2004 S40 Questions

[renns]

Greetings! I'm a long-time Volvo owner, but of the 850/V70/XC70 family. My son is looking for a first car, and we took an S40 out for a drive today. It needs brakes and has an odd suspension clunk that I figure we can sort out without much difficulty. However, there's two other issues that I'm a bit concerned about, and wonder if those in this sub-forum might be able to offer some advice:

1.) Odometer - displays 999999. Trip meter appears to work, but the odometer is stuck. The seller says it's been that way for almost 2 yrs now, and last showed around 170k km's prior to 'tripping out'. If the panel is swapped out, is VIDA needed to 'bless' the replacement panel?

2.) SRS light is on. There's no signs of accident or repair, or airbag replacement. I've read that loose SIPS connections under the seat may cause this issue. I'm assuming VIDA is needed to reset?

[mf70]

The combinations of DiCE / VIDA is a basic part of Volvo DIY life. You can do without it, but you can't do as well. VIDA will tell you exactly what circuit has triggered the SRS error. You wll then be able to deal with the fault and reset the SRS flag.

As to the odometer issue, I suspect that is a result of some DIM behavior. I swapped out my DIM at one point, and the "new" DIM reflected the donor's odometer setting. When I replaced it with my original, I got "my" mileage back. I have heard that the CEM mirrors the odometer value, but I haven't seen evidence of that. If you decide to swap out the DIM, you may need a dealer to download the modules to integrate it into your car. They may want to have you buy a new DIM ($1700).

[renns]

Thanks for the info. Santa says VIDA/DiCE kit is on its way. We missed out on the S40, as it was sold when we went back. We've been looking at other S40 and S60's, and ABS and/or SRS warnings seem pretty common on these cars. That certainly drives used prices down when dealer repairs to these complex systems are so dear.