Scary Moment!

[donxc04]

Glad to find this forum, lots of good info.
I just want to share with ya about the scary moment I had today with my 2004 V70 XC. While I was driving on the highway, the interior lights flashes for few seconds and boom, all electrical shut off, no metering, no lights, emergency button did nothing. I was at about 50 mph at that time, luckily the engine kept running and I quickly pulled over to the side. Eventually I managed to get to a dealer nearby. Everyone were off from work, the receptionist seemed very puzzled, I guess he didn't see this happen that often.
That's the short version of the story. Has anyone seen reports like this?
Thanks,
Don

[mbsl98]

There is a very rare thread on something similar. Generall, if everything including the emergency flashers stopped, it has to be a major electrical disconnect. Something like a loose or broken battery cable connection. The engine can run on its own without a battery, but everything else runs off the battery connections. There is nothing else that powers everything, that I know of.

[Heidster]

A couple of months ago my wife experienced a similar event. Starting up the car the Xmision indicator light went dead, then more dash lights then CEL and engine died. Luckily she was able to pull over safely. I hooked my code reader up and got a couple (I don't have them in my memory) concerning a "Brake A/B switch" and a "comm bus loss." The car did restart fine and acted OK. Dealer hooked up their VADIS and got 25+ codes. No clear part fault. They cleaned all the connections to the various computers. Since then no issues.

Most likely condensation corrosion on connectors was the culprit.

[Grundig]

I bought my s80 new in 1999 and maybe 2 years later I was driving on the busy highway at night during a rainstorm and suddenly EVERYTHING went dead . . . radio, lights, windshield wipers, power steering, engine . . . everything. I was in shock, and even though everything was down for maybe only 5 seconds, it was the longest 5 seconds of my life. Everything then came back on. I drove the car for another 7 years after that and it never did it again . . .

[Aviator]

The engine can run on its own without a battery, but everything else runs off the battery connections.

Not possible, since you need a battery for your ignition and fuel systems. No battery....nothing works.

Dave.

[mpiccin]

Grundig, I experienced a similar problem with my XC70 2004 as you last week. After driving home from work I was on the highway cruising at 120km/h when all of a sudden nothing... Everything cut out power, lights, motor! I was unsure what had just happened so while I was still rolling I slipped the trans. into neutral and re started the engine. The engine started right up but my cruise didn't work. The other problem I noticed was the transmission wasn't shifting right. I stopped the car turned it off, waited 5 secs. and re-started it. Everything was fine and no problems since then. Does any one know what might have caused this?

[Allen]

Just like our computers at home that freeze up and do weird stuff.....we hit control-alt-delete and go on our merry little way. Same thing with the F/A-18s I work on. Problems arise, we reset the system, all's good, go flying.

[ifnt420]

I was experiencing the same thing repeatedly, and the dealer ultimately traced it to a hairline fracture in the solder of the ECU chip inside the ECM.

After resoldering by a professional, it hasn't returned for 3 years. Knock on wood...

[donxc04]

Thought someone might be interested in the out coming. The dealer said the alternator went dead and they replaced it, ouch! But that's not the end of the story. Read on.
At that time, the technician mentioned there were software updates ($200 cost to do so) but he said those were not necessary so he did not even recommend the updates. Not long later (few weeks), it happened again. I was very angry about the incompetence of their technical ability and talked to their guys loudly. This time they did the software update (for free) and went on an overnight test drive. Stuff seems to be normal now but I totally lose the confidence on Volvo.

[Forkster]

The issue Don is that you trusted the dealership. Dealerships are all the same, Chev, Ford, Toyota, and Volvo - they're caleld Stealer$hips for a reason.

Also, as cars become more computerized (and our P2 XC70 is highly), software glitches are evident. Personally, you should of demanded the Volvo dealership put back your old alternator because it wasn't bad and give you your money back.

I would of found a good independant shop who would of done a proper test and maybe then recommend software updates.