hi,

i just bought my first volvo s60 2002 2.4T AWD Optima automatic and i absolutely love it but after just a week it started acting up.

first of all it indicates things that are not wrong with the car and i get messages like time for servicing which dissapear after a few minutes of driving.

another time the brakes need replacing apparently and that dissapears soon too.

this would not be a problem but yesterday i had the worst one of all.
i start the car, it stalls and when i put the ignition on again it shows all the indications as if nothing on the car was working anymore.
when i then try to actually start the car all the gauges switch off and it makes a clicking noise which i think was the alternator trying to start but with no juice.

i try it seversal times and the same. afterwards it just did not have enough power to show all indications and i realized the batter had went to a better place. Soon enough there was not enough power to unlock the car.

today i bought a 74ah 680A batter which i read somewhere was recomended to get instead of the smaller less powerfull one. also i noticed the batter was the original volvo batter(not sure if it's the factory one)

installed the new batter and started imediately everything working perfectly.
could this have been just because of the battery and maybe it was just old and not able to keep the current in it good? i will mention that it was raining heavily yesterday and the wipers were at full power. i suspect this is what drained it.

this evening after driving for a couple of hours i got the low batter message which went on and off 2 times while driving withough anything unusual happening or stopping the car. should i be worried or is it just the sensons acting up again?


and one last question as i'm not sure if this is right. i put the car intor drive and when i realease the brake pedal it moves along slowly withouth pressing the accelerator. the revs don't go up i gues it just releases the clutch when i release the brake pedal. same goes for reverse.
This is my first automatic so excuse my ignorance but i'm not sure if this is right.

would really appreciate some advices if i should sleep easy at night or not

 

Sorry to hear that bro...too bad you didn't buy a 240/740/940 with the B230F motor and Aisin Warner Automatic transmssion for your first Volvo...get ready to open your wallet and pay the dealer or a shop the purchases their software to diagnose it for you..

 

If the message you get when u first start the car is time for reg service No worries we all get it.If you look around on the net you will be able to reset it your self.I forget whats its telling you but its very common.Take a look here http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...pic.php?t=4123 and see if you can get it reset.The car rolling at idel is fine.Also make sure you check you HEAD lights remember when you shut off you head lights for daytime driving your running lights stay on even when the car is OFF.This is also a common issue for new Volvo owners leave it set to lights on.The headlights will be fine and it does not kill them that much faster and u don't have to REmember every time u get out of your car to shut them off.

 

thanks a lot it's good to hear some things are normal!
what kind of other messages do people get? the only one that really concerns me is the battery low voltage one consindering the troubles i just had with it. i bought a decent battery to make sure it does not happen again but could it be possible that my car is loosing the battery power somehow?

Is that something that would happen in a s60?
i make sure all lights are off. when the battery was drained it was most likely because of the wipers running at full speed and the old battery not recharging corectly.

 

Your alternator is probably not charging the battery as it should. The part is about $230 for a refurb...not sure about the dealer price but I would bet it'll be over $500 installed.

 

The Voltage regulators commonly fail. The part is about $100.00. If you can replace it your self that is a plus.

 

today the batter low message appeared again.
i got to the parking spot stopped the engine and tried to start it up again.

I get everything working (AC, radio system checks) but when i try to start it up all the gauges are switched off and the starter(i think) is making a clicking noise like it's trying to spin but cannot do it(it's not the usual sound you would hear when the starter would not spin because of no power)

I tried to disconnect the battery and reset everything but the only difference is that now it give maybe one half of spin to the starter and then again all gauges fail and car won't start.

what could this be? battery is definetly fine now it has not died like the old one after a few tries.
so everything is fine until i actually try to start the engine.

any ideeas what this could be? it's so frustrating as i absolutely love the car and cannot enjoy it..

 

See above...bad alternator.

 

thanks a lot i checked some postings and some people described the exact same issue and the solution was replacing the alternator.

it this a must in a Volvo dealership or can i go to a normal shop? i suppose replacing an alternator should not be more complicated than normal on a Volvo.

 

The alternator can be replaced at any shop that you trust. I did mine myself about a month ago and it took about 2 hours. It's definitely not the easiest alternator I've ever changed, but I'm sure it's not the toughest one out there either.

As Tech mentioned above, the voltage regulator could be the problem. It is internal to the alternator. If you buy a new alternator, the voltage regulator comes with it. You can replace just the voltage regulator, if you want to, but I chose to replace the entire thing at once, just to make sure I fixed the problem on the first try.

Good Luck!

 

yeah replacing the whole thing would be best.

i have a limited(limited expense they will cover) warranty from the dealer where i bought it and i think it will cover the expenses as from what i see it's not going to bankrupt me so i'm taking it to volvo.

will be back with details after it's fixed..

thanks a lot guys you have been extremely helpfull!!!!

 

well it seems i jump from one problem to another.
i payd 400€(i live in Spain) to a mechanic to replace the alternator and no more electrical problems.

