My wife was backing her 2017 XC6 T6 Inscription, 50k miles, out of the garage a few days ago and it suddenly died. Had the “engine performance reduced” and the little turtle message. Also had the maintenance due message, but I was able to reset that. Starter cranks fine, but engine wouldn’t fire. Next day I replaced the battery, and it fired right up and ran for about 10 seconds then died, same message. I put the old battery back in, and same thing happened. If I disconnect the battery and reconnect it fires right up, runs for 10 seconds then shuts itself down.

What in the world is going on here? I’ve never seen anything like this on any car I’ve owned. The dealer can’t even look at it for 3 weeks if I get it towed there, any ideas on what this could be? Thanks so much in advance for any help y’all can offer. (I’ve searched the internet and this forum for days now, can’t find the exact problem, but I did try

 

I don't think you'll find an exact problem without some additional testing. 1) have the car scanned for any fault codes 2) check system voltage. Battery should be 12.5V or more. Low battery voltage (say under 12.2v) can cause computer faults. 3) Make sure you have fuel in the tank. (don't trust the gauge - try adding a couple gallons). Check fuses/relays. Since it fires up for a few seconds, I'd say you have spark, but since it won't run for more than 10 seconds, I'd suspect a fuel delivery problem - pump, pick up, filter, pressure sensor, water in the gas line (say if its really cold outside, it could be frozen), etc. Had a frozen fuel ine with a Jeep years ago. pushed the car into a warm garage, waited a few hours. started right up...

 

Thanks for the tip you are correct, and it is very cold here right now. I called Volvo to make an appointment, and like you, he also said that it may be lower on gas than the gauge is indicating and to dump 5 gallons in and see if it stays running, so I did and sure enough problem solved. I never would have guessed this with a gas gauge reading 1/4 tank and repeatedly starting and running for a while. Thanks for the help!

 

Good news. PS I also am in the habit of throwing a bottle of "dry gas" like Heet in the tank when the first deep freeze comes. These products contain isopropyl achohol or methanol to bind to any water in the fuel tank to allow it to mix with the gas to burn it off. Normally ethanol is part of the fuel itself but isn't as effective.