V50 General : Volvo V50 DPF, engine and anti skid problems

[HeidiCole]

I'm really hoping someone will be able to help me!

I purchased my 2008 Volvo 1.6 V50 in April 2014 (I didn't realise at the time it had a terrible Peugeot/ford engine).

When I purchased the vehicle all was fine, after around 3 months the vehicle went into limp home mode (only at motorway speed) no warning signs on dash etc. Took it to the garage and was told DPF needed to be replaced. DPF changed at a cost of £700. (Independent garage, not Volvo).

Of note I use the vehicle mostly on the motorway around 20000 motorway miles per year, so should not have an issue with regeneration.

About 5 months later the car again went into limp mode (but different limp mode as this was at any speed the car would not rev over 3000) and every now and again the car had difficulty starting.

I took it to a garage who without looking at the vehicle said it's probably the turbo and said the DPF should have been changed. I advised the DPF had been changed (no warning lights). I was not happy with the 1st garages advice so I took it to a diesel injection specialist who examined the vehicle and said the glow plug relay was out and replaced it.

Picked the car up and it worked beautifully for around 2 months.

Then I was driving the vehicle on the motorway and had to slow down due to a slow vehicle, when the vehicle moved I tried to speed up. My vehicle struggled to do so and the "anti skid" message came up and "reduced engine performance" . My car was in limp mode again but on turning the engine off and restarting the error messages went away and car would not be in limp mode any longer.

I took the car to the garage that had mentioned I may need a new turbo a few months previously and left it with them. They called and said I needed a new turbo, EGR valve, oil, air and fuel filters &I new oil - cost £1040 (not Volvo)

I picked the car up took it out on the motorway and the "anti skid came up again and reduces engine performance. I took the car back to the garage who I had just had the work done with and the diagnostic machine said there was a communication error to the ECU.

The mechanic didn't really know what this was and called a garage they sub contract to who has a electric tech mechanic who used to work for a main dealer. He felt it may need a software upgrade which he couldn't do but the other garage had the technology.

I took it to this garage and he looked at the vehicle and phoned to say the DPF SENSOR had liquid in which he felt was why the anti skid message had come up. Paid £250 and took the car away - again on the motorway whilst slowing down and then trying to speed up the anti skid message and reduced engine performance came up.

I took it back to the second garage who asked if the additive in the back had been topped up when DPF was changed to which I didn't know. Anyway he ordered some additive and filled it up. He said from what he could tell the tank was empty (black tank and no way to see how full it was) due to the amount of additive that went in. -paid £100 with a couple of forced regenerations

Took it back out on motorway and yep you got it anti skid again and limp mode.
By now I was away and on driving the car to tesco I noticed I could not get any power and the car would not drive faster than 40mph.

I parked it and left it until the day I was due to come home.

So I get in the vehicle turn the ignition on, it starts and within seconds the car stalls. I manage to get enough revs whilst pushing the accelerator to move it to a car park.

RAC MECHANIC attends and plugs in diagnostic which reads turbo pressure too high. Turbo pressure low, DPF, turbo pressure overboost.

The turbo "Garrett" was leaking oil and he said there was no pressure to the turbo. He recommended I take it back to the mechanic that fitted the turbo.

I managed to drive the vehicle back to the garage (badly). The mechanic agreed the turbo was leaking oil and looked surprised. He said your car is not very well and took off the MAF sensor to see if that changes things, which it didn't.

So mechanic replaced the turbo for free as it was under warranty and upon starting the vehicle it still stalled. So they had a look at it and took of the engine head and could see there was carbon build up. I went and looked at the engine and agree there is carbon build up.

The mechanic said it would cost £720 to have it decoked but would not guarantee this would fit my car. I said I was not happy to pay £720 with no assurances when I'd already paid £1400 and my car was in a worse condition now than when I had originally brought it in.

I asked that they put the engine head back on etc to which they agreed. I received a call today from said garage saying they had put the engine head back together and would tow it to my house and pop the key through the door.

When I got home today I thought I'd have a look at the car and see if there had been any change since the turbo had gone in. To my surprise now when you start the vehicle it cuts out after a few seconds but there is no acceleration or revs at all, literally nothing.

I looked under the bonnet and could see the plastic engine cover had not been put back on and was still in the back. I could also see 2 metal coils just laying under the Bonnet not connected. I'm sure these coils should be on my engine.

I am now worried the garage have put the engine head back on and may have not rally bothered to put it all back properly. I'm having a mobile mechanic look tomorrow before I call the garage.

Aside from that, what on earth is wrong with my car. Has anyone else experience this. Would carbon build up cause these issues?

Any help would be appreciated!

[Clan]

No one can help you with this on here with this .. far too much has been changed/bodged , you are going from one disaster to another dealing with people who don't know what they are doing , what attracts you to these kind of people ? For goodness sake get it to someone who knows what they are doing ie a volvo dealer ! You might be interested to know that these terrible engines are quite trouble free in volvos , where they are generally looked after properly .

