Dash Warning Lights (some) stay on, temp & speed meters out

aylanbell · Post by **aylanbell** » 06 Nov 2012, 18:53

Volvo S70 1998

I have read the other post about dash lights staying on after starting the car. Not sure if it also applies to my problem.

Here it goes:
A couple of days ago the little snowflake orange light came on as outside temperature was going down to about freezing.
Next day I had an oil change, coolant temp check and refill, and air filter cleanup with air pressure. Air filter looked pretty clean, I have driven 10000 kms since I got the car.

Today I start the car and drive no problem, snowflake light still comes on, I make a stop at the store.
As I restart the car, notice the electronic watch time is set at zero, outside temperature reading is out, various dash lights stay on : Coolant, Brakes, Parking brake, Service (which usually comes off) and Gas mix (which always stays on), Washer fluid and Gas tank.
Meanwhile engine temperature, speed meters and gas gauge are dead.
Snowflake light is now off ! Also, the green light for outside parking lights has gone on for the first time ever !

Car rides ok. Lights work, inside and out. Turn lights work. Wiper washer works. Heat fan works. Radio works.

What could be the problem and the fix ?

Thank you in advance for your comments.

Post by **jblackburn** » 06 Nov 2012, 19:44

I believe you have a bad electrical portion of your ignition switch.

Twitch the key once the engine starts and see if any more things start working.

aylanbell · Post by **aylanbell** » 07 Nov 2012, 20:13

Thank you for your reply.

I have tried to twitch the key after starting the engine. What I got this time is the odometer got set back to zero ! as well as the trip meter. I have no more watch time nor ---- for outside temperature ! Just a blank strip.
Meanwhile, all previous lights are still on !

This is getting tricky ! Any take on it now ?

Post by **jblackburn** » 07 Nov 2012, 21:05

I believe it's still the ignition switch. I don't know if this will work, but cycle the key back and forth between 0 and II a couple times really quickly and see if it may clean the contacts on the switch up a little bit to see if things work or not.

One other thing - play with the tilt wheel a bit, moving it to different positions and seeing what happens. I've seen a few cases of where people have had pinched or frayed wiring in the steering column that could be made to work again with some fiddling.

aylanbell · Post by **aylanbell** » 08 Nov 2012, 13:34

Thank you again for your advice. I have tried to fiddle with the key and jolted the tilt wheel to no avail.
I have spoke with a trusted mechanic who believes there is some corruption within the cluster of the dashboard and I need to get a new (used) dashboard installed, maybe then needing a re-programming by Volvo as well. Since everything else works in the car and it runs fine, I'll wait til next week to change the dashboard.

Post by **jblackburn** » 08 Nov 2012, 13:38

One of our other members had similar problems recently.

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=48108

aylanbell · Post by **aylanbell** » 13 Nov 2012, 22:51

Well I finally ended up swapping dashboards. Got a V70 98 dashboard installed, which I was told worked fine at disassembly time.

Results :
Gas and Engine temperature now work
Strip with Time (resets to 00.00 once in awhile also) and Outside temp work
Odometer shows new dash old mileage at startup but goes to ------ after a few seconds.
Trip km does not work either.
Speed and RPM do not work. Brake stays lit.

I am calling Volvo to ask if the dashboard need re-programming, since it seems to not recognize the car (?)

Any idea ? Thanks !