!!!!!!!!! IMPORTANT ALL 850/855 OWNERS READ !!!!!!!!

Hi ALL

I bought a volvo about 10 weeks ago an 850 T5 CD 1996 " N " .This was quite simply the best car i had owned to date , it was fast 260 bhp/ quiet / luxurious it ooooozed class and style it was the BEEEEZ NEEEEZ . Twas a cold Thursday morn on my 6th day of ownership , i and a friend were on our way to work when i tried out the heated seats for the first time . Mine did not warm up and his did strange i though this car had been inspected by the AA at a cost of £235 only 10 days earlier and the seats were passed as working this inspection i would not reccomend to anyone it was a TOTAL waste of money and a rip off but that is another story , Oh well i though something to get fixed . A mear 2 mins down the road and the cabin was quickly filling with thick /black toxic fumes . This was caused by the WHOLE of the base of the seat catching fire . There is a small cylindrical sensor in the middle of the seat base , this has two wires attached one of the wires had fractured causing a spark which then resulted in the foam base catching fire . Why is the seat base foam not fire retardent you would have though the WORLDS SAFEST car manufacturer these cars sell themselves on this fact alone SAFETY . I put this question to my Volvo dealer and Volvo UK both could not answer it . I did the usual rang the firebrigade etc . I phone Volvo UK who put this down as a serious safety issue but would not inspect my car until permission was granted from my insurers Tesco who are by FAR the worst insurance company i have every been with but that is another story . The permission was duely granted and Volvo sent 2 field engineers who took 3/4 of a day to inspect my Volvo . What i have written in the last 2 sentences took 2 whole months to achieve . After reading my local evening paper there was an artical in it which read ..........

RECALL SHOCKER

VOLVO are recalling 65,000 cars in the US because
seat heaters could short circuit and catch fire.
It involves 1995/6 models of the Volvo 854 and
855 with seat heaters. Excessive compression of
the seat cushion could damage the wiring and cause
a short , said the US National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration .


If anyone is interested this is the website you need to visit ......

"http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/recalls/Index.cfm"

Now use these details ....

NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 02V314000
Component: INTERIOR SYSTEMS:BUCKET SEATS HEATING ELEMENTS
Manufacturer: VOLVO CARS OF NA, INC.

Or you can fill in the relevant vehicle details ie 1996/volvo/855/bucket seat fire
This will take you to the page with ALL the info.

It would seem that Volvo UK have kept this under wraps here in the UK simply because of the british attitude we just do not complain enough . Reading through a few posts on the forum alone there are a few 850 owners who have had the same problem as me just mine is the extreme in that the seat caught fire destroying quite a bit off the cabin enough to write the car off .
My insurance company are willing to try and see what can be obtained from Volvo UK with regard to this fault but what we need to find out is How many of your club members who own either 850/854/855 have had this happen to them not necessarily resulting in fire just total heated seat failure . I have been reading a few of the posts on your forum and it has happened to a few people i can see but just how many ???? . When designing a seat you cannot tell me that the wire routing could not have been done in such a way that the flex was as minimal as possible or even iliminated altogether i mean Volvos are built to last so people are going to sit in the seat and drive them this is what they are designed for .
I have also been in touch with the Department of Transport Vehicle Inspectorate and passed on ALL the info i have regarding the fault to my car and the recall in the USA . I have since received a letter saying they have been in touch with volvo armed with my info and are awaiting a reply from Volvo UK.
I do hope you can help me which will in turn help other volvo owners if we do in fact get a result from this i mean just imagine you are setting off on a journey to visit relatives , it is a cold January morning , there is you your wife and the 3 kids in the car , you are happily gliding down the motorway , you pull out into the fast lane to overtake a slower lorry when WOOOOSH up goes the seat you are sitting on how would you feel ???? just think could happen .........

If you have any questions regarding this mail PLEASE do not hesitate to drop me a mail and i1ll do my very best to answer them .

Can i take this opportunity to thank ALL who get this far and apologise for the length of this post but i do feel it is a very important safety issue that needs Volvo UK`s attention

Cheers

Mark

Ps i was just wondering what is the difference between the 850 and the 855 ????

