2006 Volvo S40

AT LEAST 5 TIMES I HAVE HAD THE CAR IN THE VOLVO DEALERSHIP. THE CAR WITHOUT WARNING, POWERS DOWN TO 50%, THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS START UP, ALL THE GAUGES DROP TO ZERO POSITION AND ABS BRAKE MALFUNCTION LIGHTS LIGHT UP. IF YOU PULL OVER AND STOP, THE CAR SHUTS DOWN AND YOU CAN NOT PULL OUT THE KEY. IF I WAIT 15 MINUTES, THE KEY CAN BE TURNED OFF AND YOU CAN RESTART THE CAR. WHILE THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT STAYS ON, EVERYTHING ELSE IS NORMAL TILL THE NEXT TIME. IT HAD DONE THIS 6 TIMES IN THE LAST 6 MONTHS. DEALER CAN NOT FIGURE IT OUT OTHER THEM A ELECTRICAL MALFUNCTION FROM SOMEWHERE IN THE COMPUTER. IF IT HAPPENS GOING UP A GRADE OR HILL, THE POWER DOWN SLOWS THE CAR IN WHICH IS IS SOMETIMES IMPOSSIBLE TO POWER UP OVER THE HILL. EVERY TIME WE TAKE IT TO THE DEALER, IT THEN RUNS WITH NO PROBLEM, BUT LASTS 2 OR 3 WEEKS BEFORE ACTING UP AGAIN. THEY HAVE CHANGED THE BATTER, ALTERNATOR, UNPLUGGED AND REPLUGGED THE COMPUTER TERMINAL. THIS CAR IS UNSAFE AND UNRELIABLE TO TAKE ON LONG TRIPS. DO YOU KNOW OF A RECALL TO GET THIS PROBLEM FIXED ? *JS

WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT WITHOUT WARNING: ?INTERIOR LIGHTS, WIPERS ON ?ALL GAUGES WENT TO ZERO ?ALL WARNING LIGHTS, AIRBAG, STABILITY CTRL, ABS, OTHERS-ON ?NO TURN SIGNALS OR HAZARD LIGHTS ?NO DOOR LOCKS ?NO WINDOW OPERATION ?RANDOM MESSAGES SUCH AS TRUNK OPEN ?ALL PROBLEMS CONTINUING CANNOT DRIVE CAR DURING PREVIOUS INCIDENTS GAUGES STARTED JUMPING, LIGHTS BLINKING, WARNINGS FLASHING, CAR HAS COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN WHILE DRIVING. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 VOLVO S40. THE CONTACT STATED WHENEVER THE AIR CONDITIONER WAS ACTIVATED, HOT AIR EMITTED THROUGHOUT THE VENTS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER FOR DIAGNOSIS. THE TECHNICIAN STATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE AIR COMPRESSOR. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE DEFECT. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 55,000.

DRIVING IN RAIN, BRAKE FAILURE MESSAGE BEGAN FLASHING ON DASH, THEN AIRBAG FAILURE. SLOWED TO A STOP AND TURNED OFF CAR, TURNED BACK ON AND DROVE SLOWLY HOME. MESSAGES CONTINUED TO FLASH. DROVE TO SERVICE CENTER AND MESSAGES WERE NO LONGER FLASHING , MECHANIC SAID IT WOULD NEED TO BE ACTIVE TO FIND PROBLEM. SAME SCENARIO MANY TIMES SINCE AND THE PROBLEM HAS BECOME WORSE, DRIVING DOWN HIGHWAY AND MESSAGES APPEAR THEN ALL GAUGES ON PANEL FAIL AND GO TO ZERO, WINDOWS FAIL, BLINKERS, BRAKE LIGHTS FAIL, ENTIRE INSTRUMENT PANEL WENT DARK. BACK TO MECHANIC, HE DROVE IT SAME THING HAPPENED THEN STOPPED BEFORE RETURNING TO SHOP SO COULD NOT DIAGNOSE.EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AS SEVERAL TIMES DRIVING IN RAIN AND IN HIGH TRAFFIC AREAS AND ON FREEWAYS WITH HIGH SPEEDS AND THEN IN CONSTRUCTION ZONES BUMPER TO BUMPER WITH NO BRAKE LIGHTS OR ABILITY TO USE TURN SIGNALS. HAS BEEN OUT FOR FIVE TO THIRTY MINUTES AT A TIME THEN APPEARING TO WORK AGAIN BEFORE REPEATING THE SAME FAILURE PROBLEM. NEVER ANY WARNING, IT JUST HAPPENS SUDDENLY. TO MECHANIC AGAIN, CODES READ AND PRINTED OUT PAGES OF SIGNAL FAILURES, NONE ACTIVE AT TIME SO UNABLE TO DETERMINE PROBLEM. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT HAS ALSO APPEARED AND WHEN CHECKED NOTHING ACTIVE FOUND AT TIME OTHER THAN PAGES OF SIGNAL FAILURES IN SYSTEM. *TR

