Check Engine Light has been disabled.

[Jayplac]

Hello everyone. I hope there's someone with a good working knowledge of my car who can help me out.

I just got my '03 XC90 back from having the timing fixed. I picked the car up from the mechanic and within a few minutes the check engine light was back on. I took it back and left it over night. I picked it up this morning and the clock and temperature would not display. On a hunch, I parked the car and turned it off and then back on to see if the check engine light would illuminate for a few seconds. It never came on. Additionally, I took the car to AutoZone and they verified the codes were still present. I've checked all fuses and they are ALL good.

My question is this: If the mechanic wanted to disable the car, where is the likely place to do it. Has anyone run into this problem? Is there legal recourse?

[hoonk]

I picked it up this morning and the clock and temperature would not display. On a hunch, I parked the car and turned it off and then back on to see if the check engine light would illuminate for a few seconds. It never came on. Additionally, I took the car to AutoZone and they verified the codes were still present. I've checked all fuses and they are ALL good.

If the mechanic wanted to disable the car, where is the likely place to do it.

There used to be replaceable light bulbs illuminating various areas of the instrument cluster. There were bulbs behind the lcd screens, - the odometer on the left and the gear indicator/temp/time on the right, dash illumination, t/s, bright indicator and so forth. The xc90 cluster appears to be all light emitting diodes, with the parts catalog only showing 1 replaceable bulb. As far as the check engine light bulb there are not individual bulbs (that are easily removed) for each warning function sticking out the back of the instrument cluster like in much older Volvos. It might be possible to open the cluster and disable an individual bulb/led, but it would be so much easier just to fix the car the right way than rig the check engine light.

It's possible your instrument cluster is going bad (not uncommon), but the failure you describe is not the way they normally fail.

What codes are stored? You had the "timing fixed". What does that mean? A new cam belt, tensioner and idler? If the cam timing is slightly off codes related to that will be stored very soon after starting the car.