Safety recall for fire risk

[scbamber]

My MY2015 D4 came back today with the two bits of work done FOC by the dealer over a couple of days.

1:"Swirl throttle jammed. Dynamic compression test done (passed). Inlet manifold removed, and vacuum test done on inlet valves (passed). New inlet manifold fitted; swirl adaptions fitted and fault codes passed.

2: "Carried out Recall R29948: EMAP and TMAP sensors cleaned and ECM software upgraded as per Volvo instructions"

Fingers crossed time, then

[Hilton]

Originally Posted by scbamber

My MY2015 D4 came back today with the two bits of work done FOC by the dealer over a couple of days.

1:"Swirl throttle jammed. Dynamic compression test done (passed). Inlet manifold removed, and vacuum test done on inlet valves (passed). New inlet manifold fitted; swirl adaptions fitted and fault codes passed.

2: "Carried out Recall R29948: EMAP and TMAP sensors cleaned and ECM software upgraded as per Volvo instructions"

Fingers crossed time, then

Would seem logical to me for the content of R29948 at bullet 2 to become a routine servicing item for all VEA D4 engines.

Any thoughts?

[MikeIOW]

So should these changes be applied to all those who received the recall letter (many months ago!)?

Had my last of the 5 year services back in August: I would like to get any warrantied work on this sorting BEFORE next summers service (where I may chose to use an indy service agent!)

[MikeIOW]

To perhaps partly answer my own question....having followed the Volvo page here, I called their number.
They said they had sent letters out to the owners of specific vehicles that might be exposed to the issue (I think he said about 500?), but were now in the process of writing to the other owners (70,000 originally written to!) to reassure them there was no issue for them to be concerned with.

That said, if I put my VIN in at https://www.volvocars.com/uk/own/mai...rranty/recalls, I do get:Status:Recall INCOMPLETE

One or more outstanding campaigns have been highlighted therefore please contact your nearest authorised repairer, as soon as possible, to arrange for the remedial work to complete.

So who knows......

[Makavillain]

Hi all,
Our S60 D4 Manual, built late 2015 and bought new in early 2016, actually burnt down two days ago...

Nothing major during service over the past approx 4 years. Car had 45k miles on the dash, avg consumption was 55 mpg. Always filling up with V-Power Diesel, recommended oil and driving it normally, not like a racing driver, on usually 50-80 mile-long journeys. Two days ago, I drove some 120 miles to a nearby city to see friends, had lunch and did the shopping. Then, 4 hours later, drove back the 120 miles with an avg speed 65-75 mph on the highway without any noticeable loss of power. No EML, no warnings for oil or coolant level, nothing. (Note that couple of days before that, only the message reminder for regular maintenance popped up, since the service was due in Jan 2020. But this is a regular message to remind, not to indicate a potential threat).
I parked the car outside of the house and came inside with my family to prepare dinner. Then 30 mins later the car alarm went off, I jumped outside of the house only to find the front of the car on fire. The front of the beautiful Rebel Blue S60 burnt down completely, the fire brigade managed to react quickly - extinquished the fire, stopped the car from bursting and secured its brakes and wheels from failing which could have released the vehicle as it was parked on a street with a slight slope.... Scale of damage - totaled. Police issued an investigation - zero sign of arson. Most importantly, my family is safe but scared to death as it could have happened on the road with us inside. Another thing of interest : I went to my garage, in front of which the S60 was parked, to leave a wrench I had used in the house and the car was in tact without any smoke. This was some 15 mins prior to me hearing the car alarm and seeing the fire, which means the fire started in about 15-20 mins after I parked.

After the firemen and police left, I literally googled “my volvo s60 just burnt down” and found the articles about the recall of 500k Volvos 2014-2019 due to potential engine bay fire from Jul/Aug 2019. My burnt-down S60 fitted the description from these articles and the recall... Then, I found this thread on the forum and here I am posting.
I have not received any letters from my dealership about a pending recall. As I already said, the car did not give any warning messages or felt differently. And now I can only think of one possible reason - the fire in engine bay from the recall articles is not potential, but real. It must have been the EGR valve/bypass problem, leading to some potential melt of air intake and possible ignition of hot gases and/or ignition of oil due to melted tubing somewhere from the released gases, since nothing else flagged up and this is a known design flaw by the manufacturer.

We bought this Volvo because it is “safe”. But tell me how can one drive his or her kids in a car which can catch fire unexpectedly. So for your safety:
Please, ladies and gents, go to your dealerships and ask them to check your car for this problem in the recall while they can still address the issue and it is not too late.
Thanks and have a lovely Christmas!
M.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Makavillain

Hi all,
Our S60 D4 Manual, built late 2015 and bought new in early 2016, actually burnt down two days ago...

