Water sloshing sound & electrical problems Volvo S80 125kW

[GucciPotlood]

Dear forum members,

Just made an account on this forum, since I'm encountering some problems that's absolutely driving me insane. It has been a long journey already, so I'm trying to explain it to you as short as I possible can.

It all started around 2 weeks ago. The car gave some error indications notifying me it had troubles with communicating with the gear computer and engine computer. It got in safe gear mode because it couldn't guarantee traction control. A lot of weird electrical problems started to pop up from then. I also heard water sloshing from left to right when making sharp turns. Water + electronics... well u know.

Long story short: I got to the garage and told them water probably somehow got inside the car and messed up the electronics. They told me the drains under the windscreen wipers where clogged, and water probably found it's way into the car because of that. They deleted all errors, and they said they couldn't find anything and advised me to get back on the road and contact them if anything happens again.

So, I took it home and the first thing I noticed was that there was still water sloshing from left to right when making sharp turns. After 5 minutes, all kind of errors popped up again. Day later, I called the garage and they told me their agenda was full up to januari so they probably wouldn't find time to help me out.

This all started to sound funky to me, so I decided to try to solve this problem myself. This is what I found:

1) Because I still heard water, I checked the interior for wet spots. Under the floor mat at the drivers seat (left side of the car, I'm from The Netherlands), I found a huge wet spot. It was soaked, basically. Naturally, I removed the covers from underneath the dashboard to check for electronics. Lots of it, including the CEM-module. The tape from the wires was sticky as hell, so it must have been wet.

2) I checked the voltage of the battery. It was 12,4V and when the car was running, it gave a 13,4V current (not much, but ok). I turned on as much as power consumers as possible to stress-test, and the voltage dropped back to 12,4V. So something was not right.

3) I replaced the regulator of the dynamo, and the problem seemed to be gone. Gave a steady 14V under stress. However, the battery indication light didn't turn off and the d+ cable to the generator gives a 7V current, where I'd would have expected 12v. But it was charging, so I left it for what it was at that point.

4) Since a lot of weird electrical problems showed up, I decided to follow the water leakage to the electronics that might have been effected. Because the initial error was indicating a communication problem with the computers (engine and gearbox), I disassembled them and took them all apart to check for corrosion. They where as clean as a whistle. Since the CEM module was right above the wet spot inside the care, I took that out as well. I disassembled the module and it was corroded all over.

5) Because a new module was so expensive, I cleaned the whole module myself and put it back together, re-installed it in the car. Now, all error indications where gone and all the problems seem to be fixed. That was a huge win.

6) For some weird reason, the battery indication light turned back on after starting the car. I re-installed the old (but original) regulator, but it didn't make the light go out. Weirdly tho, now it does charge the battery with a steady 13,9V, also under load of power consumers. So I feel like this wasn't the problem to begin with.

Problems still remaining:

A) Now, what bugs me is that the battery indication light stays off as long as you drive the car right after you started it. But do you start it and let it run idle, it turns on after 10-20 seconds. What can be the problem of this?

B) I still hear water running from left to right when I take sharp turns. The drains under the windshield wipers are not clogged anymore, so this should not be the issue anymore. I suspect it have been getting into the air intake of the climate control before, but how do I get it out of there? I checked the AC hose, but if that were to be full, I'd suspect water running out of it as soon as I detach it. No water got out, tho.

c) The D+ cable to the generator still gives 7V. Is this normal? I would expect 12V. Also, when the car is shut off, locked and well, I'm still measuring a ~3V current. This doesn't seem normal to me. I tried to track down this wire, but it "disappears" somewhere under the engine and I'm not sure where it goes to from there. I checked the electrical schemes of this car, but it indicates a different color then what I'm actually seeing: Dominant green and sub white. So it's a dead end.

How do I fix that false battery indication light? And how do I get rid of that water I hear sloshing from left to right when I take sharp turns?

