MY2016 XC90 T8 New ERAD Noise

[Joey99]

Hi, new member here. I've had my 2016 XC90 since January 2020, bought in the UK and ferried back to Ireland.

In Q1 2021 I had the ERAD replaced by Spirit Volvo at no cost (which I thought was good since the car was over 4 years old).

Ten days ago (19/07/21) I started getting an engine warning light and a new noise started coming from the ERAD. It is silent when accelerating up to 7km/hour but then a fluttering/propeller type noise kicks in under load which increases in line with engine speed until, at 30km/hour and above it sounds just like a soft whine whenever the accelerator is pressed.

Brought the car back to Spirit Volvo and they diagnosed a failed hybrid battery coolant pump which was replaced. Car was with them for six days over the weekend as the part wasn't available.

Now I have the car back but the noise is still noticeably present. My wife (who barely recognises her own car at the best of times) immediately noticed the noise so although it is soft it is noticeable and, increasingly, irritating.

Has anyone come across anything similar? I have to say that the car has run faultlessly apart from the ERAD failure (and I can't fault Volvo's handling of that problem) and electric power to date has been totally silent.

Is this noise the warning of further ERAD problems to come?

[Joey99]

Update: Had this out to Spirit Volvo and they had their two senior technicians drive in it (first with me and then together). They immediately acknowledged the issue and have diagnosed an imminently dying electric motor which will need to be replaced.

Car is 4.5 years old. I'm expecting an offer to cover 50% of the cost but not sure if I'd be happy with that because every indication is that these hybrid systems were under-engineered from the start. Anyone got any thoughts on that?

[Joey99]

I have a quote for a repair from Spirit Volvo - €2,715 parts, €840 labour and €478 VAT.

I've requested a contribution from Volvo Ireland and will let you know how that works out.

[ustari]

Interested in this, believe I am currently experiencing similar and also based in Ireland.

Thanks for the updates.

[Raddish]

Sorry, I’d don’t know these systems well. It isn’t the electric motor part of the erad system? Wouldn’t this have been changed in q1 2021? Also if it wasn’t changed then, could this have caused or have been caused by previous problem? Assuming the erad is the diff that is engine and elec motor driven. How can they tell it’s that noise? My old xc70 had rear haldex noise, they changed under warranty, but the diagnosis took ages as thoughts were tyres, bearings, even brakes first.

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by Raddish

Sorry, I’d don’t know these systems well. It isn’t the electric motor part of the erad system? Wouldn’t this have been changed in q1 2021? Also if it wasn’t changed then, could this have caused or have been caused by previous problem? Assuming the erad is the diff that is engine and elec motor driven. How can they tell it’s that noise? My old xc70 had rear haldex noise, they changed under warranty, but the diagnosis took ages as thoughts were tyres, bearings, even brakes first.

The ERAD is the complete unit at the back consisting of the motor and the clutch/gearing. The well publicised ERAD failures are almost exclusively the clutch/gearing which is repaired by the dealer using the repair kit. This kit is modified from the original design.

It sounds in this case that the OP has had the ERAD repair done to the clutch/gearing, but now the motor has failed too which is I think very rare.

[Joey99]

I was a little imprecise in my first post so worth taking a moment to update (though I see another member is already ahead of the game). The initial ERAD failure was attributed to the differential in the ERAD and I was told that diff was replaced. The symptoms of that were quite staggering - anytime the car tried to engage the electric motor it was juddering and jumping so as to be nearly undriveable. AA seemed to know nothing about it whatsoever but Spirit Volvo quickly diagnosed and the car seemed right as rain after the fix.

[Joey99]

As an aside, I usually buy my cars at 3 years old and this experience has again validated my approach of sticking within the main dealer network for a couple of years until the prospect of manufacturer goodwill in support of any medium term issues is gone.

My previous high-mileage BMW 520d wagon suffered from the N47 engine problems at almost 7 years old and because I had had the car serviced by BMW up to six years old (with no gaps in the history) I saved myself about €3k when BMW covered the preventative, engine-out service to avoid a blown engine.

[Joey99]

OK. So latest update is that Volvo offered a 40% contribution as goodwill (€1,600 leaving me to pay €2,400). I have rejected that as I am not happy with the electric motor failing after 4.5 years.

Your thoughts? Am I being too ballsy in doing that? I can afford to cover the full repair and I have no fear of dragging them to court if an initial inspection reveals any indication of design/manufacturing fault.

[Joey99]

Curiouser and curiouser. I had a 40% goodwill offer from Volvo which many would regard as OK given that my car has done more than 150000KM. I wasn't happy with it, which is when things got weird.

I said I felt motors such as this should not fail after 4.5 years / 150,000 and that I suspected a defective design/manufacture/installation (perhaps exacerbated by the ERAD diff replacement earlier in the year). I also said I wanted to take away the old motor for independent expert review and inspection.

That prompted someone in Volvo to flag to Spirit that if they didn't get the old part back they would apply a 'surcharge' of ~€2,200 (bear in mind the motor had been priced at €2,715 ex VAT). I (politely) lost my sh1t altogether and told them that if they wanted to make me pay ~€6,200 for a fix that had been estimated at €4,000 I would do it but there would be hell to pay. Consumer protection and breach of competition laws may also have been mentioned.

They are working on a better deal at the moment and I'll be heading out there shortly to see what they have to offer. I'd be willing to pay a reasonable amount toward the fix but I'm looking for a meaningful gesture from Volvo because if I was willing to have essential drivetrain elements go kaput like this I'd have been in the market for a Renault. Will be interesting to see how it pans out.