I posted about this issue 12-15 years ago, and can not remember what was finally done to get it fixed.

It is happening again. Yes-I still have my 2004xc90, and other than it turning off while I’m driving, it’s been running pretty great.

I’ve read through a number of posts, stating this issue happens when the car gets wet (I’m in Phoenix-that’s not the issue and it’s much too hot to have the Sun roof open) and I rarely drive 60+ miles….

But, every couple of weeks, while driving ( usually on the freeway-but not always) the engine just ‘dies’…. I remember when this happened in the past-it took about a half dozen trips to the dealer (and high bills), for them to finally find the correct part to fix.

Unfortunately, the dealership we took it to is no longer in business, so I can’t find out what the ‘fix’ was…

Has anyone had this experience and what did you need to do to get it fixed?

 

good reason to keep a car maintenance history file. Only time I've ever had a car die when running was due to a fuel pump relay. Thing about FPRs is they usually fail due to a problematic fuel pump so you can swap out the relay and start planning for when you'll need to replace the pump. What happens is the pump starts to fail and draws more current than normal, which pits the relay contacts - which creates resistance and in turn heats up the relay, which leads to the relay opening up. Relay cools down, car goes again. There are other ways electrical contacts can open up due to heat so the best thing to do is have your new dealer do a full scan to see where a circuit may be drawing too much current etc. Trapping intermittant electrical fails is often difficult so don't expect a direct hit with a diagnostic scan.

 

it’s not the fuel pump. All of the gages drop to zero and the power dies…. Yes-I wish I had the records. I had been keeping them in the glovebox-but I’m not sure what happened with this one-just my luck..,

 

well, noting that the gauges drop to zeros is an important clue. That suggests the power is being dropped somewhere - relays, power module, alternator/voltage regulator, wiring etc. Do you recall the prior repair being very expense or not? That would suggest whether they simply cleaned some contacts or replaced a component. First step is a scan with a VIDA tool to see if any faults have been recorded. You may also want to visit the XeMODex web site to see common symptoms for the various components in play.

 

Hi-
i do remember it being quite expensive-maybe in the $2000 price range-though we did take it in a number of times before the problem would come up in their scanners…

When it was finally found-I barely got it to a neighborhood garage, when it ‘died’, and they were able to scan it-finding out it was something that the dealer needed to repair. We then had to tow it to the dealer, so the ‘code’ wouldn’t clear.

if memory serves, we had left it with the dealer a few times to let the mechanics drive it for a few days-but the issue never surfaced for them…

I hope that helps