Hi,

I have a very weird problem with a 1995 Volvo 850 wagon, non-turbo. Any ideas
you could give me would be appreciated.

Sometimes when I crank the car, the doors lock automatically. I know some cars
have this feature but mine never has before. When I'm having the problem, I put the key in the ignition and turn it, the doors lock and the car starts. However,
sometimes when I try to start the car, the doors lock automatically, the lights
on the dash come on, but nothing else happens. No noise or anything. Sometimes
this happens when the door is open, sometimes when the door is closed. If I
keep trying, the car will start but it will usually go through several tries
without starting.

I tried removing and reinserting the fuse that controls the central locking and
that fixed the problem for a while. But now the problem is back and even
replacing the fuse did not seem to have any effect.

I know this sounds weird but one time when I was having this problem the key was
nowhere near the ignition and I put my foot on the brake and the doors locked
automatically. The car was not running. I believe the door was open at the
time.

I had the electrical portion of the ignition switch replaced about a year ago. As far as I know I do not have an alarm system in the car.

I saw a post by Volvoann where the problem also involved the doors locking by themselves (though with other symptoms). The solution was to replace the wiring harness. I haven't taken it to a mechanic yet but wanted to try to avoid a 'replace everything and see what works' situation so I thought I would mention the wiring harness possibility to them. My question is, would it be easy to diagnose if the wiring harness was causing the problem? Is it just a matter of attaching the harness to some diagnostic machine and seeing if it is bad?

Thanks very much!

Fay

HI
Did you ever solve this problem? I have a 95 20v 850 and am suffering exactly the same trouble. Any help would be greatly received.

Do you have a GPS system? Maybe Volvo has designated certain areas as dangerous and it does this automatically for your own safety. They work hard at being as safe as possible with their cars, it sounds like something they might consider...LOL, j/k.

By chance will it automatically unlock the doors as well?

One of the things I really like about my 850 is that I havent really found a way yet to lock my keys in the car, since I cannot lock the door if it is open (therefore i can only lock the doors while I am outside of it by using the key with the doors shut).

My guess would be to start with the central locking wiring.

Or, check to see if a previous owner has installed a central module for alarm underneath the dashboard.

Hi Wells01,

Yes, I did resolve this problem. By replacing the battery! Nobody ever diagnosed this as the problem but one day the battery died and when I replaced it, the problem with the doors locking by themselves went away. So maybe you could get somebody to check the strength of your battery.

Replacing the battery also solved another problem I was having with the temperature gauge. Sometimes the gauge wouldn't register at all, even though obviously the engine was hot. But after I replaced the battery, that problem went away too.

I think Volvo must have a very weird wiring system!

Good luck with your problem!

Fay

If the battery was weak, didnt the alternator charge it when you were driving? Sounds fishing. Is your alternator healthy?

Connect a voltmeter to see if it is producing a charge of 13.8 to 14 steady, either idle or driving.

I'm not a car expert but I think over time the battery gets weak and the alternator will no longer charge it. Eventually the battery dies. My alternator is fine. The problem I was having was that when I cranked the car, the doors locked by themselves. Since the battery is involved when the car is being cranked, apparently the fact that it was weak was causing a problem with the door locks. Since it's been almost a year since I had the battery replaced and I have had no more problems, apparently the weak battery was the cause of everything.

OK then.

Hey there,

I seem to have a smiliar issue.

Yesterday my volvo 850, 1995, decided to engage locks while driving, at the same time my radio turned itself off. Sounds haunted, I know!

But then I was parked in my driveway, and I was walking towards my car and it decided to lock and turn the fourways on, without me ever touching the car!!

Then I was at a stop sign, and it locked again and my radio died. The radio always comes back about 5 seconds later, but I decided then to look around and see if anything else died or went bizerk, and it turns out when the radio and locks went crazy, my tachometer decided to go heywire...

any ideas? This only lasts a few seconds and then all goes back to normal.

Doooooooooooooooooooodddddd,

You're in the TWILIGHT-ZOOOONEEEE...

:alien: :alien: :alien:






Hehe, OK OK, sorry,sorry.
:devil:

I would think that some of the wiring needs work.

That's certainly a new one I expect. Due to the nature and solution to the original posters problems, it sounds like you too have power or wiring problems.

All sorts of wierd things can happen during brown out conditions, where the power needed or expected drops below the minimal amount (electronics can just go haywire), although basic things, like keeping a spak to keep the car running is somewhat backed up by the use of the coil, which can for very short periods compensate for sporadic voltage drops (of course the engines turning can get through some of the power hiccups.

Aside from potential power issues, like a weak battery, you may also have a ground issue that is weak or coming loose somewhere. A poor ground can alo cause a loss of power. However, simple continuity testing will not always find a bad ground, you;d have to test the actual power at each ground location (ie: a bad ground that should allow for the provision of 12-14v, may actually only permit 8-10v through the circuit, which can cause problems with systems expecting 11-12v..resting right on the verge of the minimal amounts (enough to make it try to work, but not enough to let it continue to work properly). If that makes sense..haha.

Or, lets just hope the connections somewhere came loose.
Happens a lot to mine a year back.

:)

You are talking about a car right? hehe

Oh yes, the car.
As for the guy, well, still pumping well the last i checked.

:P

Well, it kinda sounded like someone had some screws loose, but then again some things just work better when the screws aren't tight :P LOL