throwing in the towel perhaps

[warcraftjunkie]

Well, it took the cluster out, changed out any bulbs that were burned out and inspected it for any obvious signs of physical damage. Nothing stood out so I put it back in the car and fired up the engine. I noticed after it started (still running like a pig) that the odometer was showing dashes as well as trip counter. The information module showing MPG, distance till empty and all that was showing dashes as well. Thermometer was still working. I turned off the car and fired it up and this time I noticed that it displayed my mileage for about 1 second before going to dashes.

I was pretty careful when inspecting the instrument cluster to not bump, pull, or bash anything. The negative cable on the battery was disconnected for at least 10 minutes before I pulled the cluster.

Any idea what would cause the odometer to not display? I understand the trip computer and MPG stuff because those are lost when the battery is disconnected, but the odometer?

[jcb]

Just read through this thread (saga) for the first time and never found where there was a resolution to the running problem on the 99' XC. Has there been ?
I am interested because I'm having an issue with my 2001 XC (74,000 miles). It stalled out when under hard acceleration while merging into expressway traffic. After getting to the side, the engine would run for a bit in Park, but shutdown after a few seconds if left to go to idle. As I do all my own car repairs, I had the car towed home. Fearing the worst, I checked the timing belt and it was OK. I then put a pressure gauge on the fuel rail, and it showed around 45 psi with the ignition switch in II and/or with the engine running before stalling out = seems OK. I then read about MAF issues and unplugged its connector. The engine then ran, presumably in "limp mode", which was great because it allowed me to drive the car up the hill into my garage (tow couldn't get it there).
So I ordered a replacement Bosch unit that won't arrive until next week. After thinking more about it, I realized that perhaps I jumped the gun and there was more to this. Especially bugging me was the fact that I never had a CEL at any time (until I disconnected the MAF). This doesn't seem like a normal symptom when a MAF fails, and suspect it may suggest something else. I will be checking other posts for more info and doing some electrical checks at the MAF connector. In the meantime, any new developments with your situation might prove helpful. Thanks

[erikv11]

2000+ should not have a Bosch MAF, should be Denso. Check what's in the car, I am not familiar with "newer" Volvos and certainly not on 2001+ that are not even the subject of this forum, but for MAF and maybe even for MA I would stick with the brand that is in the car from the factory.

Your 2001 has an ETM, right? I'd go check out the ETM forum too.

[jcb]

Erikv11,

1- Note that my post is not a new post on "its own", but rather is seeking a response from those who participated in THIS THREAD (which happens to be in THIS forum). I may well post in the "appropriate forum" at a later time if warranted. More importantly, while the hardware may be somewhat different, the basic operational systems between the 99' and 01' are not so dissimilar that one cannot gain some understanding as to similar symptoms and fixes.

2 - Denso - really ? My original is Bosch part #0280218045 (Volvo #9470640) which has been superseded by Bosch 0280218108. Better check your homework.

[erikv11]

Sure, I'm just making suggestions. It was your first post ever, I didn't know if you'd seen the other forum.

I can't do the "homework" on your car because I can't go out and look at it, it's not at my "home," so I suggested you do it by checking what's in the car. And you wisely already did before you purchased.

Yes, Denso. Really!

[jcb]

erikv11,

First off, I apologize for being a bit terse in my second post. Put quite simply, I'm having a problem with my XC and this was one of the first threads I hit. Granted that the two cars involved are not identical, I was struck by the "nightmare" that "warcraftjunkie" was going through, only to find no resolution to his problem. While perhaps there is one, I could imagine myself going down a similarly expensive road and wanted to avoid it if possible.
I do appreciate your suggesting the ETM forum for advice. I didn't know it existed, and found it helpful to an extent. One problem is that posts "for help" in this forum subsequent to the main one seem to go unanswered. At this point I'm probably just missing something in that regard. Possibly I need to go to "Swedespeed" for more detail.
I must admit that I'm still puzzled by the Denso reference. Every replacement MAF sensor that I've looked up always seems to indicate Bosch.
Given my problem, something tells me that I'll be needing to post again. I will try to place it in the forum that is best suited to address it.

[erikv11]

OK I just did some looking around, I am mistaken about the MAF for your car, let me explain and you may find some of this background stuff useful:
93-98 use a Bosch MAF and other electronics, these cars all have essentially the same engine (only small changes across the 6 years).
99-00 use completely different electronics, almost all of the sensors are Denso not Bosch, a major shift.
01-> uses Bosch sensors again, this is a major departure from the 99-00.

I have good knowledge of 93-98, know only a little about 99-00, and nothing about 01+. So I responded to your post thinking 01 would be more similar to 99-00 but that was a mistake. 2001 is another major shift in the electronics back to Bosch, and to reiterate I have no experience there so I should just zip it up.

Good luck, I suspect if you do end up starting a new thread about the issues with your XC you will get some response, give it a shot.

[jcb]

erikv11

Thanks for the clarifying info. At least I know that I have the correct MAF on the way, but I'm giving it only a 50/50 chance of curing my problem. As you mentioned, I am concerned it that could be the ETM, which as you probably know had its warranty extended to 10 years/200,000 miles for most of the 1999-2002 Volvos. In 2006 I sent a letter to Volvo complaining about this, noting that given my wife's driving habits, my warranty would expire at just over 60,000 - which didn't seem fair since the failure was likely more associated with mileage than time. Of course this argument got me nowhere.

Still, in the end it would be nice to learn whether warcraftjunkie did actually decide to "throw in the towel" !

Have a Merry X'mas

[polskamafia mjl]

Alas, too many threads never get concluded.

[warcraftjunkie]

I've seriously considered it off and on through the holidays, but took some time off from working on the car to keep on the good side of my wife!

I've been idling the car now and then as best as I can for the last couple months in order to make sure the battery doesn't die off. Today was the first time in 2 weeks that I fired it up and it ran almost perfectly. The temp outside is 8 degrees F. This got me wondering if perhaps I'm looking at a Engine Temp Sensor issue. You can read back through this thread to see the symptoms I've been having, but with it being extremely cold outside and it running better it starts to make sense.

So I disconnected the battery, put the key to RUN and pressed the brake pedal a few times. Started it up and was still a bit rough, so I drove it over to Autozone and cleared the codes. Low and Behold it drove like a dream. I took it for a 30 mile drive on the interstate and city roads with NO hiccups. The only thing I saw that wasn't normal was that the engine temperature never reached the halfway mark... only went about 1/3 up. So it seems to me I probably need to replace the temperature sensor and do the Thermostat while I'm at it.

Does this logic sound good?