S60 - Various problems, can anyone help please?

Andy007 · Post by **Andy007** » 25 Jan 2010, 06:34

Hi all,

I have just purchased a 2001 S60 2.0T S (UK spec) and in the past few days of driving it around, have noticed a few things that weren't apparent before purchasing it.

Its probably worth mentioning at this point, im not particularly experienced with cars mechanically, but will give anything a go assuming I have the right tools and instructions

Ok here goes....

Front passenger footwell carpet is soaking wet, it has been like this for a few days now and to the touch it has an almost slightly oily feel to it and doesnt smell of anything either. I have put my hand around the upper area, feeling around the bottom of the glovebox etc and cant feel any dampness at all, which suggests it may be coming from below the carpet possibly? Is this possible? If the oily water is potentially coolant, does anyone have any advice on where to touch that might suggest this is the case?
When using the central locking via the key fob to lock all the doors, I randomly checked them all afterwards and found the rear passenger door opened when I pulled the door handle! I then unlocked and locked again, same thing happened, tried it one more time and suddenly it had locked 3rd time lucky. Could this be a loose connection? It only seems to happen with that door.
Whilst driving along, there is a slight clunking sound when going over bumpy road/humps etc and I thought it may have been the spare wheel, so removed that and the noise had actually reduced, but was still there. Is there anything obvious this might be, I tried pushing the exhaust backbox a few times and it doesn't seem too wobbly or make a knocking noise. I realise this could literally be anything and without hearing it is hard to say, I just wondered if there were any known common issues at all?
Im not sure if this is normal or not, but the gearbox is automatic and im used to manual, when I pull up to the lights and its idling, the engine seems to go slightly louder, quiter, louder, quiter, like its revving slightly and then letting off, revving and letting off etc, the dashboard lights dim slightly when this happens too, but when you pull away its as smooth anything, is this normal for an automatic car and why does it do it? It mostly does it if I keep it in the 'D' gear and noticed if its put in 'N' then it hardly does it at all, but is still there ever so slightly.
The drivers heated seat doesnt work, dashboard lights come on just fine though and and I looked under the seat, there arent any wires that arent plugged in, what would a common cause be for this and is it easy to fix/cheap to pay someone to do?
There is a kind of squeeking and clunking sound which is very intermittent, whilst turning the steering wheel toward hard right, it doesnt always happen but when it does is quite noticeable. Does anyone have any ideas on this at all? Any test procedures I could do to pin point the problem?

Sorry for the essay! Its a shame none of this was apparent when I viewed the car, but other than that its a great car and im very happy with it in general, hopefully this wont cost to much to fix....

Thanks guys and I hope you can help, if you need anymore info, please feel free to ask

Andy

Post by **JRL** » 25 Jan 2010, 06:51

Andy007 wrote: ....

Front passenger footwell carpet is soaking wet, it has been like this for a few days now and to the touch it has an almost slightly oily feel to it and doesnt smell of anything either. I have put my hand around the upper area, feeling around the bottom of the glovebox etc and cant feel any dampness at all, which suggests it may be coming from below the carpet possibly? Is this possible? If the oily water is potentially coolant, does anyone have any advice on where to touch that might suggest this is the case?

EITHER THE SUNROOF DRAINS ARE CLOGGED OR THE HEATER CORE TOOK A CRAP, EITHER WAY YOU NEED TO FIND OUT WHICH, FIX IT, REMOVE ALL THE CARPETS AND UNDER CARPET, BRING INSIDE TO DRY OUT AND REINSTALL, BIG JOB. IF YOU DON'T, THE MILDEW STINK IN THE SUMMER WILL MAKE YOUR CAR ALMOST UNDRIVABLE AS THE STICK WILL BE SO BAD

When using the central locking via the key fob to lock all the doors, I randomly checked them all afterwards and found the rear passenger door opened when I pulled the door handle! I then unlocked and locked again, same thing happened, tried it one more time and suddenly it had locked 3rd time lucky. Could this be a loose connection? It only seems to happen with that door.

DOOR LOCK IS GOING BAD

Whilst driving along, there is a slight clunking sound when going over bumpy road/humps etc and I thought it may have been the spare wheel, so removed that and the noise had actually reduced, but was still there. Is there anything obvious this might be, I tried pushing the exhaust back box a few times and it doesn't seem too wobbly or make a knocking noise. I realize this could literally be anything and without hearing it is hard to say, I just wondered if there were any known common issues at all?

