AboutRay Niemi Expertise ASE Master Rated. Ask any questions about Volvo models up to 2000. Runnability, starting and charging system, diagnostic codes, brakes, front end, where to get certain parts. Should I buy this Volvo or not? I will try to answer your question and give you the knowlege to make the best decision in your case.
Experience I started working on Volvo's in 1978 at the dealer and attended all the schools and achieved a Master rating. Since 1999 I have worked at independent shops and now own my own shop.
Organizations Alldata on line repair manuals. IATN network of techs.
ASE rating of Master.
Question The car has some recurring problems and I wonder if they could be electronics-related, and what to do:
1. Occasionally, while driving, the power will just die - speedometer goes to zero and there is no go. When I come to a stop, turn the key off and turn it right back on, all is OK.
Other times, speedometer goes to zero even as I am driving, but car does have power to go, and eventually speedometer starts functioning again.
2. Recently the car alarm went off on a couple of occasions, when car was just parked in front of house. Could not stop it by starting and stopping car, driving around, etc. The first two times, it eventually stopped by itself; the third time I removed the fuse marked 'alarm', and it hasn't done it since.
A couple of years ago, when the turn signals stopped working, all it took was to replace a fuse; I wonder if there is some central problem causing both these and other problems.
3. For over a year I have been getting a lot of error messages from the car's computer. One says to stop ASAP, because of brake problem. I took the car to my mechanic, who drove it and opened up the brakes; he says brakes are fine.
The car is driven more on long highway trips and not very much in the city, perhaps 12 - 15K per year.
Answer Olga,
The speedo issue is most likely the ABS control unit for the brakes. When it begins to die the speedo is affected since the ABS and speedo use the same speed signal. Read and look for ABS codes. ABS anti lock brakes.
While lookng for codes see what there is for the alarm, you may find a fault posted there also. You need to see a shop that knows and works on the Volvo's so they have the proper tools to read codes, etc.
