Coincidence? I think not.

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jun 28, 2005
Messages
22
Location
houston
I just took my Volvo V90 in for service the other day. We pick it up a few days later and drive it the next day to New Orleans for Easter. As soon as we leave the lot, the windshield wiper fluid light comes on. “No problem”, I think, “we‘ll fill it up tonight.” Then I notice the fog lights are not working. ***? I know they worked fine when we dropped off the car, because my wife was driving the Volvo in question behind me at 7:00 AM and had her fogs on. I remember thinking how bright they were. I had replaced the stock bulbs with Silverstars not quite a year ago.

I fill up the reservoir with the blue stuff and drive to New Orleans. The next morning, I notice a huge puddle of blue stuff underneath the car. Huh? “They must have nicked something while they were working on the car”, I think. “We’ll have them fix it when we get back.”

Today, after spending 4 hours on the cars, they say that both foglights burned out at the same time and that there is no leak (at least one they can find). HUH? Am I paranoid or does sound like a bunch of baloney?
 
Could it be during the course of working on it they zapped the wiring for the fog lights and burned both out?

As far as the wiper fluid, could they have left a line off/loose and it leaked? They discovered their mistake and tightened it?

A lot of *ifs* there....
 
So I pulled the bulbs yesterday and they are both completely broken off (both sides) at the base- not burned out filaments. This to me suggests some sort of shock, not lifespan.

I'm going to monitor the reservoir and see what happens.
 
Please explain the bulb breakage in detail. I'm not following you exactly...didn't the dealer replace the bulbs after the 4 hours?

That sounds weird.

What were they doing to the car during the first go-around? Did you not determine where the leak came from? (I know most newer Volvos will leak at the neck if you overfill the tank, so how full was it when you filled it?)
 
Could be the dealer screwed around with somin. I've seen those "coicidences" first hand. mother in law's RX300 went into the dealer for a rear main seal, they had it for 1 week. day after we pick it up both front wheel bearings go out on the interstate!! BOTH! What are the chances of that.... sounds like they wheeled the car around w/out CV's in it and ruined the bearings. Dealer's don't always give great service. Lexus of tampa bay sucks. When I changed the oil on it for the first time the air box wasn' clipped down and the pipe between the MAF and throttle body was falling off. and the lock lug nuts were hand tight. Only thing I'll say in defense of your volvo dealer is those sylvania silverstars do burn out quicker than normal bulbs. but somin sounds off...
 
Find a good independent Volvo mechanic with a clean shop and a good rep. He may have to do a better job on your car to stay in business, because he does not sell as meny new Volvos as the dealer, like none. I had a bad experience with the dealer and never again, ever. My independent mechanic is a gem. Does everything asked, reasonable prices and no hassles. He even gave me a handful of crush washers for the drain plug.
 
My totally unscientific observation is that dealers in the larger metropolis areas suck, because they know the odds of you buying a second car from them are slim, so they make all their money the first time they get you. In smaller, more isolated areas, the dealers tend to be better because the statistics show you will at least give them another try. Also, there are fewer independents who can afford the tools for specialized repairs, so people bring their cars to the dealerships with more mileage. If you think dealers are bad, check out the big chains, like Sears or Midas.An independent repair garage that specializes in your marque is usually the best way to go. In fact, don't buy a car if there is no indepenent shop that specializes in your car.
 
quote:

Originally posted by Pablo:
Please explain the bulb breakage in detail. I'm not following you exactly...didn't the dealer replace the bulbs after the 4 hours?

That sounds weird.

What were they doing to the car during the first go-around? Did you not determine where the leak came from? (I know most newer Volvos will leak at the neck if you overfill the tank, so how full was it when you filled it?)


The car was taken in to fix a vibration problem and to do the 60,000 mile service. They replaced a bad transmission mount which they believed caused the vibration. Althought the drivetain seems smoother, the vibration at highway speed did not go away.

The bulb breakage is as follows:

The bulbs are both "burned out". They were working when I took the car in. I pulled the bulbs and inspected them. Unlike a typical burned out bulb, the filament inside the bulb is not burned through at the spiral wound top. Rather the filament is totally separated or broke off where the two wires go back into the base of the bulb base. The entire filament with no obvious burnt area is shaking around in the glass, totally free.

Perhaps this is how these bulbs (Silverstars) burn out? I have never seen anything like this.
 
I think the chances of those bulbs burning out at the same time is pretty rare. Maybe they did something with the electrical system. Can you damage the electrical system with a battery test?

