Hello,
I need help to locate the sirius rdar in my 2011 XC90 3.2 w 7 seats.

I purchased this one last year. After parking there for a week at Christmas, the battery was dead. I jump started it and ran for about 30 mins. The next day I got an alternator failure, which cost me about $1300 including parts, labor, and towing. I searched online and learned the low battery may damage the alternator and the sirius rdar keeps draining the battery. Since then, I've made sure the car was driven at least twice in a week. However, today the battery died again. I've removed the battery and I'm charging it with a charger. Google tells me one can fix it by install a brace to the sirius rada. But I can't find where it is. Could anyone give me an idea? Thanks a lot!

 

I am looking for the same answer. I just read from somewhere that it is in the left cargo area. I will try my luck tomorrow. If you beat me, let me know.

 

Confirmed that the RDAR unit is located in the passenger side trunk, right behind the arm's rest/cup holder. Mine is 7 seats model and it takes a ton load of trims removal work to reach it and the connectors are located at the bottom. I cut my wrist when trying to reach down without removing the panel. The connectors are hard to remove so the receiver unit has to be removed from the frame. I tried for hours and finally gave up. Finally went to a local independent shop and get it done. Money well spent in my opinion. I haven't tested by letting it sit for extended period of time to see if battery still drains. But man, it is so hard to work with interior components.

Fingers crossed for permanent solution for battery draining...

 

Wanted to add photos as I couldn’t find any and know this could help someone else in the future. This is on a 2011 xc90 but should cover multiple years.

Tools needed to perform job. 8mm, 10mm, 13mm sockets. Ratchet and extension. A pick. A magnetic pickup tool is optional but helpful. Time needed @ 20 - 25 min.

Part needed (as stated from prior post available from eBay)

Put tumble seat on passenger side up but leave the bottom of seat pushed in. Remove trim panel for seatbelt by pulling out then up.

Remove the cover plate from the tie down by prying from the top out then lifting up.

remove the 10mm bolt.

Remove top bolt cover plate upper left to expose the 8mm bolt and remove.

Pry small bolt cover off then remove the 8mm bolt from trip panel.

Now you can pull the armrest trim panel away from the car and gain access to the XM module as seen here. No need to remove the trim any further as you can reach all three of the cables as well as all three 8mm mounting bolts at this point.

Close up of module and mounting bracket. Note held on by 3 8mm bolts. Remove the two bolts closest to you and swing the module upwards to expose the cable connectors.

Unplug both the power cable and the orange fiber optic cable. (You can leave the thin one plugged in as it’s just to the antenna and will not cause any draw.)

Here are the two cables you should now have exposed and the larger orange cable is the one you will install the brace on.

Take the brace (terminator or circuit bypass loop more accurately but whatever) and remove the protective cover.

Pic of the protective cover from the brace. (Between thumb and finger is the cap) just pull it off and discard.

Plug brace into cable as seen here then carefully tuck it back below the XM module so it’s out of the way.

As seen here brace laying below module installed onto cable. Now just reassemble the trim plates. Then lastly unplug your battery for 30 seconds and plug it back in to reset radio. Once this is done you’re good to go.

 

Thanks a lot for the instruction. I finally get this work done following your post and it has been about two years since I asked the question.

 

I would like to add one point to the above post. When pulling out the trim panel in the first step, pull it from the top. In the following, I attached a picture of the inside of the trim panel, from which one can see there are a few plastic clips at the bottom I pulled the panel out from the bottom and broke one clip. Not a big issue. But it could be avoided if I had done it correctly. (The two metal ones on the top and one metal one in the middle won't be broken easily.)

 

I've just been going through the same process. We have a 2008 R design diesel ex UK and have had the same battery discharge issue.
I pulled the car to pieces re your excellent photos only to discover that the unit in our car is under the left front seat (right hand drive car) on top of the Volvo SatNav unit!
I've unplugged the fibreoptic cable which means the audio won't work, and will get the loop cable shortly. Fingers crossed it has sorted out our issue.

 

Our loop cable has finally arrived, we now have a working radio again, and the parking sensors are also back doing their thing!