I have a 2001 V70 that suddenly quit running - total electrical failure, not even lights and accessories would operate. Good Volvo specialist diagnosed a bad CEM. We replaced it and all was well for two days and then the car went black again. I'm told that faults in the main wiring harness might be to blame. No obvious damage, no wrecks, ...

It doesn't make sense to spend another $1300 for a CEM without understanding why this one failed. Any suggestions?

Is simply scrapping the car the best option? It's a fine car, but it looks like it's only worth $4000-$5000 if it was running properly.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

This is really a philosophy question, and I think basically you're right. If you do not work on cars yourself, out-of-warranty european cars are not for you. That is why they're so cheap.

 

You may have a battery cable problem.

 

The problem turned out to be multiple rodent attacks on the car's wiring. We found a few acorn shells on the driver's floor mat and some mysterious bits of foam. It turned out that rats had built a nest behind the firewall and had chewed the insulation on a number of wire bundles. Wiring faults caused the first and second CEM failures. The symptoms were slightly different between the two failures, suggesting that different wiring faults caused the two CEM failures.

Both the mechanic and the GEICO claims adjuster agreed that exposing, checking, and repairing all the wiring was not a reasonable solution. GEICO totaled the car and even reimbursed me for the CEM replacement.

It was a fine car and it's going to put some fine used parts onto the market somewhere.