Hi all. Let me apologize before I start....my mechanical knowledge of cars is pretty much non-existent, so please excuse my descriptions and jargon. First a little background...we own a 98 S70 with approximately 150,000 miles on it, & are the original owners. This morning, while taking children to school, the heater turned off and then turned back on. It didn't actually turn off, but acted as if I had turned it down to the lowest position and then cranked back into high. There was a slight "burning" smell, so I turned the heater off. While waiting in the drop-off line at school, there was a humming/buzzing noise that lasted about 10 seconds, then stopped. It sounded like a cell phonethat had been put in vibrate mode (I actually asked my son if he had his cell phone with him.) While trying to figure out what & where the sound was coming from, it happend again, but this time the car lost all power. The sound seems to be coming from the shifting column (automatic transmission, if that helps?) The car started right up, and I got home without another incident, but as I turned the car off, it buzzed again, then stopped. I have an appt with our volvo dealer for tomorrow a.m., but was wondering if someone might have some idea as to what the problem may be. Also, should I drive the car or have it towed in? (Weended up selling our 850 for parts afterdriving it while it was making noises...threw the serpentine belt into the timing belt which bent head gaskets, or something like that...anyways, it caused a chain reaction that could be fixed but would cost more than the car was worth. It had 395,000 miles on it. :^) So I really don't want to hurt this Volvo by driving it if it should be carried in.

I appreciate all your help, and thank you in advance to taking time out to read such a lengthy post!

Thanks, Kat

 

If it was buzzing then I would take caution.
How far away is the dealer?
If it is close chance it but if it is pretty far away then I would be careful.
Sounds like something is shorting out.

 

Thanks Tech for your response.

I had the car towed in, unfortunately, they're unable to duplicate the problem. They are keeping it over the weekend to drive it intermittently to see if the problem resurfaces?

Thanks again,
Kat