I hate taking my car anywhere. Wal-Mart botched my wheel balance 2 times in a row. First guy just put some loose weights on the rims that I could move aroudn with my hand. I took them in again and the guy quickly put the wheel weights on. Drive on freeway = vibration all over. Took my car in AGAIN and watched the guy balance my tires with old weights and they were so far off it surprised him. The previous Wal-Mart guy just pounded weights on randomly. This guy did it right with me watching.

This is in the City (Los Angeles). The Wal-Mart in Wisconsin actually put on seat covers, checked your tire pressure, filled your powersteering, etc... Wal-Mart out here doesn't even fill oil to right level let alone balance tires right.
 
Wal-mart by me bent my friend's wheel putting a big 15" drag radial on... big flexy tire... still manages to bend the rim. If you guys have or had 6 lug Toyota wheels... omg... it's a whole nother world. 6 lug toyota wheels need to be balanced on a "lug" adapter. in other words spun by lugs, not the center hub hole. Yet I've only found 2 tire shops in tampa that do it. Both being small shops. Most places say they have it to get you in, you wait 2hrs... they pull the wheel... and on go the cones. you start throwing a fit... and they act suprised. That's why most Toyota trucks with larger or even factory sized tires never get balanced. Point.... most shops (usually bigger shops) don't know their Arse from their elbow.
 
To continue the story, the dealer offered to change the bulbs out and charge me for it! I said no thanks, and stopped by NAPA for replacements (non-silverstar).

I am aware of the Volvo overflow in the neck. MY problem is this: Before I took the car in, I never had a problem with the reservoir. After I pick up the car, the low wiper fluid light is coming on. I fill up the reservoir, and drive around, no problem. The next day I wake up and their is a huge puddle of stuff under my car. And the light comes on again. It seems random. The dealer looked for the obvious (puncture, split hose) but couldn't find anything. It just tees me off that this wasn't there before I took the car in.
 
I do think the tire problem is bad balancing or the need for re-alignment. I have aftermarket rims, but they are the correct pattern, correct centerbore, and correct lug nuts. The dealer wants to blame the aftermarket rims, but as stated before, the rims and tires were fine until they messed with the tie rod bushings.

I'm going to take the car to a highly recommended place here in town and let them check the alignment and check the rims for any problems.

There is a Volvo specific independent right up the road from work. I need to try him out. I took the car to the dealer due to time constraints and regret it.
 
Having a leak in my windowwashing reservoir would bother the _____ out of me.
frown.gif
To tell you the truth I don't see how that would have cracked if they had accidently tapped it. My WW reservoir is pretty solid - I'd have to pound that thing pretty hard to crack it.

I can't begin to imagine what they were doing to cause your headlights to go out and to mess up the reservoir. They didn't find any leaks?! LOL so much for that.

You might have to do your own testing - fill up, put a big piece of cardboard and see where the first drop hits the ground and go up from there.

As for the vibration - You are probably right about the bad balancing. That was my case above - vibration in the steering wheel and I could feel the back tires too. They just slapped some tire weights on and that was it. Sometimes you have to watch them balance and look for the 0.00 on the balance machine meaning your tire is balanced. I had to do this 3 times before driving was smooth.
frown.gif
 
Ya never know...

My wife once had a new Mercedes 190 Diesel, and she drove it about 100KM each way every day to work - it was great - safe, solid and really easy on fuel consumption.

One Sunday evening I climbed in to go somewhere in it, and when I switched on the headlights BOTH gave a blue flash on the garage wall and went out!

I figured that the chances of both headlights going at the same time was miniscule, so I took it to the dealer to get them to do an electrical diagnosis. I was pretty positive that the voltage was way over 12 volts - this can happen in a diesel without frying the ignition circuits because there aren't any!

The bill? Diagnosis service plus two headlight bulbs. Pure coincidence, they'd failed at exactly the same time and everything else was fine.

Cheers
JJ
 
My brother had his C/V boots slit by a Volvo dealership. Possibly twice - the first time maybe not, but having both go out with no grease residue on any other parts is hard to believe.
The second time they tried to stick it to him again, and got caught.
 
Was this at Dairy Ashford and I-10?

I had a similar experience there some years ago when it was Sefeldt Volvo and I had to go there for an emergency repair.

Last time I set foot on the place.
 
I would say it is most likely shock related damage, had that on my car before when I ran over a shreaded tire and it hit my bumper and knock all the light on the right side out.

Also, the probability of both side burn out due to wear and tear is not that low. Since they are connected to the same voltage source and if there is a mild spike, and both lights were already some what worn, then yeah, it could just burn out.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top