Techno puzzle – sort of

[Paul Sanderson]

Just out of interest – more of a discussion really – on my 2003 S40 some of the fuses and one of the relays are located in a very-difficult-to-reach location in the footwell under the steering wheel. Others are in the engine bay where they are very easy to reach.

I’m from a classic car background where the very few fuses (two, on my 1951 Wolseley) and no relays at all were all in the engine bay. When relays started to be used (in the 1960s I think; big silvery Lucas ones on my Triumph GT6) they were in the engine bay as well.

Fast forward some 40 years and my last three cars – all early-2000s models – have some of the fuses and relays in the awkward location I’ve described… yet some are still in the engine bay where they’re far easier to get at. So why aren’t all in the engine bay, where there is still plenty of room for them? Why, collectively, did some manufacturers (Ford, Vauxhall and Volvo in my case) suddenly decide to put some – but not all – in a hard to reach place? Yeah, bonkers, if you ask me..! Techno guys… your opinions please!

[ITSv40]

There is no logic.

As you say the S/V40 has fuses in two boxes, one in the engine bay and one under the dash. My C70 has two fuse boxes, both in the engine bay.

Another thing that defies logic is the 'soft feel' treatment on the switches. Corresponding switches in the V40 have the 'soft feel' where the C70 doesn't and vice versa.

[Simmy]

hi my volvo v70 has fuses on the end of the dash under the dash on the cem under the bonnet and in a small removable panel in the rear load area on the rem it also has hidden fuses under the fuse panel under the bonnet which are only accessible by removing the visible fuse box and turning it over most folk never discover these ..

[Paul Sanderson]

Many years ago, having had about ten years of classic cars as my daily drivers (because they were cheap) I bought my first 'modern' car – a Rover SD1, they by now being cheap enough for me to afford. One of the first things I saw was that from the trim/equipment point of view the car had been designed to be built easily on the production line – virtually slotted together. That also meant that the Rover dealerships further down the line could easily fix them when parts needed replacing, which would mean a better profit margin.

This seemed to me to be a very welcome improvement that benefitted me. Before, my cars would be immobile for some time because a part needed repairing and I had to have the right tools, etc, etc. Now it was a simple matter to unplug the dud part and slot in the new one.

This was possible because parts were now smaller (particularly electrical ones) but with the Ford, Vauxhall and, now, Volvo I was looking at a return to complexity even though there didn't seem to be any need to do so.