Hi All, I have a 2016 XC90 with 67K miles on it that is currently at the dealer for a check engine light. It was determined that one of the O2 sensors need to be replaced. We do have a Volvo extended warranty and the O2 sensor is covered under the warranty. The issue I am having with the dealer is they are unable to remove the O2 sensor from the catalytic convertor and they say that it will need to be replaced for >$2.5k. They claim that the catalytic convertor is working fine so it is not covered under the warranty. I have 2 major issues with this, 1) if they can’t replace the sensor (under warranty) due to not physically being able to remove the sensor due to corrosion or other issues, then that is also an issue with the catalytic convertor, and 2) the catalytic convertor is covered under the Federal Emissions 8 year/80K miles warranty. Bottom line is that the emissions control system is not working correctly, and, in my opinion, it should be covered under the Volvo extended warranty and/or the Federal Emissions warranty. I have opened a case with Volvo over this. Has anyone gone thought this type of issue before? Any advice on how to best proceed or thoughts on if this should be covered under warranty would be greatly appreciated? Thank you in advanced.

 

not sure why they can't get the O2 sensor out of the converter since they just screw in. worst case scenario would be they'd need to drop the exhaust to get better access. I'd talk to the service manager and ask them to talk to a regional factory support rep. If that doesn't work, I'd call another dealer or an indy tech and see what they'd say. The other thought I have is its kind of rare for O2 sensors to fail. Usually other things like vacuum leaks or exhaust leaks force the sensor out of range and the OBD2 codes are simply saying the sensor is reporting the issue - not necessarily the root cause. Do you know the specific fault code(s)? this will tell you if you have a possible wiring issue (open/shorts) and whether the fault is on the heater circuit or the sensor circuit, a air/exhaust leak (fuel trim) and whether its the front sensor (that manage fuel trim) or the rear sensor (that measures the cat efficiency).