2004 XC70 - Instrument Cluster Dies and Car Drive Rough

[TristanKelley]

Hi everyone -

I bought my first Volvo back in March – a 2004 XC70 (149K miles). I have always been a do-it-yourself kind of guy in regards to cars, but need a little help acclimating to the Volvo world. Below is a time-line of what some issues I have been experiencing. I'm probably providing way too much information but hopefully something I mention will help pinpoint the issue.

10 Days Ago: I was driving though town in standard traffic. It was a warm day in the mid 70s but not excessively hot. Had maybe been on the road for about 10 minutes when all of the gauges died (speed, tach, trip mileage, engine temp etc) and the display read "Brake Failure - Stop Safely". The brakes still seemed to work properly (maybe just ABS out?). I pulled into the nearest parking lot and turned off the car. Waited a minute or two and restarted with all gauges working and no warning messages. I drove the rest of the day with no problems. I just chalked it up to some kind of glitch.

5 Days Ago: Start up the car and the display reads “Transmission Service Required”. My wife had already left the house with our other vehicle was I went ahead and drove the XC70. I drove about 20 highway miles and 5 city miles without noticing a single transmission issue. Drove the same distance home with no issues.

4 Days Ago: Start up the car and the transmission message is still there. I make the same 20 mile highway and 5 mile city drive. This time while in the city I get caught extremely heavy rain and a flash flood. I had to drive the XC70 through about 2 feet of standing water for a distance of maybe 25 feet. The car did fine and no water breached the interior.

1 Day Ago: Exact same situation as how this all started. Driving in city traffic and the instrument cluster dies but this time the display reads “Engine System Service Required”. The car drives but it's not normal. It has no power in first gear (no turbo or maybe it's actually in second gear?), it downshifts a little harder at times, the heat/AC blower works but the AC doesn't seem to work. The car is officially stuck in the mode now. Sometimes the display goes back to reading "Brake Failure - Stop Safely" and sometimes it reads "Brake Failure - Stop Safely".

I was running some tests last night and this morning and these were the things I noticed (all of these things just started happening after yesterday's episode):

1. Sometimes the car will start right up and sometimes it starts and runs for about 3 seconds and then dies. Most times it needs to be revved a bit after turning over for it to stay running.[/li]
2. If I drive the car bit (more than 10 minutes) and turn it off it will not start back up. I seems to need an hour or so to cool down.
3. One time after shut down the engine fan continued to run for about 3-4 minutes.
4. Most times when I turn the key to position 2 I can hear and feel mechanic movement behind the stereo. Sounds like maybe heat/AC vents opening and closing?
5. The instrument cluster does not register what gear the car is in. Nor does the indicator next to the stick shift.
6. The check engine light, “BRAKE”, and “ABS” lights are all on.
7. While driving and testing I decided to pop into a national auto parts chain and get the codes read. They came up as P0863, P0600, and U0002. The associate wasn't much help with demystifying these codes haha.

I know the this was a long read and really appreciate everyone taking the time to help me out. Any insight into the situation is appreciated!

[james166]

KristanKelly:
Like it or not, you are about to embark on a journey. A journey of light and sound, a journey not where you are the driver, but where you are driven (crazy). Along this journey you will meet those who say but do not know, and those who know but do not say. Your car will tell you many lies (as you have seen) such as "your brakes have failed" or "airbag service urgently needed". Or are they truths? You immediately test the brakes to make sure. Your climate control may come on, and then off, various lights will go on and off on their own, and the car may lock or not. Look at the signpost up ahead: you have entered the Volvo zone.

Can you escape the Volvo zone? It depends on your perseverance, luck, and most of all, the depth of your bank account. But remember, only as a Volvo owner are you privileged to be able to take this journey. I myself recently went on this journey and managed, by a whim of good luck, to come out the other side, unscathed but poorer. If I had to do it again, my first step would be to go to a dealer or indie mechanic who has the computer diagnostic tools to evaluate all of your modules for errors. It may be your instrument cluster (DIM) or another one of the bazillion modules in the car. But avoid the guess and replace, as that approach can be costly. I'm sure people here will be happy to advise you along the way.
Bon voyage and God bless.

[oragex]

First thing, I guess it is learn by now, never drive a car in 2 feet of water. Even 1 feet can do harm, if not to the engine, but to the electrical.

As for the problems you experience, I would try clean/inspect the CEM connections inside the CEM box - search on this forum about a user with the same year that had such issue. I would also check the sunroof drain as it sometimes become clogged and cause water leak on electrical under the dash. I also heard about ABS relay issues, but don't know more about it. All these can cause various network troubles that can manifest like you describe. It is probably not the instrument cluster itself as it was fixed from 2004 on.

[paramedic7829]

I had a similar problem. instrument panel, power driver's seat, text window, shiftlock geartronic not working. Checked fuse #24 its ok also checked the rest of fuses in all three fuse boxes nothing out. took it to the dealership, was told needed a new cluster. Cost was going to be around $2200. I ask could it be the Relay for extended X-feed: it relays (climate control system, power driver's seat, text window, shiftlock geartronic). Seems logical that this is the problem because everything it controls is out? I was told the instrumental cluster would cause everything on that curcit to fail. I didn't feel comfortable with the answer, so I went home found a diagram for fuse and relays on internet. Track it down to the relay board beside the fuse panel. Took the relay out and replaced it with relay next to it just to test it. I couldn't believe my eyes, "everything was working" So it cost me $25 and a hour of my time. I have been a Paramedics for 18 years. I have always relied on my gut instinct and common sense. When we take our vehicle to the dealership we should feel confident that our vehicle is going to be fixed correctly not the most profitable.

[oragex]

What is the name of the dealer?

[shiloh51933]

What is the name of the dealer?

Not sure if you ever figured this but my friends 04 xc90 had same issues from leaking sunroof drain that puddled up water on passenger side floor which grounded out ecm. His dash cluster would go off and go into limp mode, you turn off engine then restart to reset ecm to drive in regular mode but it always came back. Anyway, ecm had water on it since and foam padding under carpet never dries neither did his hareness to ecm.

[bugeye]

Sounds like our 2004 XC70 issues. I sent the CEM to XeMODeX for rebuilding. Simple plug and play. About $600. Almost 20,000 miles later, no repeat issues. Check the XeMODeX web site and give them a call or email.

[carlsson72]

Same thing happens to my '03 xc70's cluster.....turns on and off and all sorts of messages appear.
Looked online for people who repairs them....Xemodex is very good at this,although expensive...you can find a couple of them on ebay...had mine fixed by this shop in Long Beach.$200 with lifetime warranty..so far so good. They had good reviews and is only a 20 minute drive from me so I didn't have to mail them my cluster..dropped it off personally and picked it up a few days later.

[waffleshill]

Scan it with VIDA. Sounds like a CEM failure.