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Dodgy connections???

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Old Aug 6th, 2022, 19:52   #1
glegalee
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Default Dodgy connections???

Evening all,

I'm hoping to pick your collective minds please.

Last week my 2005 S40 weirded out on me 4 times in 2 days. I was driving along no problems then all of a sudden the dashboard shows me a message saying something like Brake System Failure stop safely. ABS light on, SRS light on and red (I think) exclamation light on. then a second or so later the dials all went to 0 even though I was traveling at 70mph, had a full tank of fuel, engine temp at mid range and engine was running at idle speed.

I always carry a basic code reader so i plugged it in and cleared the codes, turned off the car, waited about a minute then started the engine and drove to my destination 11 miles away.

Once there I turned off the car for about 10 mins then came to restart it. Upon starting the same error message was displayed and the dials were all at 0 even though the engine was idling, again deleted codes, restarted engine and drive home.

Next morning I went to the car and turned the key but was faced with a message saying immobiliser check manual, so I did, something about the chip in the key so I used the spare and all was fine.

Jumped on the motorway to travel to my destination, traveled about 20 miles and the same thing happened as the day before, this time though the codes could not clear and then the reader was unable to connect to the car so I called the tow truck.

I had the tow guy take me to a local diesel/electrical specialist as I just didn't have time to investigate myself.

They had the car for 2 days and could not get it to brake down at all. They scanned the codes and gave me a huge print out, they gave the car back without charge and told me they didn't have time to dedicate to looking into the fault.

I've since got a better diag computer and can accurately read Volvo codes rather than just generic ones so I plugged it in, deleted all codes except 3 and drove the car home absolutely fine, no issues.

Anyway many of the codes given are about failure to communicate with modules around the car, however I would put this down to maybe a connector on the ECM and/or CEM or even both. I removed them last year during a different brake down situation and cleaned all connections as I know they are poor quality on this age S40.


The 3 remaining codes are as follows:

ECM-0380 Glow Plug Relay. Faulty Signal - I've read about this fault on this forum in a different thread and apparently it's not really a problem. The car starts perfectly in all weathers and temperatures.

CEM-4F33 Battery Temperature Faulty Signal - Linked to the following code.

CEM-4C01 Outside Temperature Sensor. Signal Too High - This sensor is disconnected and therefore the ECM can not determine the battery temperature as the reference signal from the outside temp sensor is not available.

There are currently no other codes on the car which is why I'm thinking bad connection somewhere. It's obviously an intermittent fault, the worst kind of fault. Does anyone have any further ideas or things that I should be looking at please? Also I can not afford to buy VIDA DICE and whilst that is that is recommended, it's unfortunately not an option for me

Thanks for your time and knowledge.

Greg.
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Old Aug 7th, 2022, 12:20   #2
pinballdave
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It's probably the same connection issue you've had before. When you first cleaned the connectors, was there any signs of corrosion on the pins or the contacts? If there was, then the protective plating on the pins will have been damaged, and they will tarnish and fail again.

If you have only owned the car for a short time, then it's possible that the previous owner has cleaned the obvious signs of corrosion already, and you are left with the hidden corrosion.

This is why it is recommended to apply dielectric grease to the connectors after cleaning, this prevents the air getting to the unprotected contacts which prevents them oxidising. Without the protection of the grease, the faults will re-occur, and you get into a cycle of having to clean the contacts so often eventually they get to a state where they have to be replaced.

Don't worry about needing a DICE. As your reader is giving you the Volvo codes, you can still install VIDA and manually look up these fault codes, this should help you get more accurate descriptions of the code and what may have caused it, and also gives you more information about the design and functioning of each of the systems in the car, which is very useful when it comes to diagnosing faults like this.

When you have intermittent faults like this, the fault codes that are left after deleting the temporary codes do not help with diagnosis. You need to check the codes that don't immediately re-occur, and possibly wait for the fault to happen again and see if any of the previous temporary codes have returned.

It's these temporary codes, that can help narrow down the area where the fault is, by looking for common factors in the somewhat random list of codes. Depending on which modules have reported communication errors (or other fault codes that could have been triggered by communication faults), you can check wiring diagrams, and see which signals are most likely to have been affected, and sometimes even which cable/connector is most likely to be causing it.
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Old Aug 7th, 2022, 14:02   #3
Clan
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Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by glegalee View Post
Evening all,

I'm hoping to pick your collective minds please.

Last week my 2005 S40 weirded out on me 4 times in 2 days. I was driving along no problems then all of a sudden the dashboard shows me a message saying something like Brake System Failure stop safely. ABS light on, SRS light on and red (I think) exclamation light on. then a second or so later the dials all went to 0 even though I was traveling at 70mph, had a full tank of fuel, engine temp at mid range and engine was running at idle speed.

