Instrument panel went out !!!

[ace27705]

:confused:my 2002 volvo v70xc .. recently i was driving down the road and bam ! speedometer , tach fuel gauge and just about everything went out. i checked the fuses and they are all fine.then a few days later they came back on for a short while then back off again. when they did come back on i got a SRS airbag urgent message.it's been a few weeks now and every so often the panel comes back on with the same SRS message then they go back out again. Any ideas where to begin ?

[kamiar]

Its a known issue, some could re-solder a chip and it worked for them while some other ended up buying a used DIM from a same model and make year car...

[cattlecar]

If nothing else quits working when cluster is off then it is likely a bad cluster. SRS lamp can be due to no communication with cluster but if other things also stop functioning then that points to low speed network fault with wiring or a module.

[billr99]

:confused:my 2002 volvo v70xc .. recently i was driving down the road and bam ! speedometer , tach fuel gauge and just about everything went out. i checked the fuses and they are all fine.then a few days later they came back on for a short while then back off again. when they did come back on i got a SRS airbag urgent message.it's been a few weeks now and every so often the panel comes back on with the same SRS message then they go back out again. Any ideas where to begin ?

Happened to me back in December. Your DIM is bad, or actually the connection between the CPU and the mainboard of the DIM has gone cold. Basically there are 4 options you can try. First, you can try and re-flow the solder between the CPU and board. Do a search for the details as to how to do it with a heat gun or if you know someone who has a solder station like a circuit repair person. Second you can get it repaired by BBA or Xemodex. About $400 to do that. Third, you can do a used one as long as you can find one that has matching numbers that are on the DIM. There are 5 with one being a bar-coded number which is the actual serial number of the DIM. If you match the other 4 you have good odds of making a successful swap. One thing to note is that the mileage shown will be the higher of that stored in the CEM or the used DIM. Finally, you can do the dealer and pay them $1000+ for a new one and the VIDA enema to match it to the car.

Have fun as this situation is a real screwing.

Cheers,

Bill

[CWL2373]

This happened to my 2002 when it was 7 years old. Instrument cluster pod went dead and was deemed unrepairable. Had to purchase a new one from Volvo for just shy of $900 and then the car had to be towed over from my mechanic to the dealer so that it could be hooked up to the computer to get it to function and display the proper mileage. Overall, it was a $1200 expense and I had no choice but to suck it up and pay it. One of the few major problems I have had with my '02, which just passed 200,000 miles, but I was very disappointed that the cluster failed like that and was so enormously expensive to replace.

[c900]

The speedometer, tach, fuel & temp gauges, plus the little information display screen just all went dead and their illumination quit on our 100k miles 2003 XC70.

Our local independent Volvo speciality shop asked for $1340 to replace the dashboard cluster.

Two weeks prior to everything going dead & dark the car showed an airbag warning on the little display screen. The mechanic said there was nothing wrong with the airbag system, the warning was false and was a precursor to the dashboard cluster failing - which it now appears to have done.

[billr99]

The speedometer, tach, fuel & temp gauges, plus the little information display screen just all went dead and their illumination quit on our 100k miles 2003 XC70.

Our local independent Volvo speciality shop asked for $1340 to replace the dashboard cluster.

Two weeks prior to everything going dead & dark the car showed an airbag warning on the little display screen. The mechanic said there was nothing wrong with the airbag system, the warning was false and was a precursor to the dashboard cluster failing - which it now appears to have done.

It seems it will happen to most of us assuming you keep the car long enough. Buy used is the answer versus the ridiculous $1340 and its a 5-minute job to R&R one assuming a working one is handy. $1340, that's just not crazy, that's criminal.

Good luck,

Bill

[elorimer]

I went the XemodeX route when the SRS light wouldn't go off. I didn't pay for the overnight shipping but shipping was right quick. Very simple to do. The only thing was, when the module went back in, the SRS light was still on. Took it to the dealer, who said the light couldn't be reset. Then they tried it and it's been right as rain for the last six months or so. Dealer charged me $110 to reset the light, so the wife's new S60 was bought elsewhere. Oh, $4 for the Torx 20 screwdriver at Home Depot.

[95SE]

What part is that you sent out to XemodeX? Sorry, lost on this. I believe my car has this same issue, though mine is currently intermittent, relying on long drives to elicit the response.

[Aviator]

What part is that you sent out to XemodeX?

You send the whole instrument panel/cluster.

Dave.

[JeffHicks]

I just had what seems to be the exact same thing happen to my 2002 XC70, with 210,xxx miles.

Yesterday the entire dash cluster "shut off" for about 5 minutes. Just out of the blue - off. Then it came back on and was fine for a day. Then this morning, it shut back off - and has not come back on.

I assume this means I'm replacing the entire cluster.


Since this thread is over 2 years old, does anyone have any updates or new information that might be helpful to me? Thanks!

[Astro14]

Yep - time to call Xemodex.

They take about 5 days to do it, including the shipping to and from. They use UPS (for customs clearance) and it runs about $400 for a model year 2002. More details here: http://xemodex.com/us/product/driver-information-module-for-volvo-2002-2003/

The DIM went out on my XC last year - chinese characters in the message window, and the temp gauge stopped working. Just did the T5. It lost the center information: clock, gear position, high beam...they were intermittent. I am not good enough to chase solder joints, so I had Xemodex do the DIM on each car. They've worked great since.

[vtl]

Cluster went out on my 2005 XC70. I was sitting in the car with driver's door opened and key in position II, so cluster was beeping like for 25 minutes.

Reflowed all chips with hot air gun and glued a few heat fins.

[Au_xc70_03]

I just send my intrustment cluster to xemodex to fix backward clock and recent issue nothing being displayed while car is running.

[EJones]

Once again the forums prove their value. I'm starting to see this happen more regularly. A bit of historical info:

We had this issue happen to us 5-6 years ago during an out of state trip to a funeral. Driving along, and the instrument cluster just went dead. Car continued to run fine, but we had no idea what was happening. We called ahead to a Volvo dealer in Ohio, and were able to drop the car off while we went to the funeral (fortunately, my parents were behind us in their van so we rode to the funeral with them).

Came back to dealership after the funeral, and the dealer reported that they couldn't find anything wrong. They did mention that the car has 2 data busses: 1 for vital systems, and a similar for info (I believe that's how they function, but don't quote me on that). They couldn't find anything wrong, but the battery had 4-5 years on it, so I had them replace it, and all was well.

About 3 years ago, the same thing happened - but didn't repeat itself. My wife just informed me that it's happening pretty regularly now. I drove it this morning, and it happened twice over the course of an hour. Two other tell-tale signs that I've seen mentioned here:
- No temp readout (just " --- F")
- SRS-Airbag Service required message

I'm on the fence - she's getting up in age ('02 with 158,000 miles). I know we need to make a move soon, but would like to get another year out of the car if I can. I know it needs at least one wheel bearing replaced (sounds like a truck on the highway), and I know that's not a cheap repair.

I'll be looking into the Xemodex option. If I can get that taken care of for $400, that's probably the right move.

Any insights from other '02 owners on longevity would be appreciated. Love the car - but really starting to think I should look at a replacement. Body is solid. Engine is good - burns a little oil, but runs well. Turbo is good - replaced somewhere after 100K (as was timing belt).

I know this is a crystal ball question - but for other '02-'03 owners, did you find it worth putting $2-3K into your XCs to keep them on the road?