Power System Service Urgent!!
 

My wife has just tried to start her 04 54 S40SE and it would turn over and 'start' - struggle - and cut out within seconds.

This happened a few times so I told her to leave it 5 minutes and try again [never had any problems starting the car].

After 5 minutes she tried it again and it went 1st turn - but again, didn't really start with any real gusto - and there was a distinct 'whine' coming from the engine bay. I jumped in to take it for a run round the block and immediately noticed the info panel was reading " Power System Service Urgent" and the battery light was on.

I put it straight back onto the dive and thought I'd post on here asap.

Where do I go from here - other than get the AA out :car:

Homer

I had exactly the same.

It needed a new alternator and that had killed the battery as well.

I'm afraid the invoice said £819 (got it here) but it was done under warranty.

Not good news :sad-smiley-023:

Took it for a spin an hour ago - it started without a problem but still with the whine.
Got 2 miles down the road before the battery light and "Power System Service Urgent" came on again.

Will take it into my local mechanic tomorrow morning - £819 scares the pants off me :lep_frown: - and, off course, it's out of warranty.

Cheers

Homer

There is a known issue with the power steering motors, the usual symptom is a whining noise when turning the wheel. Volvo replaced the motor on mine under warranty and i've had no problems since.

Thanks for the reply - I don't think it is the PSM, the engine whines whilst stationary and it doesn't
change whilst turning the wheels :thumbs_up:

I'm just back fro the mechanics who ran a voltmeter across the battery and his initial impression
is that the battery 'aint being charged by the alternator [the battery itself looked OK].

He's having a full look at lunchtime - but looks like a new alternator after 27,000 miles :thumbs_down:

Off to price them up right now.

Homer

Ah ok, different problem, same symptom! lol

Volvo don't seem to be having much luck with their motors / alternators. I've had the air con compressor, power steering motor and alternator replaced on mine (all under warranty) after they were all fitted with the wrong sized bearings at the factory and gradually destroyed themselves. The first sign of wear on all of them was excess noise.

Hope you get it sorted for not too much cash!

Thanks again for the reply.

Is it an S40 you drive?
Reason being, I'm just about to go out and check for the chassis/engine number in case I need
it when I phone for a quote - I drive the Phase1 S40 and know where to look on my 'old' car - this new model ?

Cheers

Homer

Yes i drive a phase2 S40. The chassis number is stamped under the bonnet at the back of the bay by the windscreen (also there should a visible VIN on the passenger side of the windscreen just above the bonnet). The engine number is the last 5 or 6 digits of the chassis number (provided it hasn't been changed).

Thanks again for your help - it was under my nose so to speak!!

Just a bit puzzled - the engine number doesn't appear on the forums VIN number identification

As luck would have it, it goes 17,18,19 and then 24 ......... no number 21, so I can't ascertain the engine type.

Similarly, the model year shows as 5 - again no number 5 on the list - yet 2004 shows as a 4.

I'm easily confused!!

Will need to go back home and get the log book out.

Homer

Yes the VIN Number reference doesn't fully apply to my S40 either. The model year isn't correct and I don't have the letter at the end denoting the factory.

I guess Volvo changed the structure at some point.

As for the engine number, I was told by Volvo that there are no unique engine numbers, but that the engine number 'takes the last 6 digits of the VIN'.

The DVLA have disagreed with that however, and Volvo were forced to supply an engine number to update my V5 when the engine was changed. Good luck finding this though, as I believe it's stamped under the exhaust manifold up behind the engine.

Took the garage quite a while to read it with a mirror!