[V70WY]

Greetings everyone! I’ve just joined the forum and have enjoyed reading through the questions and answers posted here about V 70s.

I live in Cody, Wyoming and bought my 2001 V70 T5 new from a dealership in Billings, Montana, a two-hour drive away. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the car and have taken good care of it. It has about 92K miles on it and has received all scheduled and recommended maintenance including changing the timing belt at 80K, and so on.

I decided to have it painted back to its original black color by a local body and repair shop known for their top-notch work. I also asked them to repair the passenger side front window which would only go down about half-an-inch. I got the car back at the end of January. The paint job was wonderful. But the window didn’t work properly and still does not. I don’t know if all the stuff I’ve observed since January related, or not. So, I’ll summarize what’s gone on with the window issue for your consideration. Note: when I say the window ‘doesn’t work’, I mean that it doesn’t respond properly to either of the arm rest control buttons.

I don’t think the repair shop is trying to rip me of or anything like that. In fact, I feel that they’re working hard to figure out what’s wrong with my car and fix it once and for all. I’m just afraid that my local mechanics don’t have enough experience with my kind of problem to diagnose it accurately. I’m reaching out to you folks and hoping for some helpful insight.

• For the maybe ten days, the window worked fine.
• It started sticking again and I took it back to the shop. They readjusted some stuff in the door and it worked well when I got it back. I put it through brief stress tests (jerking it up and down with the buttons) to see if it would fail again, and it didn’t.
• A couple of weeks later, the window developed an intermittent failure. I noticed that there was a correlation between the digital dash thermometer (located just under the clock) displaying only dashes that looked like { --:-- } and the window not working. I’d start the car and the thermometer would show the dashes and the window wouldn’t work. I’d drive for, say, 10 or 15 minutes, and notice the thermometer was reading somewhere in the 35°-45°F range and the window would work. Okay, I figured something in the car needed to warm up for a while for the window to work. No big deal – I could live with that since everything else was working.
• The car sat idle for a week. When I tried to start it, the battery (14-months old) was dead. I found that a passenger door was ajar and figured the dome light had drained the battery. After a trickle charge it started right up. Reset the anti-theft stuff with the key and drove it for an hour on a 50°day. The window would not function and thermometer only displayed the dashes. Put the car in the garage and made certain everything about it was turned off and/or closed.
• The battery was dead the next day. Charged it, drove the car (window and thermostat not working), garaged it.
• The following morning, my wife said she’d noticed the car’s dome light on when she took the trash out the night before. Sure enough, the battery was dead. Charged it, drove it (window and thermostat not working). Got it home and checked for an electrical short circuit by removing the negative cable from the battery and tapping it back on the terminal. It sparked, suggesting to me a short somewhere in the system (I learned this trick from John Muir’s book, How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive. Hope it holds true for cars younger than my air-cooled, 40-hp, 12-volt, rattle-trap).
• Called the shop and told them about the early correlation between the bad clock display and the window not working and how it got worse with time and then constant. Also how both of those things used to work when things got warmer. l Took the car back to the shop and repeated the stuff about the clock and the window and also told them about the frequent battery drains and the possible electrical short.
• The door hardware turned out to be working properly. They ran diagnostics on something located somewhere and determined that the ‘module’ that controls the window had failed and OEM replacement part is ‘obsolete’. I authorized ordering a used one.
• They put the used module in last Thursday and it didn’t solve the problem. They’re gonna pull it and test it. If it fails, they’ll get another and will try again.

So, have you folks ever heard of a problem like this? Any suggestions about how I should proceed?

I’m planning to let the local guys do what they can for the time being and hope they can fix the problem. The next option for me is to take it to the dealer in Billings for their sole, certified Volvo mechanic to diagnose it.

Thanks in advance,

V70WY

 

[grendel1960]

check the wiring harness / plug where the wiring goes into the door, these can develop either bad contacts or break, all these issues are related to the door wiring, so that would be where I start any investigations, the temperature sensor is I believe also in the door (actually may be in the mirror, I cant quite recall.

 

[V70WY]

check the wiring harness / plug where the wiring goes into the door, these can develop either bad contacts or break, all these issues are related to the door wiring, so that would be where I start any investigations, the temperature sensor is I believe also in the door (actually may be in the mirror, I cant quite recall.

Thanks, grendel1960!
Your diagnosis sure seems to account for all the symptoms of the Volvo's problem. I just called the shop and read your suggestion to them. They're gonna check it out and call me back.

 

[V70WY]

Thanks, grendel1960!
Your diagnosis sure seems to account for all the symptoms of the Volvo's problem. I just called the shop and read your suggestion to them. They're gonna check it out and call me back.

grendel1960! I think your suggestion is going to lead to a solution. I forwarded your answer to the shop and they called today to say that the window switch is bad. They're looking for a replacement (hard to find) and will call me back with a price when they've got one. I'll let you know what the outcome is. Thanks very much!