I always carry a basic code reader so i plugged it in and cleared the codes, turned off the car, waited about a minute then started the engine and drove to my destination 11 miles away.

Once there I turned off the car for about 10 mins then came to restart it. Upon starting the same error message was displayed and the dials were all at 0 even though the engine was idling, again deleted codes, restarted engine and drive home.

Next morning I went to the car and turned the key but was faced with a message saying immobiliser check manual, so I did, something about the chip in the key so I used the spare and all was fine.

Jumped on the motorway to travel to my destination, traveled about 20 miles and the same thing happened as the day before, this time though the codes could not clear and then the reader was unable to connect to the car so I called the tow truck.

I had the tow guy take me to a local diesel/electrical specialist as I just didn't have time to investigate myself.

They had the car for 2 days and could not get it to brake down at all. They scanned the codes and gave me a huge print out, they gave the car back without charge and told me they didn't have time to dedicate to looking into the fault.

I've since got a better diag computer and can accurately read Volvo codes rather than just generic ones so I plugged it in, deleted all codes except 3 and drove the car home absolutely fine, no issues.

Anyway many of the codes given are about failure to communicate with modules around the car, however I would put this down to maybe a connector on the ECM and/or CEM or even both. I removed them last year during a different brake down situation and cleaned all connections as I know they are poor quality on this age S40.


The 3 remaining codes are as follows:

ECM-0380 Glow Plug Relay. Faulty Signal - I've read about this fault on this forum in a different thread and apparently it's not really a problem. The car starts perfectly in all weathers and temperatures.

CEM-4F33 Battery Temperature Faulty Signal - Linked to the following code.

CEM-4C01 Outside Temperature Sensor. Signal Too High - This sensor is disconnected and therefore the ECM can not determine the battery temperature as the reference signal from the outside temp sensor is not available.

There are currently no other codes on the car which is why I'm thinking bad connection somewhere. It's obviously an intermittent fault, the worst kind of fault. Does anyone have any further ideas or things that I should be looking at please? Also I can not afford to buy VIDA DICE and whilst that is that is recommended, it's unfortunately not an option for me

Thanks for your time and knowledge.

Greg.
You need to get the 3 pairs of network wire terminals replaced in three of the plugs on the CEM under the glove box. Volvo do a repair terminal which comes with 6 inches of wire to make the job easier. Any volvo dealer will know how to do this after 17 years of this problem. Cleaning is not a fix , the repair terminals have a stronger spring to grip better to stop fretting when the terminal moves due to vibration or thermal expansion and contraction , the temperature range in the CEM can vary about 60 C so it is bound to expand fractionally .
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Old Aug 8th, 2022, 00:10   #4
glegalee
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Default Thanks for the usefull info!

Thank you Pinballdave and Clan for your information.

Pinballdave, to answer your questions, I've owned the car since 2014. However it came with loads of receipts that show that not only was it seemingly well looked after, but it did indeed come with its fair share of problems noted in the service book or other documentation.

I'm the one that cleaned the CEM and ECU contacts last year and yes, back then the CEM did indeed have some evidence of green corrosion on some of the pins. This time (today) I removed the CEM again and stripped it right back to the circuit board for a cleaning where as last time I cleaned it in it's plastic case. Some of the pins were indeed showing evidence of tarnish so I cleaned them up and put it all back together. I have not applied any dielectric grease as yet but I plan to get some and apply it asap.

Where can I get download VIDA from? It sounds like it could be a handy tool to have. I do have the official Volvo wiring document 'Volvo C30 S40 V50 C70 Wiring TP39167202.pdf' which is proving to be extremely useful once you've wrapped your head around the wiring schematic methodology.

Clan, That's a great piece of information to have, I didn't realise that the CEM got so hot! Also with all this hot muggy weather we've been having, I'm sure that it hasn't helped at all! I'll have to get on to my local Volvo service centre and see what they can tell me with regards to these CAN connectors!

Unfortunately I believe that these problems all stem from the sunroof. When the drains in the A pillars get blocked or the off side pipe separates in the centre where the small pipe barely inserts into the big pipe, I get a swimming pool in the back offside footwell which in turn raises the humidity in the car and then moisture gets into places it shouldn't. However I've not had a pool in the back of the car for a while now since I figured this out. However if I take the car through a carwash sometimes the volume of water through the drain pipes is greater than it can cope with and a get a little dribble of water inside the car down by the bonnet release lever. That's an easy fix though, just don't go through certain car washes

Thanks again for your insights, the wife and I love our Volvo and would hate to have to part with it! It's been though a lot with us, we drove it to Gibraltar and back on a 2 week road trip to get married there, we've been all over Europe in it on road trip holidays, it's still relatively low mileage for the age at just under 110K. Zero rust, best car I've ever owned (electronic gremlins aside).

Greg.
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