2013MY (14 Plate) V40 R-Design Screen Failure

[dbm75]

Hi Folks,

I have a 2013 MY (14 Plate) V40 D2 R-Design that has suddenly experienced a total failure of the infotainment screen this morning.

The screen is totally dead at start up and black. The heating appears to still work but I can't see anything. Satnav, Radio, Etc are all non-functioning.

Holding the power button doesn't reset the Sensus system.

I have checked the fuses in the box under the drivers seat and they are all seated and checked OK with a multi-meter.

The battery is good (12V at rest and 15V when running/charging so it's not a lack of power that's causing the system to be shut off.)

I can't see any obvious loose connections.

The car is about 3.5 years old with only 18K on the clock so I'm really hoping that it isn't the amplifier/module that's died.

Any suggestions or should I just take it to the local Volvo dealer and prepare for the worst..?

[Acer]

Originally Posted by dbm75

Hi Folks,

I have a 2013 MY (14 Plate) V40 D2 R-Design that has suddenly experienced a total failure of the infotainment screen this morning.

The screen is totally dead at start up and black. The heating appears to still work but I can't see anything. Satnav, Radio, Etc are all non-functioning.

Holding the power button doesn't reset the Sensus system.

I have checked the fuses in the box under the drivers seat and they are all seated and checked OK with a multi-meter.

The battery is good (12V at rest and 15V when running/charging so it's not a lack of power that's causing the system to be shut off.)

I can't see any obvious loose connections.

The car is about 3.5 years old with only 18K on the clock so I'm really hoping that it isn't the amplifier/module that's died.

Any suggestions or should I just take it to the local Volvo dealer and prepare for the worst..?

Have you checked under both seats to see if any cables have been pulled loose? We don't see too many people on this forum reporting an infotainment failure but funnily enough someone popped up only the other week with the same problem. I asked my mate, who works at Volvo, if they see many of these failures and he says it is rare. If everything seems OK, perhaps try unplugging and reseating all connections and then it is off to the Volvo dealership. Please get back and let us know what is required as the forum relies on information sharing.

May be worth contacting Lukas at Volvo diagnostic, as he can often fix a module failure at a fraction of the main dealer price.

[dbm75]

I checked all the connections then I took the car down to my local Volvo service centre and after some testing it looks like it is a failure in the control module.

There is power to the unit but the optical output from the unit is dead.

They tried reloading the software but the unit remains totally unresponsive.

Acer mentioned in his reply above about this being uncommon and indeed they had only seen this failure three times in the last seven years.

The good news though is that they have contacted Volvo and they have agreed to make a goodwill gesture payment of 70% of the cost which considering the car is now out of warranty is a great result.

[Acer]

Originally Posted by dbm75

I checked all the connections then I took the car down to my local Volvo service centre and after some testing it looks like it is a failure in the control module.

There is power to the unit but the optical output from the unit is dead.

They tried reloading the software but the unit remains totally unresponsive.

Acer mentioned in his reply above about this being uncommon and indeed they had only seen this failure three times in the last seven years.

The good news though is that they have contacted Volvo and they have agreed to make a goodwill gesture payment of 70% of the cost which considering the car is now out of warranty is a great result.

I will wager you have a FVSH. They only offer goodwill gestures to cars fully serviced by Volvo. Good result but it really shouldn't have failed and bloody right they should pay most of the cost! Is it the unit itself that needs replacing? Maybe a dodgy batch came out the factory. Can you remember anything unusual happening before it went?

[dbm75]

Yep, the complete unit needs to be replaced and the car had been serviced at the main dealer three times since new.

As for the cause, no idea. The system was working perfectly on Saturday afternoon. Parked on the drive then on Sunday AM - Dead.

Only thing that I can think of that could have been an influencing factor is I did notice a few months ago that it was running an older build of the software. (Had planned to get it updated at next service.)

[Acer]

Originally Posted by dbm75

Yep, the complete unit needs to be replaced and the car had been serviced at the main dealer three times since new.

As for the cause, no idea. The system was working perfectly on Saturday afternoon. Parked on the drive then on Sunday AM - Dead.

Only thing that I can think of that could have been an influencing factor is I did notice a few months ago that it was running an older build of the software. (Had planned to get it updated at next service.)

What was the charge after the 70% reduction?

[dbm75]

Can't tell you the full price yet as the new replacement control unit has unfortunately not fixed the issue.

I am being told by the dealership that the IAM module has also been damaged and am awaiting a new one of these on order as well.

List price on the module is around £960 and £600+ for the IAM. I'll update this once I have a final figure.

[Acer]

Originally Posted by dbm75

Can't tell you the full price yet as the new replacement control unit has unfortunately not fixed the issue.

I am being told by the dealership that the IAM module has also been damaged and am awaiting a new one of these on order as well.

List price on the module is around £960 and £600+ for the IAM. I'll update this once I have a final figure.

So what they really mean is that there was no need to change the unit and you have incurred unnecessary expense! You should put your foot down and refuse to cover the unit cost. Problem is that these days the junior guys are basically just fitters rather than engineers. I have had to direct their troubleshooting a few times. Only when you get a senior tech, who has been working with Volvos for years, do you quickly get to the root of a problem.

[dbm75]

This has crossed my mind as well.

Would I be right in saying that the link between the control module and IAM is an optical link or is there an electrical connection as well? If it's optical there's no way a fault in one should damage the other?

I think I will investigate this more.

[Acer]

Originally Posted by dbm75

This has crossed my mind as well.

Would I be right in saying that the link between the control module and IAM is an optical link or is there an electrical connection as well? If it's optical there's no way a fault in one should damage the other?

I think I will investigate this more.

I am not certain but either way it sounds very likely that the £960 unit was not required at all. This is the problem - a lot of the time they just change stuff until they hit the jackpot. I had an XC90 with what turned out to be a blocked breather hose. They were insisting on changing the MAF and I point blank told them this is not the issue. For starters I installed a new MAF the year before (though it wasn't necessary as turned out to be the CEM). Eventually a senior tech took it, conducted a smoke test and found the blocked hose within a couple of hours. I refused to pay for the troubleshooting done by the junior tech and they agreed. At one point they insisted there was a MAF fault code but could not produce it when asked. TBF they have always been good to me, but I have learned to insist a senior tech is put straight on an issue.