Help, Advice, Owners' Discussion and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's stylish, distinctive P2 platform cars sold as model years 2001-2007 (North American market year designations).
Lol! Nope, I don't scare easy. ... I'm one of those that has a hard time admitting defeat..
Yeah, I read that thread.. the third post down from ericy, is the one that prompted my question about quality of the hardware... Maybe find one to rent or borrow for a month?
Still waiting on news from my mechanic about the instrument cluster. he's supposed to talk to Xemodex about that. Hmmm.
Just when you think the thread is dead.... My mechanic calls me and tells me the replacement CEM is defective. They dropped in a borrowed one and the car lit up, including the instrument panel, CC controls, radio, etc........ Won't start of course. Replacement on the way...
You can't just drop in a used CEM on these; I hope you know that. The key transponder codes are stored on the original CEM. If the original CEM can't be read and duplicated by an independent module repairer this will be a dealer ONLY job and ONLY using a new CEM (the dealers can't or won't program used CEMs)
Current cars VW Transporter 2.5TDI, 2010 XC90 D5 R Design
Yeah - I was Xemodex who sent my mechanic a reman reprogrammed for my car CEM. That was bad. Oops. A new one on the way.
It was a scare, because the bad module made us think the whole computer system was blown. Nothing worked when it was put in. I'm really happy one of his mechanics didn't give up on the car, and dropped in a borrowed module as a last resort test. Monday will tell......
The car runs! Mechanic says the engine sounds great. BUT not with the reman CEM. The replacement CEM came in, and it didn't work either so mechanic pulled one from a parts car and jiggered the starter relay and he got the car to run. Apparently, the original CEM software is too scrambled to clone and he says I will need a new one from Volvo to make it run, plus the car has to be at the dealership. So est. $1400 for that and now I'm at the price point of the car, since I owe my mechanic about $459 for his headaches.
Is it correct that Volvo is the only source for virgins CEM and programming? Is there another route I can take here? Besides scrapping a beautiful car?
He may need to re-introduce new key codes to your replacement CEM so you'll need some new ID48 virgin transponder chips (eBay item 141626847788) and some new key blanks (you can get them cut later) I usually convert the old style remote and key into the newer all-built-into-one style but you can just get the key with ID48 chip installed (eBay item number:151708595050 or other) for a few measly dollars.
You'll also need a Skype account on PC (you can search Skype for Doublebug and start talking/texting him right away) and a working Dice tool so he can talk to you during the programming (you don't need to install Vida software just the USB driver for the Dice tool)
You can probably use the unprogrammed CEM after it's modified to your car. Programming cost will usually be under US$300 but speak to Henry (Doublebug) about what he charges.
We resurrected a 2003 XC70 that had totally lost key codes and Volvo Sweden server had blocked last year unbeknown to the Volvo dealer. They wanted AUD$3,000 for the job of putting in a new CEM and we had the car running in 2 days and under $450 including my labour and Henry's time.
Current cars VW Transporter 2.5TDI, 2010 XC90 D5 R Design