WHILST DRIVING, THE INSTRUMENTS ON THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER DROPPED TO ZERO AND THE WARNING LIGHTS STARTED FLASHING. AFTER SHUTTING DOWN THE CAR, AND THEN RESTARTING, THE FAULT CLEARED. EVER SINCE, THE ELECTRIC WINDOWS AND DOOR LOCKS HAVE WORKED ONLY INTERMITTENTLY. VOLVO DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM TO THE A-PILLAR CONNECTORS, WHICH THEY SAID WERE OLD, AND NEWER ONES HAD BEEN MADE. VOLVO WILL NOT PAY FOR THE REPLACEMENT SINCE THE CAR'S WARRANTY HAS EXPIRED. AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH, I FOUND OUT THAT VOLVO HAD ISSUED A SERVICE BULLETIN ADDRESSING THE A-PILLAR CONNECTORS, AND I ALSO FOUND QUITE A FEW VOLVO OWNERS THAT EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM.VOLVO KNOWS THEY HAVE DEFECTIVE A-PILLAR CONNECTORS IN SOME OF THEIR CARS, WHY HAS A RECALL NOT BEEN ISSUED?

2006 VOLVO S40, FWD T5: MY WIFE WAS DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE AROUND MIDNIGHT GOING APPROX. 75-80 MPH WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN HER CAR SHUT OFF. WHEN I SAY SHUT OFF I MEAN THE HEADLIGHTS, DOME LIGHTS, ENGINE....ANYTHING THAT WAS ELECTRICAL COMPLETELY SHUT OFF. THIS WOULD INCLUDE THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKING UP. SO IMAGINE DRIVING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AT 80 MPH WITH TRAFFIC AROUND YOU AND YOU'RE LIGHTS GOING OUT, STEERING WHEEL LOCKING AND HAVING NO WAY TO CONTROL THE VEHICLE. TO ME THIS SOUNDS LIKE A 80 MPH INVISIBLE TORPEDO THAT COULD HAVE KILLED A FEW PEOPLE INCLUDING MY WIFE. I HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO THE NEAREST DEALERSHIP WHICH WAS A FORD DEALERSHIP AND THE NEXT MORNING THEY DIAGNOSED IT AS A DEAD BATTERY, WHICH THEY WERE CORRECT. NOW I'M NO ROCKET SURGEON BY ANY MEANS BUT TO ME THIS SOUNDS LIKE A FLAW IN THE SAFETY DEPT. SOMEWHERE. SOMETHING AS TRIVIAL AS A DEAD BATTERY WOULD CAUSE A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE LIKE THAT? I THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF THE MANUFACTURER AND SOME SORT OF QUALITY CONTROL AS WELL. *TR

MY 2006 VOLVO S40 HAS HAD NUMEROUS AND INTERMITTENT ELECTRICAL ISSUES INCLUDING GAUGES THAT GO HAYWIRE, FALSE AIRBAG FAILURE OR BRAKE FAILURE MESSAGES, LOCKS THAT DON'T ENGAGE OR DISENGAGE AND TRACTION CONTROL THAT SEEMS TO STICK OR MALFUNCTION. ON A FEW OCCASIONS THE SPEEDOMETER AND RPM READOUT GO COMPLETELY DEAD WHILE I'M GOING 70 MILES PER HOUR ON THE HIGHWAY. THESE ISSUES ARE INTERMITTENT BUT THEY TEND TO BE MORE PERTINENT DURING THE WINTER MONTHS, AND ON DECEMBER 6, 2010 ALL THESE FALSE READOUTS WERE HAPPENING ONE AFTER ANOTHER, FOLLOWED BY A "REDUCED POWER" READING AND THE ENGINE BRIEFLY DECELERATED. VOLVO DEALERS HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE OR FIX THE ISSUES IN THE PAST AND I'M HESITANT TO SPEND HUNDREDS MORE ONLY TO BE TOLD THAT "NO CODES WERE FOUND." *TR

ALL GAUGES AND READINGS GO TO ZERO. FOUR WARNING APPEAR ON THE MESSAGE BOARD. AFTER STOPPING AND TURNING OFF IGNITION THE CAR WILL RESTART WITH INTERMITTENT WARNINGS, OR NO WARNINGS AT ALL. UPON HITTING A BUMP THE ERROR MESSAGES CHANGES AND THE GAUGES WORK OR DON'T WORK. THE CAR HAS BEEN IN FOR COMPUTER "FIXES" THREE TIMES SINCE LATE 2005. *TR