Maybe relevant to note:

1) I don't hear this water when braking or accelerating.
2) The leak comes from above.
3) The water isn't running from the bottom of the car. You hear it clearly from behind the dashboard somewhere.
4) I'm familiar with the factory windshield problems. However, when pushing on it from the inside, it doesn't move at all, so a leak in the sealing seems a bit far fetched to me?

I really hope you guys can help me out here. The struggle has been going on for days now and I can't imagine what it would have cost me if I had let my garage do the work I did myself.

Thank you in advance,

Björn
The Netherlands

[Simmy]

i have seen a vid which shows where water gets trapped on certain Volvo models im not sure if yours is one of them the vid shows where to drill under the bonnet on the bulkhead to release this trapped water. try a google or you tube search.

[GucciPotlood]

Originally Posted by Simmy

i have seen a vid which shows where water gets trapped on certain Volvo models im not sure if yours is one of them the vid shows where to drill under the bonnet on the bulkhead to release this trapped water. try a google or you tube search.

Have you actually seen a video of this? I’ve been searching for it, but got no luck finding it.

The written descriptions I’ve seen were not clear enough to do this thing myself. If I start drilling holes, I kinda want to be absolutely 100% sure I’m doing it right, lol. 😆

Thanks for your reply.

[stuart bowes]

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/archi.../t-291826.html

it's archived so no active links, scroll right to bottom and copy paste links into browser / read last comments

not done this myself just something I found by googling

[Simmy]

yes iv seen it but it was many years ago so cant tell you exactly where. you could try using a borescope in the cavity's to see if you can locate it .there are some that plug into smart phones with an app to enable it

[NottsPhil]

Does your car have a sunroof?, when you hear the water sound does it sound like it is above your head or below?. Just wondering if it does have a roof, if the drain channels are blocked?.

[GucciPotlood]

Hi guys,

It has been a busy couple of days, so I wasn't able to work on this problem for a while, but I just drilled this hole and I was absolutely flabbergasted: I just can't believe how much water came out of there.

I was able to make a video of it and posted it on youtube. Hopefully, if someone else finds this thread, it will help finding the solution.

Thank you very very much for this information. I'm really happy I don't have an indoor pool in my car anymore. Lol.

Here is the vid: https://youtube.com/shorts/4SuU8IiWRSE?feature=shared

So now I am down to the problem with the battery indication light.

What I find strange, is that I'm measuring 4,8V on the D+ cable, and 5,8V at the regulator. This difference of 1V: Can this be the reason the indication light stays on?

Also, I've swapped the old original regulator with a new one:

- Old regulator:
Bosch BR14-C-L
F00M145311
488 806

With this regulator, the dynamo / generator / inverter gave 13,7V idle, 13,3V under load at the battery. At the generator itself a bit higher, but this might have to do with the battery being located in the trunk and therefor has some efficiency loss.

- New regulator:
Aftermarket
62332
11517/2204

With this regulator, the dynamo gives 14,4V idle, 14V under load at the battery. At the generator itself a bit higher, like the old one.

I am aware this volvo can either have a self-controlling regulator, or a computer-controlled regulator. However, my car is from October 2004, so it should have the self-controlling regulator.

So: Despite the indication light being on, the dynamo powers enough for the battery to charge. So why is it on? What am I missing?

[GucciPotlood]

Btw my car doesn't have a sun roof

[GucciPotlood]

Btw here are some pictures of what the water problem can do to your CEM module. Despite my terrible camera, you can tell de difference.

I was just about to de-solder the module to clean it, because I couldn't reach between the bridge to clean the connectors from behind. My GF gave me an idea tho by buying a pair of these at the grocery store:

https://www.tandenborstel.com/mondve...SABEgJVePD_BwE

With this I was able to reach all bad corroded connectors. First I brushed as much corrosion off as possible with a dry one, and after that I used WD40 to really clean everything up. You can see the difference.

That solved 90% of all weird unrelated electronic issues.

[Simmy]

where you drilled the hole will need some rustproofing paint dinitrol wax oil or any thing to stop it rusting did you drill both sides?