Hello, I have a Volvo XC70 year 2003, I really like this car but it's starting to give me a hard time with the DIM. I have the SRS Airbag warning that come on and the Airbags were checked by the dealer. The bag and it's sensor is fine. Yesterday the whole DIM went off. All DIM info died and came back on when I was driving in a bumpy road. I tried to check the wiring from the relay boxes and fuses boxes for loose wire. Would you know where wires commonly ware or corrode in this car.Or where are the check points for ground and live voltage?

need more information than that

You really need to see the dealer about this, your SRS system is not turned on until this problem is diagnosed and corrected, NO AIRBAG RESTRAINT SYSTEM.

remove the batter cable for a while and replace it back ( negtive cable)

you will have to have the SRS system reset at volvo dealer. should be around $85 for reset

See if you can pull the airbag fuse to avoid accidental deployment of the airbags. It sounds expensive.

ether take the bulb out, or take it to someone that will reset

Most common SRS fault in XC90's is the driver side SIPS bag (side air bag) located in the side of the seat. The wire runs close to the hinge for the backrest and after working back and forth can break or short.

If you have SRS and "brake failure" it should be taken to a dealer. a shadetree mechanic will screw more up than he will fix in this case. trust me on this! you will pay a price, but will save you more $ and less headache in the longrun.

I recently purchased a 2002 S60 D5 which had this problem. I am not a Volvo expert so don't know if it could be the same fault, but it sounds identical. No lights, gauges etc, but intermittently and very briefly comes on. Having heard some silly prices for replacement dash and ECU, I had a look. I found 4 poor soldered joints on the dash circuit board (top left processor & heat sink). I cleaned them and re-soldered them, although I had continuity just after cleaning the corrosion. The dashboard has worked perfectly since (3 weeks) . If you try this make sure you disconnect the battery first or you may have the SRS airbag warning light on! (I had to have it re-set at the dealers!!)

The whole process took less than an hour. If you are not electronically savvi get one of your mates who is to have a look..

Hello Posters,

What you are experiencing in one way or another is a low (all functions inside the passenger cabin) or high speed (engine compartment) network failure. But before I get to far into it you need to understand how the Volvo works and don't worry I will keep this as lamen as I can.

The 1999 and new Volvo's work on a network, (CAN network) think it of a a bunch of computers in an office that share a printer. Well, depending on the year of your Volvo you could have up to 20 plus computers or ECU's. The reason that such technology is on your car is siimple: The average car today carries over 400LBs of wiring that runs to and fro through out the car. This weight is no longer acceptable and if not stopped could easily make up over half the weight of the car to give us the comfort features we want.

Don't panic yet, Volvo didn't just stuff that many ECU's in a car without a diagnostic solution just in case something went wrong. Now, since these ECU's have information that needs to be shared over the car there needs to be a boss of that information. Think of 20 people in one room all talking at once, everyone is talking but no one can hear. With me so far?

So, Volvo put what is called a CEM which stands for Central Electronic Module to 'run' things. It's job is to monitor and regulate all communication on board the vehicle, with out it there would be anarchy!!

How to they talk to each other?

Two wires are run between each ECU (LAN Cables if you wish) which pulse voltage up and down to give it's ECU's information package when it's that particular ECU's time to 'speak'. The CEM controls who speaks and when. If one ECU speaks out of turn then the ECU who's turn it was to speak is silenced. If this happens to the next ECU on the list and so on here is the anarchy I spoke of. (If you and 20 of your friends were sitting around a room and you each had to say a number higher (1.2.3.4.5.6.6.6.6.6.6.6.6.6.6.6.6) than the person to you left and the one person just kept shouting their number the cycle would break down.

The CEM would then instruct all ECU's to shut down since there is no point to speak with the loud mouth in the room. This is example is a babbling node (ECU). Since the on board's information is transmitted using voltages then any disruption or damage to the signal will cause the network failure. Short circuits, either to power or ground, would stop that electrical signal although shorts to ground is the most common.

If the dash is going dead, you should see the SRS light/message come on first then the gauges drop off then the total death of the display.

High speed failures will show as the ABS/TRACS failure message then RPM and engine temp fail but the rest of the DIM will stay on.

You really need to take this to the dealer and the dealer ONLY!! They have computer (VIDA) that can run the necessary diagnostics to determine where the problem may lie. If the fault is permanent then it is relative easy to find and fix. If it happens every now and then it is quite difficult to find. But, if your technician says it's a computer right off the start then he is guessing and you should get a guarantee that if the computer replaced does not fix the problem then you will not pay for it.

Let me know if this helps.

Gazzer