[HeidiCole]

I've used the initial garage before but only for brakes, discs etc. I've spoken to Volvo but it doesn't appear they really want to get involved with the vehicle now as they would need to recheck everything that has been done so far on the vehicle.

hindsight is wonderful and if I could go back 4 weeks I would have taken it straight to a Volvo garage but I'm now stuck in a predicament with the car too and not sure which way to turn.

[BigBert]

I'm on kind of the same boat...

Bought a 57 plate v50 1.6D with 114k on it,
It got a reconditioned turbo fitted in June. After 1 week of owner ship it went into "limp" mode, wouldn't rev over 3000rpm and got an emissions light on the dash.

Luckily I have a mate who is a volvo engineer, and I took it to him to find my turbo has chewed something up...but he said it was dpf, and check it all over for dpf faults before noticing the turbo.

I'm now going in this week to get a new volvo approved turbo and a dpf clean out, and something like a regas he said etc etc

But basically I wouldn't take it to anyone other than him after seeing him point out a lot of issues that are not meant to be there and the fact the engine was bogging with dirt and oil etc.


I'm also going to speak to trading standards to see where I stand with the fact it was done in June...but I wasn't the owner at the time

[HeidiCole]

I really wish I knew a Volvo engineer. I'm just at a loss with it really and I'm not sure what to do.

I think instead of making and rash decisions I'm going to leave it as it is for now until I can find the strength to deal with it again. It'll also give me time to have an independent assessment made on the vehicle.

Ultimately I want to get it working so I can get rid of it as I feel I'm going to have ongoing issues with this car. And I know clan mentions these engines don't often go wrong in a Volvo but I have read so much on these engines I beg to differ.

I purchased a Volvo thinking I was getting a Volvo, if I wanted a ford estate I could have purchased one without the Volvo price tag.

I'm not sure about your car but I get zero information about the DPF it doesn't tell me when it's regenerating and no warning symbols saying its 90% full.

I think this is the worst car I have ever owned, even though I love how it looks and internal spec is good.

Let me know how you get on with yours though.

[BigBert]

Will do buddy. It might be worth your time having a search locally for a volvo approved garage. Kris is a small local garage but is volvo approved.
His dad has been a volvo engineer for 40 years I was told...and kris is coming up on 6 years in the job himself.
Definitely worth putting the effort in to get the right guys for the job, I'm terribly anal about who does what to my cars.

Kris has a c30 1.6 d and has said when he bought it knowing the engine issues, he fully knew what he was taking on but hasn't has a single issue since his first DPF issue...that was 5 years ago or something. So the proof is in the pudding if you look after them

[Dangerousdave]

I'm in the same boat, mine totally shat itself with problem after problem so I've sorted what I can and parked it up.. I was fighting its corner for ages when friends said it was a turd, but they're right and after 8 months of not use I'm gonna have to fix it and fk it off..

As said, I didnt realise it was a ford.. I searched for the car and read good things, but you only find the bad things when you know the faults, dpf, ecm's etc..

If I could turn back the clock I'd take my £5000 and my £2000 It cost me in 12months and get...........anything else

[HeidiCole]

Dangerous Dave- what issues have you had with yours? I've spent a total of £4000 in repairs and servicing in a year so far and now will need to spend more as the car doesn't work at all now. God knows what it will cost now.

Even though I want to get rid of it I also would feel terrible selling it to an unsuspecting person to have the same issues.

[HeidiCole]

The biggest complaint I have is no garage can say what's wrong with it. And yes I can take it to Volvo which ultimately I will have to do. But ok reading the reviews on people that have taken theirs to Volvo they still incorrectly diagnosed the problems.

[Dangerousdave]

I've had the antiskid issue when it sat a few weeks, must have been the ecm or moisture on electrics..

I have a thread on here somewhere, blocked dpf, blew the crackshaft oil seal, trashed the clutch/dmf, replace it all along with a dpf bit it still won't pull out of limp home.. It also had a cambelt and full service so owes me a lot at the moment.

I'm hoping mines just a software thing as my dodgy vida might not be resetting the dpf values or something.. Either way I've read every forum now and when these go wrong it seems never ending.
I honestly would just scrap it, you in deep but when fixed it's still a really sh1t problematic car.. I know some people have had good ones, but we and many others haven't..

I will put another £500 into it and sell, anymore I'll just have to break it and try and salvage something from it.. That's a loss of around £7000, but It's only worth around £4500 and ive spent around £2000 since buying it..

I'm a car guy, Ive done years at college and worked in a garage, I've always done my own maintaince, cambelts etc, but this car...., wow, it's a junker.. It's all electrical problems and dmf, I can't just take off the problem and bin it, the cars wrapped in failure..