855 - estate (5 door) 854 saloon 4 door.

As far as your problem goes I would suggestthat if volvo knew and recalled cars elsewhere then they are in trouble for not doing anything in this country. But that's just a guess....

Good Luck

Stu

[Mike Smith]

Good site that, wonder if we have a similar one over here?

Regarding the failure of the wiring, I had a wire break from the thermostat which is quite often caused by long legged dudes in the back seat catching the wiring with there size 11's!
I removed the seat and replaced the wire, I thought then, that this could and should had been designed better than it was. I routed the harness safely out of harms way and provided more slack cable at the thermostat, hopefully now it shouldn't get snagged.

I'll mention my concerns on the seat material next time at the dealers and see if they know anything.

Regards
Mike Smith
----------
96 850 GLT

I can tell you this, when the news broke in Sweden about the US recall, the Swedish Volvo owners who had had their bums burnt by Volvo seats in 850s got seriously ****ed off. Volvo has to date however still refused to agree to a recall anywhere but the US which does not make any sense apart from the fact that the US is a large and important market and they want to keep Volvo drivers there sweat and that a global recall would cost megabucks. How the devil this could pass by without Volvo realising the problem is beyond me. This is serious stuff. I can assure you there are _many_ Volvo onwers who would like to make Volvo pay out, including some who had their entire car burn. I am prepared to help out if you intend to start an international campaign.

George

Anglo-swede resident near Leuven in Belgium

'87 745 GLE Turbo Diesel Intercooler (D24TIC/M46, 200k)
'88 745 Turbo Intercooler (B230FT/M46, 270k)
'88 745 GL (B200E/M47, 200k)
'89 440 GL (B18K, 90k)

[GorgeousGeorge]

seems to be a common occurrence regards recalls.

remember the towbar recall, local dealership was completely unaware of the recall and as yet still havnt replaced mine !!!

scott

My passenger seat has never worked and I was going to try fixing it now I'm not so sure.The drivers seat seems to get too hot compared to other models I've had so I think I will warm it myself from now on!!
PS 850 saloon 855 estate

FYI - product recalls etc. Having worked in technical & quality for many consumer products for some of the biggest companies in the world. I have come across the most simple alleged faults, far from car seats igniting, and there's a recall in the US. The reason why there's action in US but little elsewhere? ...U.S. law. Its down to liability and the huge sums that companies get fined if there is a fault or fail to make everybody aware, as such instruction manuals practically list everything you shouldn't do to cover any possible accident. In Europe our laws take into account 'common sense', on the basis that products pass safety legislation/testing such as TUV/British Standards etc etc. We also play the numbers game i.e. defects per million. In the US it doesn't matter if there's one in a billion faults you get sued and have to pay out. The main reason for the US being so tight is a backlash to 50's car suspension design. Also remember the Ford tyre fiasco? BUT- there should be a better way of communicating issues in Europe at least on the Internet and all dealers should be fully aware and enforced to check any cars that pass through during services.

Hi Mark,
850 is the generic model number for the series.
854 is the saloon car (4 doors)
855 is the estate car (5 doors)

8 series
5 cylinder
4/5 doors

cheers

gt

All


Can anyone tell me if the "small cylindrical sensor" mentioned by Mark is the thermostat?

I have, just today finally got round to fixing the wiring for my heated seat which has not worked since I bought the car about 14 months ago. Think I may have been very lucky not to have had a similar problem (to Mark), as one of the wires ( to the sensor/thermostat?) attached to the centre of the seat base had broken free, leaving it's connector in situ, resulting in uninsulated wire flapping around. If this were the +ve wire and had connected to earth...

Coljono even if you don't intend to use your heated seat it might be worth checking for the same problem!

On the fascinating subject of seats(!) does anyone know if the passenger seat should have a "passenger sensor" so that the seat belt light can be flashed if they do not have there seat belt on? I can find no trace of the type of sensor (switch) that did the job on my 340 and 440.

malcolm

[Chris_Rogers]

1. Yes it's the thermostat.

2. There's no passenger sensor.