Hi,
I had my car at the body shop for some minor repairs that ended up taking about three weeks. When I picked up the car, I turned the ignition and the car started with a little difficulty as if the battery needed a charge. The car started up and the service light was flashing. I went to turn on the radio and the radio wouldn't turn on. I attempted to lower one of the electric windows, and it took several attempts before it finally went down. The gas and temperature gauges eventually went into their positions after several minutes. I contacted the repair shop and they swear all they did was disconnect the battery. I can't help but think they did something other than that. I ran over to the local dealer and was told something must have been shorted out because the little box they connected to the car in an attempt to stop the service light from flashing was not communicating with the vehicles computer. Does anyone have an idea what could have happened? I'd appreciate any feedback.
Thanks.
Karl

 

Do you know if they did any welding on the car?

 

It's possible. As it was explained to me, they replaced the outer door skin in lieu of replacing the entire door. Thanks.

 

If they welded it with the door on the car it is possible that one of the computers got damaged.

 

Interesting, thanks. Perhaps I should pull off the interior panel to see if I can figure out whether or not they welded. I realize that wont tell me whether or not they removed the door, but at least I'll have something to argue about. Why might that affect one of the computers?...and if it might, is their claim of disconnecting the battery while working on the car of any relevance? Thanks, and sorry for so many questions, but I'm trying to determine if they were at fault.
Karl

 

By welding an electrical charge is put into the car.
If they disconnected the battery the computers should not have been affected but there is always a possibility.

It will be hard to prove other that you didn't have this problem before they worked on it.

Was it looked at by the dealer or another tech before it went for the body work?

 

They agreed that it wasn't that way when I brought it in.

 

Ok then get them to agree they will pay to have it looked at and repaired.

 

They don't want to have it repaired, they are telling me they were not the cause of the problem -- even though they agree the car wasn't brought in that way. For that reason, I'm trying to piece together what could have gone wrong while they were working on the car. With this info, I will go back to them next week and hopefully make a strong argument that they were the cause of the problem. They're telling me it's just a coincidence that this happened while it was at their shop, through no fault of theirs. Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it. If you can think of anything else that may assist me, I'd be grateful for any other ideas you have. Thanks again.
Karl

 

You might also want to gain help from the local dealer as well.
You might want to take it back to the dealer and have them confirm which computer is bad.
And have them put it in writing and that will really help.

 

And contact a lawyer, it might cost a little up front, but you're more likely to see results.

 

Thanks for the advice, Volvo tells me I need an instrument pack. I don't have a clue what that is, but that's what they're telling me.

 

Most likely the Circuit Board for the speedo cluster. It is pretty much the computer for all the controls in the speedo cluster.

 

Volvo said they would have to tack weld the skin on, so perhaps that was the cause of the damage.

 

VERY POSSIBLE!!!