 

[V70WY]

Good news grendel1960! The Volvo dealership in Billings located one of the few remaining OEM switches and replaced it for me yesterday. All my previous problems are solved. Cost at the dealership was about $950. No drama.

However...

I asked them to make the original remote key fob door opener work. I figured it just needed a new battery. Nope. They said that it is transmitting just fine, but something in the car isn't receiving its signal properly. They wanted to charge me diagnostic time to determine what's wrong and I figure whatever it is will be computer-related and costly to remedy, so I declined that option and just happily drove home.

Thank you very much for your help,

Warmest personal regards,

Bob J.

 

[grendel1960]

I am glad you got your main problems sorted, sorting out electrical gremlins is always a tricky problem, glad to have been of assistance even in a small way.

 

[philliptrammell0106]

Greetings everyone! I’ve just joined the forum and have enjoyed reading through the questions and answers posted here about V 70s.

I live in Cody, Wyoming and bought my 2001 V70 T5 new from a dealership in Billings, Montana, a two-hour drive away. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the car and have taken good care of it. It has about 92K miles on it and has received all scheduled and recommended maintenance including changing the timing belt at 80K, and so on.

I decided to have it painted back to its original black color by a local body and repair shop known for their top-notch work. I also asked them to repair the passenger side front window which would only go down about half-an-inch. I got the car back at the end of January. The paint job was wonderful. But the window didn’t work properly and still does not. I don’t know if all the stuff I’ve observed since January related, or not. So, I’ll summarize what’s gone on with the window issue for your consideration. Note: when I say the window ‘doesn’t work’, I mean that it doesn’t respond properly to either of the arm rest control buttons.

I don’t think the repair shop is trying to rip me of or anything like that. In fact, I feel that they’re working hard to figure out what’s wrong with my car and fix it once and for all. I’m just afraid that my local mechanics don’t have enough experience with my kind of problem to diagnose it accurately. I’m reaching out to you folks and hoping for some helpful insight.

• For the maybe ten days, the window worked fine.
• It started sticking again and I took it back to the shop. They readjusted some stuff in the door and it worked well when I got it back. I put it through brief stress tests (jerking it up and down with the buttons) to see if it would fail again, and it didn’t.
• A couple of weeks later, the window developed an intermittent failure. I noticed that there was a correlation between the digital dash thermometer (located just under the clock) displaying only dashes that looked like { --:-- } and the window not working. I’d start the car and the thermometer would show the dashes and the window wouldn’t work. I’d drive for, say, 10 or 15 minutes, and notice the thermometer was reading somewhere in the 35°-45°F range and the window would work. Okay, I figured something in the car needed to warm up for a while for the window to work. No big deal – I could live with that since everything else was working.
• The car sat idle for a week. When I tried to start it, the battery (14-months old) was dead. I found that a passenger door was ajar and figured the dome light had drained the battery. After a trickle charge it started right up. Reset the anti-theft stuff with the key and drove it for an hour on a 50°day. The window would not function and thermometer only displayed the dashes. Put the car in the garage and made certain everything about it was turned off and/or closed.
• The battery was dead the next day. Charged it, drove the car (window and thermostat not working), garaged it.
• The following morning, my wife said she’d noticed the car’s dome light on when she took the trash out the night before. Sure enough, the battery was dead. Charged it, drove it (window and thermostat not working). Got it home and checked for an electrical short circuit by removing the negative cable from the battery and tapping it back on the terminal. It sparked, suggesting to me a short somewhere in the system (I learned this trick from John Muir’s book, How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive. Hope it holds true for cars younger than my air-cooled, 40-hp, 12-volt, rattle-trap).
• Called the shop and told them about the early correlation between the bad clock display and the window not working and how it got worse with time and then constant. Also how both of those things used to work when things got warmer. l Took the car back to the shop and repeated the stuff about the clock and the window and also told them about the frequent battery drains and the possible electrical short.
• The door hardware turned out to be working properly. They ran diagnostics on something located somewhere and determined that the ‘module’ that controls the window had failed and OEM replacement part is ‘obsolete’. I authorized ordering a used one.
• They put the used module in last Thursday and it didn’t solve the problem. They’re gonna pull it and test it. If it fails, they’ll get another and will try again.

So, have you folks ever heard of a problem like this? Any suggestions about how I should proceed?

I’m planning to let the local guys do what they can for the time being and hope they can fix the problem. The next option for me is to take it to the dealer in Billings for their sole, certified Volvo mechanic to diagnose it.

Thanks in advance,

V70WY

I had the same problem and had to take it to the dealership & $285 dollars later it works, they had to order a part for it but it works fine! They said it was a plastic clip & some other stuff but doing well!! I have a 2004 V70R with less than 150000 miles and have no intention of getting rid of it I LOVE IT!