Turn indicator and lights "system faults"

[Philip Fisher]

Out of interest is Diselauto a chain of garages? Just looked at where you are and all the Volvo dealers nearby seem to have DiselAuto in their name.....

[Jack21]

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

Out of interest is Diselauto a chain of garages? Just looked at where you are and all the Volvo dealers nearby seem to have DiselAuto in their name.....

Yes. They have grouped together to market and service Volvo, Volkswagen, Audi (in some cases) and I believe Ford as well.

[Jack21]

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

I think if you can you need to get a new dealer.

The car typically has random software faults which are either:- transient, unusual and never appear again or are continual and very common. There are plenty of examples of the later such as the battery low warning. Examples of the former crop up now and again.

However I think your problem is not purely software.

The car also suffers from apparent software problems where a software fault appears but it is caused by a faulty bit of hardware which causes the issue. Due to the indicator and headlight flash sharing a stalk this looks like it is your problem. A dodgy unit, or dodgy connection to the unit, causes the unwanted operation.

There are plenty of examples of the above too. Mine suffered from wiper failure warnings continually for months and then the dealer replaced the stalk unit, downloaded the new software and the error was never seen again.

Indicator failures have been known since day one. Erin Baker from The Daily Telegraph here in the UK ran a long term test D5 maybe 24 months ago now and that was off the road for part of the time due to indicator failure.

So basically in my long winded way, I am saying your car obviously needs a new indicator stalk control module and your dealer obviously hasnt got a clue what it is doing.....

That's a lot of good information. Thank you.

[volvo for ever]

swm steering wheel module and 2 stalks plus swm reload this will fix fault

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by volvo for ever

swm steering wheel module and 2 stalks plus swm reload this will fix fault

Are both stalks parts of one unit then?

[Jack21]

Originally Posted by volvo for ever

swm steering wheel module and 2 stalks plus swm reload this will fix fault

Well then, it's obvious why they (my Volvo stealership) are giving me the shrugged shoulders routine: They will have to replace an expensive component (or components) under warranty, not to mention the labor involved.

I had my concerns about buying a car loaded with so much technology and sensors that most definitely will fail at some point and have to be replaced, but really, these days it can't be avoided. I had also considered the Audi A6 Allroad and the Audi Q7, but they are equally loaded with tech and sensors that will fail. Because I was relatively happy with my old Volvo V40 which saved my wife's and my life in 2007 (head on collision), I was ready to return to Volvo after years of driving a Subaru Outback.

Guess I'm just going to have to slug it out with my dealer.

[Lexman8]

Originally Posted by Jack21

They will have to replace an expensive component (or components) under warranty, not to mention the labor involved.

The dealer can also claim his labour costs from Volvo but sometimes dealers are reluctant to do certain work as Volvo will only reimburse a standard amount for labour costs regardless of how long the job actually takes.

[Jack21]

Hey everyone. I was able to record the failure on my phone the other day. Here's a link to the video if anyone's curious:
https://youtu.be/2rby4c8qoH4

So what happens is I flip the turn indicator wand up or down, and sometimes this error occurs. Notice after one or two seconds the headlight indicator on the dash starts to show that they are in the process of flashing the poor driver ahead of me. :-(

[Jack21]

Update: Despite video evidence, my Volvo dealer still can't reproduce the problem and therefore can't fix "a problem we can't see."

I don't get it. Aren't these errors logged into the onboard computer system and readable by the Volvo diagnostics? I mean, WTF?

[Lexman8]

My own experience suggests that the diagnostic logging is neither extensive nor sophisticated.