Hi guys,

I have a XC60 2009 diesel. Yesterday I drove it to the shops and on return, the car refuses to start. The engine turns over fine, but it doesn't start.
This morning I loosened one injector to see if diesel spills out when starting, but nothing. After reading up on it a bit, it looks like a possible immobiliser issue. I tried the following:
* Resetting the immobiliser (by locking and unlocking the car 5 times)
* Starting with the spare key
* Removed the battery for a while and reconnected it

Does anyone have any advice, or potentially know how to temporarily bypass it to confirm that it is indeed the immobiliser?

Thank you!

 

Could also be the PNP sensor. Try the "shifter row" to see if you can clean the contacts enough (idea is, the sensor thinks the car is in gear, disabling the start function)

 

Hi mt6127,

Thank you for the reply. I'll give it a go, but I do not think that it is the case, as the engine is indeed turning over when trying to start. Thus it hasn't disabled starting, it just doesn't "complete" the starting process.

Thank you,

 

good point, I read past where you noted it does crank over. Did you check for fuel pressure (ie fuel pump or relay issues?) not too many diesels in the US - thinking the immobilizer may cut the power to the injectors but not the fuel pressure... not sure for certain but it may be worth testing out.

 

As far as I understand, the immobilizer on the XC60 cuts off fuel to the engine, thus there won't be any fuel pressure (Volvo XC60 Immobilizer | Gaadi.com). I also tried searching for the fuel pump relay, to check if that is activated or not, but was unable to find it. Further reading up pointed that the fuel pump relay has been replaced with a transistor, that is controlled by the ECU. Thus further fuelling my suspicion that it might be a immobilizer issue.

 

For anybody coming across this post, I just want to update on my progress. Speaking to a technician at our local dealer, he mentioned that the immobiliser only disables the injectors, to prevent ignition. So even though the same result is obtained, it was not the cause of my problem.

I removed the inlet hose on the injector pump and after cranking the engine twice, fuel started pumping normally again. However, this was short lived. I reconnected the hose and took the car for a drive, which was fine. The next day however, the car refused to start again. Removing the injector pump inlet hose didn't do the trick this time though, as there was now no fuel being pumped.

This lead to the assumption that something is blocked in the fuel supply line, or potentially a faulty fuel pump. We proceeded to remove the fuel tank and the fuel pump from the tank. Connecting an external power supply on the fuel pump, resulted in the fuel pump pumping fuel as expected (without measuring the pressure). After this we cleaned all the hoses and breather pipes connecting to the fuel tank using air pressure and also replaced the diesel filter.

We then re-fitted everything and after a bit of cranking, the engine started. It died a couple of times due to the entire system being deprived of fuel, but it is now running fine. I haven't taken the car for a drive yet, will try that later this afternoon and will update if there are any further issues.

It seems that the cause of the issue was dirt in the system somewhere, preventing the fuel pump from successfully pumping fuel. Holding thumbs that it is all sorted out now.

 

Just a final update on the eventual cause of my problem.

The second time we removed the fuel pump to investigate, I noticed that the connector for the fuel pump was damaged, which was causing intermittent failure on the pump when starting the car. This connector was bypassed, directly connecting the wires on the inside of the pump and it has been going glitch free for the last year. Below is a picture of the failed part:

 

The red alarm light is constantly flashing even when driving. Trying to open the car keylessly has become difficult. Is this a matter of a reset ? The car is XC60 2023. Many thanks