Multiple Electronic Issues?

Trish · Post by **Trish** » 16 Sep 2010, 16:54

1999 s70
I have had my car for 2 years now. Last year ago last August I drove my car over 200 hundred miles on a trip and when I got home it started it's first of many irritating thing. It would turn all the warning lights on in the lower right side of the dash for a few minutes and then a few weeks later do it again. Its now to the point they all stay on all the time. If i hit a bump it starts it, or it might turn them all off.
Second, the speedometer will stop working while these lights are all on.
Third, the air condition a few months ago has began to give me problems it will act normal and sometimes stop cooling. But if I turn it off for a few minutes it will be cool again.
Forth, other day I was stopped at red light and when I pushed the accelerator it made a almost low grinding noise and after a second took off as normal. If I put into a lower gear it will be okay. But now it is doing it almost all the time.
Fifth, last week i rolled down my window and it wouldn't go back up, that is the only time it has done that, it works now, but now I remember it made a little noise a few times recently when I had rolled it up. And today I noticed the passenger side making that noise.
I took a little auto course in school, but i don't really know how Volvo's work, the only thing I can figure is that is is electrical? or computer related?

Because usually this changes when I hit a bump or something in the road. And living on a dirt road it is going crazy.

And this started all before I lived on a dirt road. Please help me out I'm totally lost on this one.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 16 Sep 2010, 17:16

Welcome to MVS Trish,

Everything you describe points to a bad or corroded battery cable. You will need to have your radio code but remove and clean all of the terminals on your battery cable including the secondary posts. That fix costs zero dollars to try.

Beyond that a bad electrical portion of the ignition switch can cause nearly as much havoc. Try to jiggle the key the next time it acts up and see if things change.

...Lee

Trish · Post by **Trish** » 16 Sep 2010, 17:26

Thank you I will try that and see if anything changes if that works it will save me.

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 16 Sep 2010, 20:12

I agree with Lee about the ignition switch, but I think there's more to consider.
Pretty much all the issues that you mention here are common problems with 10-12 year old Volvos.

Trish wrote:1999 s70
I have had my car for 2 years now. Last year ago last August I drove my car over 200 hundred miles on a trip and when I got home it started it's first of many irritating thing. It would turn all the warning lights on in the lower right side of the dash for a few minutes and then a few weeks later do it again. Its now to the point they all stay on all the time. If i hit a bump it starts it, or it might turn them all off.
Second, the speedometer will stop working while these lights are all on.

It would really help if you listed WHICH lights are coming on, but I'm gonna guess ABS and TRACS.
The ABS module on these cars fails on almost every single one. Since the speedo gets it's signal from the
ABS module, you won't get a speed reading if the ABS system is in a failure mode.
Read up here for more info: http://home.earthlink.net/~vicrocha/

Trish wrote: Third, the air condition a few months ago has began to give me problems it will act normal and sometimes stop cooling. But if I turn it off for a few minutes it will be cool again.

That sounds a lot like an AC compressor clutch issue. Save a few bread bag clips...
I don't have that link handy. Anyone?

Trish wrote: Forth, other day I was stopped at red light and when I pushed the accelerator it made a almost low grinding noise and after a second took off as normal. If I put into a lower gear it will be okay. But now it is doing it almost all the time.

Brakes? Bearings? Trans? Not enough info...

Trish wrote: Fifth, last week i rolled down my window and it wouldn't go back up, that is the only time it has done that, it works now, but now I remember it made a little noise a few times recently when I had rolled it up. And today I noticed the passenger side making that noise.

Almost certainly a bad window master switch.

Trish wrote: I took a little auto course in school, but i don't really know how Volvo's work, the only thing I can figure is that is is electrical? or computer related? Because usually this changes when I hit a bump or something in the road. And living on a dirt road it is going crazy. And this started all before I lived on a dirt road. Please help me out I'm totally lost on this one.

I'd start digging through the repair posts here: https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/volvo-repair-database/
And on Bay 13 over at VolvoSpeed: http://volvospeed.com/maintenance.shtml

Trish · Post by **Trish** » 17 Sep 2010, 18:15

As far as the lights: ABS, Engine light, brake lights and an up arrow.

From the link you provided it has all the symptoms of the ABS computer going bad. Except for the AC?

And yes its the transmission making the sound not wanting to shift.

So what information is there about the AC please?

Trish · Post by **Trish** » 19 Oct 2010, 05:42

I replaced my ABS computer it fixed everything. Except for the window and AC. So I need to figure out what is wrong with those two things. My window is probe a wire loose or something i will have to get in there and look at it. As far as my AC i have no clue on this what usually goes wrong on this car after 140,000 miles with the AC?

Post by **jblackburn** » 19 Oct 2010, 07:03

The AC evaporator is usually what lets go - and then the AC system can't hold a charge anymore. Just about every one of these cars at this age have a leaky evaporator. You can pick up a can of R-134A and a gauge at an auto parts store and refill the system. The filler port is just to the right of the washer fluid tank and left of the alternator.

Turn the AC on, connect the gauge, and see what pressure is in there. You'll probably hear the AC compressor clicking in and out rapidly. Fill it until that stops or you reach the indicated pressures on the back of the can.

Trish · Post by **Trish** » 22 Oct 2010, 15:22

ok i will try that thanks

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 22 Oct 2010, 20:58

Trish wrote:I replaced my ABS computer it fixed everything. Except for the window and AC. So I need to figure out what is wrong with those two things. My window is probe a wire loose or something i will have to get in there and look at it. As far as my AC i have no clue on this what usually goes wrong on this car after 140,000 miles with the AC?

99.9% that it's a bad or dirty switch. Happens with these cars all the time.

Trish · Post by **Trish** » 27 Oct 2010, 15:35

how do i clean it then?