New S60 niggles

[Lordsummit]

Hi, recent new owner of an early 2005 S60 here, I’ve used the pages to nail most of the niggles it had when it arrived, but two persist and I can’t find answers. Hoping some wise men can come to my aid!

The first is the washer jets, they don’t seem very powerful. They were fine until I filled up with my usual mix of washer fluid and water, but seem to have become weak as a result. Are Volvos like VAG and fussy about the fluid? Am I now looking at replacement nozzles?

Secondly and very annoyingly I have a head unit issue. It seems similar to the classic HU-850 problem in that there will be a pop, then all radio FM and AM ceases. Isn’t it normal for the classic fault to present as FM failing but AM continuing? It usually comes back the next time the car is restarted, if not pulling the fuse seems to reset it all. The radio seldom seems to display RDS info either. It doesn’t tell me whether it’s R3 or R4 most of the time. The problem seems to happen most often in the rain, I’ve checked the amplifier in the boot, that all seems dry. I wondered whether the aerial (behind the bumper?) could be the issue? Could it be indicative of a low battery level?

Also on occasions the Rev counter gets a bit wacky and will show ever decreasing revs for idling. This doesn’t bother me, just hoping it’s not indicative of a wider issue.

However, what a fabulous comfy car. Only done 105k, hoping to get it to the 200k mark!

[Lordsummit]

Hmmm, the plot thickens, weather much dryer the last few days, the Radio seems to have started working properly again. Water looking like a possibility. Am I right in thinking if it was getting in around the head unit I’d likely have other issues? Anyone know where water might be getting in around the aerial? I’ve looked in the side of the boot and that all seems clean and dry. So the finger is pointing at the aerial itself. Is there a diagram online anywhere that would show me how the aerial behind the bumper connects up to the aerial amplifier? Are there separate am and fm aerials? If there are as AM and FM goes down that rules out one faulty aerial doesn’t it?
Thanks

[Georgeandkira]

I found a thick material clogging the strainer at the very bottom of my washer reservoir.
It completely stopped the passing of fluid to the pump.
The good news was that it was easily reachable. You can pull the pump out of its rubber grommet.
The grommet itself is shaped like a thimble. The strainer is the "fingertip" part of the thimble.

Too bad you can't get a "test radio" and drive with it temporarily. If no popping occurred you'd know it was the head unit itself.

On the antenna side, there's a signal booster involved too. In a V70 it's in a C-pillar

[Lordsummit]

Originally Posted by Georgeandkira

I found a thick material clogging the strainer at the very bottom of my washer reservoir.
It completely stopped the passing of fluid to the pump.
The good news was that it was easily reachable. You can pull the pump out of its rubber grommet.
The grommet itself is shaped like a thimble. The strainer is the "fingertip" part of the thimble.

Too bad you can't get a "test radio" and drive with it temporarily. If no popping occurred you'd know it was the head unit itself.

On the antenna side, there's a signal booster involved too. In a V70 it's in a C-pillar

Thanks for that. I’ve now had a completely dry week, and the radio has been fine, I’m sure that water is involved somewhere. I’ve located the amplifier, I’m going to start at the antennae, I believe it’s in the bumper somewhere. To add to the possibilities there’s the remnants of a phone kit installed. There’s a microphone by the mirror, and a tiny aerial on the back screen! All very noughties!!

Would the strainer being blocked affect the headlight washers? They seem completely fine.

[D5meister]

If the rev count is erratic you have a DIM fail.

This can be sent to a guy in London for about 70quid.


I did mine over a year ago- it was a small block of surface mount resistors that had become intermittant. A 20p fix.

It will likely get worse with more odd fails, if you remove the DIM Disconnect the Neg on the battery first - if you dont, you will get a stubborn and potetially expensive Airbag fault.

[Lordsummit]

Originally Posted by D5meister

If the rev count is erratic you have a DIM fail.

This can be sent to a guy in London for about 70quid.


I did mine over a year ago- it was a small block of surface mount resistors that had become intermittant. A 20p fix.

It will likely get worse with more odd fails, if you remove the DIM Disconnect the Neg on the battery first - if you dont, you will get a stubborn and potetially expensive Airbag fault.

Is this the case with a 2005? Thought it was the up to 2003 models that had this?
Thanks. Any idea who the chap in London is?

Thanks chaps, it’s all much appreciated.