Hello everyone,
so my wife vehicle (2005 volvo v50 t5 with 94000 mi) started displaying a message a few months ago intermittently: power system failure urgent. Would come on randomly for a few minutes then go away. We took it to advance auto last month and they tested the starter,alt, and battery. Said battery was bad. So i put in a platinum battery. The message went away for a few days. Wednesday i got in to move the car, put the key in and turned it but it didn't make any sound. Nothing turned on. Key would not come out either and couldnt shift out of park. So i applied jumper cables and it started right away. Took cables off and it died a few minutes later. Towed to volvo dealership and they swore it was the ignition switch. Paid $700 to replace. They said they tested the altenator and it was fine. Car started fine. Three days later, my wife drove ten feet and everything **** off without warning. Key wont come out or restart. Stuck in drive, had to use a screw driver on the hidden shift release button to get into neutral and eventually park.
Does anyone have any idea what it could possibly be? Voltage regulator? Fuse?

It is towed back to volvo now but am really questioning their commitment to fixing it right the first time. They told my wife before she picked it up the first time her timing belt had mutliple large cracks in it and would be catastrophic engine failure if it went (not sure how they couldve visually inspected that). Also went in on how we needed a power steering flush and brake fluid flush. It seemed like they were trying to sell her everything and take advantage of her by scaring her.

any input is greatly appreciated!

 

Hi Matt522,

Ran into what seems to be similar to your problem with my 2008 XC70. Without any warning, it just failed completely. Ran the day before fine. Next day morning, used the key fob to unlock the car remotely; car got unlocked fine. Before stepping in, tried to move the power seat back; no response. This was strange. Inserted the key fob in the slot and pressed the Start Engine button. No lights on the dash, no crank, nothing. Absolutely 0 response. Now key is stuck in the slot, does not come out with depressed again. Tried multiple times. Key fob is stuck. 0 response on anything. No lights at all on the dash. Tried disconnecting the battery and cleaning the terminals. Did not help. May be the fob chip, sop tried the spare remote key. Did not help.

Was your car problem got resolved? How?

Anyone on the forum, any idea what could be wrong with my car? What should I be looking for?

Next I want to try is check fuses are okay, try a jump start, disconnect the battery and leave positive and negative wires clamped together for 10-15 minutes to drain all voltages from inside ECM/CEM and reset all electronics.

Anyone think these remedies may help?

Thanks!

 

Hey, we did end up figuring it out. So upon returning the car to volvo they said they retested the alternator and it was bad. They quoted me $1200. I had the car towed back to my house and told them i would never return. The reason they gave me for replacing the ignition switch the first go around was they said the only reason the key would get stuck is if the switch was bad. When we first took it their (after they diagnosed the car over the phone) i asked them to check the alternator since that is what it seemed like to me.
they said it wasnt bad 3 days before but now it is. They couldnt explain to me why the key was stuck again since that was the whole reason for changing the switch in the first place. They warned me when i was leaving that putting in an aftermarket alternator would cause all kinds of error messages and cause damage. I ordered a bosch replacement off of fcpeuro.com for $200. It was a difficult install but I did it in 3 hours. Everything started right up and havent had a single issue since.
Good luck with your issue. I hope my info helps someone else in a similar situation!