Got a "new" volvo and I am very disappointed

[capnjim]

Hi there...first time poster. I have had a couple volvo's in the past, most notably a 1974 164E. What a beast of a car!

I needed something to tow a boat and a tent trailer and really wanted 4 wheel drive as I live in Quebec, Canada, and my brother suggested a Volvo XC70.

I bought a 2006 with 270,000km on the clock and was assured it was dealer maintained and needed nothing.

Well....I paid way too much, 3000$ plus had to do more than I expected in repairs,....2000$ later, I actually like the way it drives.
I can deal with the many many service messages.
But...the 4 wheel drive works intermittently.
I am hoping its not a tough fix.
We just got our first snow and the 4 wheel drive will work for around 10 minutes. I then get the "anti skid needs service" and the 4 wheel drive does not work, I can actually stop the engine, and start it up again and it will work for another 10 minutes.
This is all city driving. When I take in on the highway, I get a "brake assist needs service" and then "skid control/abs needs service" and the ABS light comes on.

So...I know enough to know its electrical, not mechanical as it will work for a while.
Any ideas??
This might not be possible, but I would love to have the 4 wheel drive working, and lose the skid control and ABS all together.
In the snow, when the 4x4 is working, it will actually drift like a rear wheel drive car which is very cool.
I also would like to use the handbrake for winter drifting, but the stupid ABS kicks in.
I know its probably several parts that need to be changed and not an easy fix, but I am posting in hopes that someone might be familiar with the intermittent aspect of the 4x4.
I tried posting on a terrible XC forum and the only replies I got where to dump the car, and its old an worn out.
Please don't tell me that.
I even bought a scanner, but the engine needs to be off to use it. Can you plug in a scanner when the engine is running and i have the anti skid messages???
I spent 5k on it. the engine is awesome. Stereo is great, heater is great, I just want the 4x4 to work and i will keep if for as long as I can,.
Cheers from Canada!!!

[vtl]

You need a Chinese copy of DiCE from ebay and "public" version of VIDA 2014D that you can find in the internet. VIDA+DiCE will tell you precisely what it does not like about ABS. This is so spoiling that when it finally happens to have a glitch that is not "covered" by the computers, your mind gets stuck for a minute: "OK, what do I do now?"

My cheap donor body w/ 200k-something miles was missing one axle bolt. The axle was pushed inside a bit, the tone ring was not in vicinity of hall sensor, so the ABS was complaining. Negotiated the price $600 down, put the bolt, done. You may have something similar to that, otherwise welcome to the wonderful world of Volvo electrical DIY engineering

[abscate]

Vida is needed. You can’t diagnose electrical vs mechanical based on symptom on cars anymore, you need diagnostic tools. A simple broken abs sensor or tone ring problem will give the same error codes

AbS and skid control are tightly integrated so faults will also “ cross post”

[capnjim]

So I need one of these?
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Professional-Vi ... r2&vxp=mtr

I bought this:
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01G5E ... UTF8&psc=1

[vtl]

Generic OBD-II is nice to have in car all the time, just in case. However, for any semi-serious Volvo diagnostics you need DiCE+VIDA.

VIDA also has a lot of repair instructions, diagnostic walk-throughs and parts database, so you'll be less dependent on us, lazy forum people, or online parts catalogs full of mistakes.

[capnjim]

I was hoping my scanner might narrow it down, but the directions say to shut off the car, and plug it in and not to start it.
When I shut off and restart, the 4x4 works.
Can I drive with the scanner in place?

[vtl]

You can. I drive with this thing attached to both CAN-buses all the time: https://github.com/vtl/volvo-ddd It polls half a dozen of electronic modules (engine, transmission, Haldex, etc) 50-100 times every second, the same way like VIDA+DiCE do.

[capnjim]

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Newest-VIDA-DIC ... SwtKZdBJov
How about this one? Or is it too cheap?
I don't know why the eBay links don't work, but there is a VIDA dice reader for 25 bucks

[vtl]

Some Chinese clones are done way too cheap. You can buy that, but there's no guarantee. Also 92.3% of positive feedback is not that high on ebay.

[oragex]

You can disconnect the STC or DSTC by keeping the button on the lower center console depressed 2 sec. But it needs to be done at every start. There is no way to deactivate the ABS I believe. I'm not sure if pulling a fuse will do anything, I remember a discussion on a forum and they weren't too positive about it.

For the error messages, as above look first at the front reluctor rings and also check the axle bolts - they come loose.