a flashlight on it? There might be a backlighting bulb that is out.

The trunk does not pop up with the remote, only unlocks.

 

Thanks. I shined my phone's LED light and the second (bottom) line reads "Service Urgent" is that what it always says or can the text be different? I can't make what the first line reads.

 

Okay, you probably have a dead bulb for the backlighting.

There are a few possibilities for what it says... Engine System Service Urgent, Transmission System Service Urgent and Emission System Service Urgent if I remember correctly. You'll need ton have the codes read to figure out what's going on.

 

UPDATE

After shining my phone's LED once more on the text window display and playing around with the "READ" button and scroll wheel on the stalk I noticed that the text seemed to change. I was able to successfully remove the speedometer (w/o unplugging it) and removed the 2 bulbs that normally light it up. Surprise!!! One of them is clearly burned out. I took them both out and will be heading to the local Advance to get a new pair. The bulbs say Toshiba V-2.

I switched out the front signal bulb because on top of flashing rapidly, it wasn't shining to its fullest so I assumed it was the culprit of the fast signal flashing. No luck, still doing it. I don't know what else to try so I will wait until Monday for one of the mechanics where I work at to troubleshoot it. I assume now that's it's something electrical. Although I could buy a rear signal bulb and change it as well.

That's all for know, I will update as I figure out more stuff.

EDIT: I might have erased some messages when I pressed the "READ" button, will they come back eventually?

 

The "READ" button doesn't erase anything permanently, just cycles through them.

I would replace the front turn signal socket- they are common to fail.

 

The text window is now working!!! I replaced the backlights and it works perfectly.

So will the messages come back? I seemed to have cleared all of them and I still have the yellow exclamation point. When I scroll through I don't see any, just the standard MPG info and other stuff.

Still trying to figure out the turn signal issue. I'm leaning towards a bad connector since the front right bulb gets dim when flashing while the rear right is ok (just fast flashing).

 

Its usually a bad socket. You can swap it with the other side to test but its only about $12 for a new one.

The scroll wheel goes through different information than the READ button. If there was one of the "Service Urgent" messages, it should still be there unless the fault is no longer present coincidentally.

 

That's my next move, swap the connectors and test it.

The two messages I'm getting are "SRS Airbag Service Urgent" and something about scheduled service due. They come up every time I turn on the car which I assume is normal.

I've read that these codes need to be cleared by a shop and that the airbag one might be because they forgot to disconnect the battery when they worked on something. Is that true?

 

The SRS message could be from having something disconnected with the key on, but not because of disconnecting something while the battery was connected. The service reminder comes on every 7500 miles, it doesn't indicate a fault. The SRS one needs a scanner capable of communicating with the SRS system to check the codes and clear it.

 

How can I clear the service reminder so it doesn't come up again? Let's say I change my oil because it was due, what then?

Are headlights normally on even in the "off" (0) position? What I mean is they are as bright in the "0" position as in the on position. My previous car (2001 sonata) would be on as well when in the "off" position, but they were dimmer that when being "on". the Volvo seems to keep them in the same brightness be it day or night.

EDIT: I found how to reset the service reminder message, will try later today: http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...pic.php?t=4123

 

Yep, the headlights are on in both positions

 

Excellent, thanks. So basically the only reason to put them on the "on" position is to be able to use the high-beams properly (make them remain on after pulling on the stalk).

My turn signal stalk has been working properly lately so I'll just pull it out and clean it. That'll save me about $50.

I still need to swap the front bulb connectors to see if that's what causing the right signal issue and buy the connector, easy fix.

Other than that, I'm good. The car runs better every day, I believe the previous owner wasn't using it much and didn't properly maintain it. I'm gonna do an oil change as well just to be safe, although the oil's color makes it seem like it was recently changed.

Next on the list is to take it to get aligned which for the price they'll inspect the steering and suspension system as well. Might as well get that checked too.

Thank everyone for the help, I'll update again if need be.