2006 V50 Red Warning Symbol lit

Post by **kranz** » 25 Aug 2014, 15:19

I have a 2006 V50 with 66981 miles on it. I have been driving it around with the service interval message display on for a while now. I've taken care of the periodic maintenance prescribed in the owners manual, but was just lazy about doing the ritual to turn off the service message. But last time I drove off in the car, a Red triangular symbol on the dash lit up and the following message was displayed: "Engine System Service Urgent". I figured it might be chastising me, thinking that I ignored the periodic maintenance message. So, I dug up the ritual and performed it. The service interval message went away. But the Red Warning light and message remained.

According to the owners manual this indicates a fault that "could affect the car's driveability". Sounds rather dire. I got out the code reader and there are no fault codes. MIL is off. Car seems to run normally.

So I am perplexed. The message doesn't offer any clues about where to start and the warning sounds a bit dire, so I'm reluctant to drive the car without knowing what the issue is.

Has anyone experienced this or have any idea what my problem might be?

THanks!

Post by **precopster** » 26 Aug 2014, 05:05

Quite simply your code reader is not up to the task of delving into the Volvo's engine computer. There's not many generic code readers that work well with Volvos. What type is yours?

Post by **kranz** » 26 Aug 2014, 10:13

Hi Mike. I have a Actron CP9125 OBDII Pocketscan. I suspect it is pretty basic. Will I need to visit the <shudder> dealer or can I find a smarter code reader somewhere else?

Post by **precopster** » 26 Aug 2014, 15:13

It's a great reader however the Actrons aren't renowned for their ability to work with Volvos.

As a handheld reader the Autel EU-702 handles Volvo's error codes.

Or if you don't want to chance it, get a Vida/Dice setup which can read EVERY module in your V50 and perform advanced diagnostics. It's a cloned copy of the Volvo workshop equipment without the download license for software. It does require installation to a laptop PC on Win 7 Pro.

I've steered a couple of posters from MVS to AliExpress store Shenzhen Zuess for purchase of both scanners and have personally ordered around 15 times from them.

Post by **kranz** » 26 Aug 2014, 17:23

Thanks, Mike. That's great info. I'll research those options and hopefully make some progress on this mystery. I gather the VIDA DICE offers the most complete set of features for the Volvo owner.

mf70 · Post by **mf70** » 01 Oct 2014, 14:13

+3 for the Chinese clone DiCE / VIDA setups. You also can run them on WIn8.1 in a VMware image (available on this forum). The DiCE part (the hardware) I believe, needs to be installed and operative on the "host" computer before you will get results into VIDA.

Post by **kranz** » 23 Mar 2015, 14:02

Its been quite a while since I started this thread. A final resolution to this problem has been punctuated by a death in the family, the holidays, and the VIDA/DiCE installation ordeal/initiation. I am happy to report that the red warning light has now been extinguished and the V50 now appears to be running as normal.

During my attempts to get VIDA installed and working, I began to suspect that the 12v battery had problems. I bought it at Walmart two years ago. I returned it to Walmart where it failed the battery test and was replaced no-charge. For decades I've bought Diehard batteries and never had a premature failure. This was the first battery from Walmart and I was disappointed with its premature death.

In any case, it appears that the failing battery caused a low voltage condition resulting in one or more of the electronic modules to appear faulty triggering the dire red light warning.

On the plus side of this learning experience, I now have a working 2014A VIDA/DiCE configuration running on WIN 7. So hopefully, next troubleshooting issue will be less painful.

mf70 · Post by **mf70** » 28 Mar 2015, 17:14

Welcome to the REAL Volvo club: The DiCE/VIDA division! There's a lot you will be able to do now. I've got copies of the VMware VIDA image on every computer I have for easy reference.

Post by **kranz** » 31 Mar 2015, 10:53

Thanks! I really feel like I paid my dues to join this club. I dare not think of how many hours it took to get VIDA to play nice with my V50. I have it installed on its own dedicated bootable hard disk, and it will only be used for one purpose. It is also properly backed up just in case.