Nothing major during service over the past approx 4 years. Car had 45k miles on the dash, avg consumption was 55 mpg. Always filling up with V-Power Diesel, recommended oil and driving it normally, not like a racing driver, on usually 50-80 mile-long journeys. Two days ago, I drove some 120 miles to a nearby city to see friends, had lunch and did the shopping. Then, 4 hours later, drove back the 120 miles with an avg speed 65-75 mph on the highway without any noticeable loss of power. No EML, no warnings for oil or coolant level, nothing. (Note that couple of days before that, only the message reminder for regular maintenance popped up, since the service was due in Jan 2020. But this is a regular message to remind, not to indicate a potential threat).
I parked the car outside of the house and came inside with my family to prepare dinner. Then 30 mins later the car alarm went off, I jumped outside of the house only to find the front of the car on fire. The front of the beautiful Rebel Blue S60 burnt down completely, the fire brigade managed to react quickly - extinquished the fire, stopped the car from bursting and secured its brakes and wheels from failing which could have released the vehicle as it was parked on a street with a slight slope.... Scale of damage - totaled. Police issued an investigation - zero sign of arson. Most importantly, my family is safe but scared to death as it could have happened on the road with us inside. Another thing of interest : I went to my garage, in front of which the S60 was parked, to leave a wrench I had used in the house and the car was in tact without any smoke. This was some 15 mins prior to me hearing the car alarm and seeing the fire, which means the fire started in about 15-20 mins after I parked.

After the firemen and police left, I literally googled “my volvo s60 just burnt down” and found the articles about the recall of 500k Volvos 2014-2019 due to potential engine bay fire from Jul/Aug 2019. My burnt-down S60 fitted the description from these articles and the recall... Then, I found this thread on the forum and here I am posting.
I have not received any letters from my dealership about a pending recall. As I already said, the car did not give any warning messages or felt differently. And now I can only think of one possible reason - the fire in engine bay from the recall articles is not potential, but real. It must have been the EGR valve/bypass problem, leading to some potential melt of air intake and possible ignition of hot gases and/or ignition of oil due to melted tubing somewhere from the released gases, since nothing else flagged up and this is a known design flaw by the manufacturer.

We bought this Volvo because it is “safe”. But tell me how can one drive his or her kids in a car which can catch fire unexpectedly. So for your safety:
Please, ladies and gents, go to your dealerships and ask them to check your car for this problem in the recall while they can still address the issue and it is not too late.
Thanks and have a lovely Christmas!
M.

a very worrying experience , but speculation is not going to help , it could have been a few things , you would be surprised how many cigarette butts i have found whilst changing air filters , they are burned right through the tobacco and through the cigarette fitter too as the air flow makes them glow , all it needs id a few leaves in the air filter casing , that could take 20 minutes to get going .. you really need to have the cause investigated ...

any car can catch fire for any number of reasons ...

[rxtian]

I’m sorry to hear of your car. Very pleased you and your family were safe.

I totally understand it’s very suspicious, but I wonder how your fire could be related to the EGR - it seems like all the heat/energy is only one present while the engine is running, and would have dissipated before your car ignited. The source is more likely to have been electrical?
I don’t wish to defend what is obviously a (self-admitted) major design flaw - I just dont personally understand how an EGR issue could cause a fire long after the engine has cooled?

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by rxtian

I’m sorry to hear of your car. Very pleased you and your family were safe.

I totally understand it’s very suspicious, but I wonder how your fire could be related to the EGR - it seems like all the heat/energy is only one present while the engine is running, and would have dissipated before your car ignited. The source is more likely to have been electrical?
I don’t wish to defend what is obviously a (self-admitted) major design flaw - I just dont personally understand how an EGR issue could cause a fire long after the engine has cooled?

Oil and soot build-up in the intake manifold, ignited by blow-back from a soot-obstructed intake valve, might take a while to get going and then include the plastic intake manifold, then finally the under-bonnet sound insulation before becoming noticeable?

Or something completely unrelated to the recall!

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Zebster

Oil and soot build-up in the intake manifold, ignited by blow-back from a soot-obstructed intake valve, might take a while to get going and then include the plastic intake manifold, then finally the under-bonnet sound insulation before becoming noticeable?

Or something completely unrelated to the recall!

It is all speculation / hearsay , the owner needs to get volvo involved here to determine the cause , they will be very interested in this rare event and so would the insurance company i daresay .......

[Ian W XC60]

I have not received any letters from my dealership about a pending recall.

Sorry to hear about your experience, must have been pretty shocking but at least no-one was hurt.
As zebster said it is possible it was a slow burn related related to soot build up due to the well documented EGR problem but it seems unusual that there were no prior symptoms such EM light or rough running. So it may be unrelated and a case of 2+2 making 5.

It does need further investigation and as well as Volvo I would call the Driver & Vehicle Safety Agency on Friday morning and explain your car was (seemingly) subject to a safety recall re potential fire risk and that it has actually been written off in a fire and whether they have the capacity to investigate the cause. Their contact details are:
DVSA customer support
Telephone: 0300 123 9000
Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 6pm

The dealership don't actually issue safety recall letters, DVSA issue the notice having been advised by Volvo of the problem. The letter is then sent by DVLA in Swansea to all registered keepers of cars identified as potentially at risk, as you've owned the car for a while you should have received one unless you've moved address and not updated your keeper details.