The mechanic mentioned the alternator was hard to get to and he had to remove some hoses to properly get to it. when trying to drive away i got the antifreeze level low message.
i just leveled it with some whater(a cup maybe - would that create problems in the future?) and went on my way thinking some of it must have been lost when the guy removed the hoses.

some miles later i got another antifreeze low level(i suppose once the engine got going and the antifreeze started filling the circuit it was missing some again) so i added about another cup of water and no more issues there so far.

i left the car for about 30 mins then when came back again i get the exhaust check light on all the time. what does that mean exactly? is this related? did the mechanic forget something when putting it all back? should i strangle him in the morning?

also, when the engine revs and changes gear i hear a short weird grinding/rattle sound.

any ideea what this weird puzzle leads to? i'm starting to hate this car and all it's sensors.. ignorance is bliss

 

My guess is that the mechanic is the problem. He "had to remove some hoses" - was he looking for sympathy in addition to the 400€ you paid? He probably inadvertently knocked loose some electrical connections in addition to not refilling your cooling system. Look over the area of the alternator real well - I bet you find something.

Steve

 

Geez... nothing like opening pandoras box.

The ONLY "hoses" that should have been removed to swap the alternator is the intake piping from the intercooler to the throttle body and from the turbo to the intercooler. If he decided to remove a coolant hose, then he probably just forgot to add the water back to the system as you suspected.

As far as the "exhaust check light", can you describe that to me? I've never heard of such a thing, and a google search didn't turn up any results either. If it's a yellow triangle with a car and 2 squiggly lines behind it, then that's your traction control light. You may have inadvertently turned off your traction control without knowing it. Let me know.

The rattling sound that you describe is very similar to a sound that I got on my car when one of the exhaust hangers broke. The exhaust pipe hung a little lower and was rubbing/tapping on a steel bracket when the engine rocked back from the torque at mid to high rpms. Check all your hangers.

 

so i went back to strangle the guy today but faith had it that when i got there and wanted to check the code the indicator stopped appearing.
it's not the DSTC off one it's the engine/exhaust one in yellow i think it's the second one from the left on the second line.

manual says it's something either with the engine or exhaust(something might not run properly for whatever reason).

as you said he forgot to add coolant. i filled it up but probably had some air in the system. when driving a little it must have let the air our and of course the coolant level dropped. filled it up again and no more issues. i have my eye on it and it seems to be leveled all the time so this one is out.

I think the yellow indicator is gone for good. car runs perfectly now.
I think it was reated to the previous electrical issue. when i got the car from the mechanic i went for a drive. it felt like it was out of breath so i accelerated a few times thinking the turbo is gone. the car felt like it would not go anywhere but the engine was really loud. Maybe after changing the alternator the battery did not completey charge causing the above. after starting the car again later i got that light on.

this morning the car felt refreshed and no noises when changing gears. it's fast again as it should. later on this afternoon when i went to strangle the guy light went off.
he also mentioned it could be something temporary like some bad fuel or something that went through the system then fixed itself.

no more issues now and i'm back loving my volvo.
untill next time i gues..

if any noise comes back i will check the exhaust.

 

hey i have a question since you have the AWD like me.(i suppose the 2.4T 200bhp engine too?)

when the AWD starts when pushing the car and it looses grip do you hear anything?
i know some valves open and the power goes to the back wheels so i gues it's somehow brutal.
Maybe i'm hearing things but i think i heard a knock from the back or something this morning when trying to get out of an intersection and onto a street(was stearing and pushing the car a little).

still learning about this car..

 

Glad to hear that everything is as it should be.

On my car there is no indication whatsoever that the AWD has kicked in. I have noticed however that noises on these cars can appear to come from one area when the source of the noise is in a completely different area. I suppose that its due to the extremely tight chassis that transmits sound away from where its actually occurring...but that's just a theory. I would't worry about the knocking sound unless it starts happening on a regular basis.

 

No more worries for now..
I'm enjoying this car just as a volvo owner should!!!

many thanks for your answers!!!

 

to do a quick test...pull the negative battery cable off while car is running if car dies alternstor is bad, if it stays running you have a different problem....or test wiyh a multimeter if you have but just don't replace an alternator if you have not tested first....

 

the problems are back..

i got the "engine shaped" yellow indicator again and toghether with it the rattling noise if i accelerate hard(floor it let's say). i'm thinking it's one of the exhaust hangers as you suggested as it only seems to make the sound when the car vibrates because of the engine.

As it comes and goes it could be something else.. i tried to check it with a mechanic today(wanted to check the hangers) but he did not have the time and suggested it could be the catalyzer.

I also noticed the fuel consumption is high(could be wrong as i only had the car for 2 weeks and it's hard to compare as there was no last fillup and Spain is hot as hell so AC is on most of the time) and it appears that the indicator is going down pretty fast. This exhaust problem could cause that correct?

anything else you think could be the problem? if it's the hangers should be an easy fix.
what about the catalyzer? is that going to set me back a lot? if so can i still run like this untill the end of the month without damaging something else?

i'm keeping my fingers crossed as i cannot aford any other expense this month..

thanks in advance,

Cristian