SWAY BAR LINKS OR CONTROL ARM BUSHING(S)

Im not sure if this is normal or not, but the gearbox is automatic and im used to manual, when I pull up to the lights and its idling, the engine seems to go slightly louder, quiter, louder, quiter, like its revving slightly and then letting off, revving and letting off etc, the dashboard lights dim slightly when this happens too, but when you pull away its as smooth anything, is this normal for an automatic car and why does it do it? It mostly does it if I keep it in the 'D' gear and noticed if its put in 'N' then it hardly does it at all, but is still there ever so slightly.

EITHER THE TRANNY IS GOING BAD (ALMOST EVERY 01 HAS A BAD TRANSMISSION) OR YOU WILL BE NEEDING A NEW ETM (THROTTLE BODY)

The drivers heated seat doesnt work, dashboard lights come on just fine though and and I looked under the seat, there arent any wires that arent plugged in, what would a common cause be for this and is it easy to fix/cheap to pay someone to do?

There is a kind of squeeking and clunking sound which is very intermittent, whilst turning the steering wheel toward hard right, it doesnt always happen but when it does is quite noticeable. Does anyone have any ideas on this at all? Any test procedures I could do to pin point the problem?
STEERING COLUMN LOWER BUSHING, OR WORSE

Sorry for the essay! Its a shame none of this was apparent when I viewed the car, but other than that its a great car and im very happy with it in general, hopefully this wont cost to much to fix....

Thanks guys and I hope you can help, if you need anymore info, please feel free to ask

I think you should trade this one in ASAP, it will cost you 3 times as much as you paid for it to get it right.
2001's for the most part are total pieces of junk.
1st year model loaded with issues right out the door and now as they 9-10 years old, everything is failing on them.
(You failed to mention the mileage)

Andy007 · Post by **Andy007** » 25 Jan 2010, 07:09

Thanks for your response. Im quite disappointed that its going to cost so much to fix and didnt realise 2001's were so problematic.

It has done 103,000 miles by the way.

I did a bit of research on the ETM that you mentioned and it looks like this is covered by a 10 year/200,000 mile warranty, would Volvo charge me to diagnose if this is needed to be replaced?

I am seriously considering trading it in for another car now after your response, which isnt easy to do as after going from an 1997 S40 to a 2001 S60, its a really nice car to drive!

Post by **E170_Driver** » 25 Jan 2010, 10:54

2001's for the most part are total pieces of junk.

Hey now...easy on the insults. Just kidding and unfortunately 2001 models have a bad reputation on their reliability. It sounds like you got a handful of really troublesome issues. From what I understand about the ETM, make sure that you have the latest software upgrade; the dealership will try everything possible from replacing the unit under the 10yr/200,000mi warranty, but the upgrade/replacement is free.

Good luck

Jan

rbodor3 · Post by **rbodor3** » 27 Jan 2010, 14:10

as said above, dealership will try very hard to not have to replace the ETM and will try to charge you for it. Refuse to pay anything, they are bound to fix the ETMs in these vehicles. I would take it in now and start getting to work on it because it'll take forever for them to finally do it.

As far as the clunk, could be:
sway bar endlinks ~$100 for the set
control arm bushings ~$150-200
upper spring seats ~$80 for the set

Considering the age of the vehicle, it probably are just the control arm bushings & the upper spring seats. These are easy to do, fairly cheap, and very common. you can do them yourself or take it to any independent Volvo shop and they'll know right off the bat what's up.

The locking issue you need replacement lock modules & reprogram if I remember. Get this done at an indy shop, and get it programmed by Volvo dealership, will be somewhat expensive but <$500

Heated seat is possibly the heating module, may be as simple as a fuse. Check the fuse panel on the driver's side inside door paneling (open the ddriver's door) and make sure the fuse is good. If it is then your heating element in the seat may be bad, which IIRC requires them to open the stitches on the seat. Which is going to be more trouble/expense then a hot butt is worth.

Squeak whilst turning could be due to low power steering fluid. Fill it up with your typical power steering fluid or Mobil 3309 automatic transmission fluid. Could be the upper spring seats (mentioned above) and I wouldn't be surprised. Could be some other minor suspension components but I would start with these.

While you're at it, I would make sure that the PCV system is clean (take it to the indy shop to get it cleaned) which will <$300 typically. This is a common failure point in these vehicles.

Also have them check the condition of the transmission fluid. Chances are it's never been replaced, and at 100k miles your transmission's clock is likely ticking away.

Make sure your car has received all of the proper TCM (transmission control module ~ the computer that controls your transmission) updates. The dealership can check this for you. They can be somewhat expensive to get the updates, but it's typically a flat fee for software updates. In Atlanta IIRC is $160 for the updates and they do it all.

Andy007 · Post by **Andy007** » 28 Jan 2010, 02:07

Thanks so much for that, very helpful indeed. I have booked it in with Volvo for diagnostics next week and will get them to check all the above.

Thanks again!