Volvo C30 Expensive faults- Advice Needed!
 

Hi,

At a bit of a loss and hoping someone might be able to shed some light on this or provide a bit of guidance as admittedly this is a little outside of my wheelhouse.

A few weeks back my 2010 Volvo C30 (R Design) broke down. Having driven 5 or 6 miles and recently turned onto a dual carriageway the engine just turned off. All of the lights, power steering, radio etc were still working, but the engine wouldn't start. I turned the key and tried to turn it over again, but it was completely silent, there was no attempt for it to engage the engine again. The dashboard would throw up faults saying "Immobiliser failed, try again", and other faults relating to the ABS.

A guy from the AA came out and had a look, had a look at the fuses under the passenger footwell (simply dropped the fuse box down, and pushed it back into place). The car then started up, and I managed to get a few miles further up the road. He ran a diagnostics test, which threw up a number of faults, some of which he couldn't clear namely (1A41) Ignition Starter Switch Signal Faulty.

After driving for a few miles the same issue occurred. I left it for a few minutes at the roadside, dropped the fuse box, pushed it back in. And managed to get it home. By which point it wouldn't run for more than a few seconds without the engine cutting out and the same dashboard warnings appearing.

It's been in the garage for several weeks now, and this is where I need some advice. After trial and error they garage has established it was a fault within the ECU, and have since sent this off to be repaired/reformatted and placed back in the car. As of last week I was told this had been done, and looked to resolve the issue- the engine doesn't cut out anymore. I've been quoted £560 for the work carried out. I was told by the garage carrying out the work that they wanted to keep the car a few more days just to make sure the problem had been resolved, and to also look at some other faults that had since appeared.

Skip to today where I've spoken to the garage and they now say there's an intermittent issue with the cars exterior lights, and the central locking system has stopped working. They stated this is an issue with the fuse box/fuse board (excuse my ignorance!) and this will also need to be repaired for a further £450+, and the likely cause of this being water/condensation damage. A week or so prior I had been told there were no obvious signs of water damage and these issues were not present prior to the work being carried out on the ECU and (maybe to my naivety) seems too much of a coincidence to not be related to that.

I wondered if anybody is aware of what might be happening here? Or has come across issues like this in the past? Is there something the garage may or may not have done as part of the ECU repair that could have triggered this issue?
Apologies for the long post, I've tried to add as much info as possible. Any help would be hugely appreciated! Thank you.

sound like a problem with the CEM or its wireing /or plug connections these fault are well documented on this forum go to a good volvo indpendant or find a member who has vida
dice a failing battery can also play havoc with this kind of problem check it first.

If I where you look get the CEM sent to this crowd (https://volvodiagnostic.com/) and see about getting a repair.

The problem is with the garage.

A home mechanic with a misfire replaces the spark plugs (£25), then the coils (£75) then the ignition pack etc etc. They do this with £20 to £75 parts.

When you go to a garage they run proper diagnostics (you can test each parking sensor with a laptop!). They then replace the 2nd coil pack only.

What you have is a garage that have replaced the faulty item, then the next part in the chain will fail, then they won’t locate the water leak and it will all happen in 6 months.

Unless you are very confident of the garage my advice is to pay them and leave and take it to a proper Volvo garage.

You could spend a fortune on a fitter replacing each bit daisy chain like piece by piece.

Edit: Volvo specialist, not Volvo garage.

Leaks via the windscreen are reasonably common on Volvo's of that age (push the top corners of the screen from the inside and see if there's any movement outside), or leaks from sunroof drainage points. Either of these but especially the windscreen leak can damage the CEM and that leads to a lot of woe. As said above, any leak must be fixed first to avoid new parts also getting ruined. The garage might have had the car outside hence them suspecting/noticing water ingress: if that's the case it's not their fault but you must stop the leak before spending any further money. And I'd ask that the car is kept indoors to avoid a second £560 bill on top of the other potential £450 bill coming your way...

You were right first time :regular_smile: The only volvo specialist is the dealer , NO one has more experience in these faults and the resources and back up of Volvo UK technical department to sort out these kind of faults . the very very last thing you do is change an ECU and only then if proving exactly what is wrong with it , very very rare for an ECU to fail .
It really is the least expensive way to sort out a fault like this .

While I don't disagree in principle it very much depends on the competence of your local dealer. I was deeply unimpressed recently with our local dealer. They couldn't even give a price for a service because the car was over 10yrs old so I took it elsewhere. The level of communication and care shown gives me little hope the car is being well looked after. I'd much rather take it to the local garage who I trust and have always done a good job. That said, that's only my local dealer and I'm sure they aren't all as bad.

found Exactly the same
parts departments can be Brilliant
service departments, anywhere from dont want to know to downright Rude and lie to your face.
"technicians" can be brilliant and have the knowledge they Should have and need...Sadly far too many are nothing more than parts swapping monkeys as "computer says so" without a single clue

and there are more parts swapping monkeys than technicians With a clue, and pride in there work.

I see you’re in Birmingham and I have been using Hallam and sutherns in Swadlincote there a Volvo specialist and can’t recommend them enough if you need another garage.

I'll second this recommendation. I've been using H&S for years for anything that is beyond my ability (both volvo and other makes) and don't have a bad word to say about them.

They also have a VIDA setup, so don't rely on generic scanners.