Instrument panel went out !!!

[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...lvo-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?