Liquid (probably water) inside the frame of Volvo XC90 causing electrical issues.

- Niskayuna, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Volvo XC90. The contact stated that the vehicle shut off and back on causing a painful jerking motion to the occupants of the vehicle. The contact hurt his neck and shoulders from the drastic jolt that the vehicle made. The lights and all power shut off and then they immediately come back on. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer several times and was told that they could not find anything wrong with the vehicle. The contact also stated that the failure seemed to happen every 500 miles and was now happening more frequently. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 80,000 and the failure mileage was 119,000.

- Glasgow, KY, USA

During long durations(>4hrs) of driving my 2004 Volvo XC90, it seems to have electrical problems that have caused me and the passengers to be put into dangerous situations. For example, driving on a long trip with the cruise control enabled and trying to accelerate up a hill and suddenly the car will go into an engine protection mode and reduce power to the extent that I can't accelerate and have to pull over on the side of the road--(boost control module has been replaced and the engine control module has been replaced.) as long as I don't use the cruise control this will not occur. Also, there was a software update in 2009. Next, after trying to accelerate up a hill, there seems to be intermittent reduction in engine power, not allowing the car to accelerate. After trying to accelerate the "check engine" light has appeared and will not go off (waiting to have this problem diagnosed)...

- Richmond, VA, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Volvo XC90. The contact stated that while driving 65 mph, every electrical component malfunctioned. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated that the stereo system needed to be replaced; the vehicle was repaired. Two days after the repair, the electrical system malfunctioned again. The vehicle had not been inspected or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 132,000.

- Kings Mountain, NC, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Volvo XC90. The contact stated that the owner's manual provided inaccurate information pertaining to the towing capacity; however, the 2005 and 2006 owner's manual specified the accurate weight reduction with the vehicle occupants. In addition, the entire electrical system became inoperative intermittently. The relay switch, internal rem and yaw modules were replaced at different times. While driving the engine would completely shut off when the contacts knee was close to the ignition key. The failure continued after the vehicle was repaired. Currently, diagnostic testing was being performed by the dealer. The failure mileage was 10,000.

- Marietta, GA, USA

Multiple electrical system problems with most recent being a shutdown everything electrical on the dashboard. Car would still drive but no instrumentation, door locks, windows or ability to open gas tank cover from button inside car.

- Marietta, GA, USA

2004 Volvo xc 90, 2.5 AWD. While driving on I40 at night, (65 mph, in drive) a loud thump followed by momentary electrical failure( headlights, loss of engine power.) it then picked back up and continued on for approx 1/4 mile and it happened again. Made into far right lane from the 3rd lane over. Other than the radio volume everything worked as normal the next 40 miles to home. This happened at approx. 9:30 pm in the middle of the interstate. What if the lights had failed and it not regained power, 40/85 is a busy highway at night. I was driving with my wife and 2 kids.

- Stokesdale, NC, USA

I have a 2004 Volvo XC90 that needs the cem replaced a cost of $1400. As I was doing research on my cars problem I noticed that almost every model of Volvo has the same issue. The cem is the computer that controls everything. When mine went bad I was driving 70mph down the interstate and the car just shut off. Very dangerous!!!!!

- Houston, TX, USA

While driving in rain about two ours left headlight went out twice but came back on, almost flickering motion. Noticed that the electrical system inside car flickered as well. Head light went out again for third time and so I pulled over and turn the car off and back on and was fine. Continued driving for another 30 mins when all of a sudden entire electrical system went out during driving. Total blackness. The only thing I could do was steer to the side of the road and stop. Turned the car off again and back on and worked fine but had "SRS" airbag warning light.

- Whitmore Lake, MI, USA

Coming home to southern California from a trip in Arizona and driving at night though the Nevada desert. Weather was nice, dry conditions, light traffic ( the sun had set about 7:00 in the evening) - January 2008 and we were cruising at about 65 mph. At about 50 miles outside banning the car had a power surge, and it felt as if we went over a bump on the road, there was a quick flicker in all lights and the navigation system reset. The recovery was almost immediate and did not think much of it. About half hour later it happened again. This time started to worry about the car as it was dark, had small kids in the car and we were in the middle of nowhere, desert for miles and miles. So, with no options we kept driving. About ten minutes later it happened again. This time there was no recovery. All lights, instrument panel, headlights, emergency lights, rear light all out. The car was pitch black. I believe only the fog lights were working but was worried about visibility on the road as we had no rear lights what so ever and the majority of the traffic at night on the I-10 is trucks. Drove on shoulder for about 2 miles and took the next exit. Small gas station only, no repair shop, no motel nothing; only a truck stop. After a small respite we stated up the car again and engine and all lights were again functional. I was terrified of driving the car home still over 100 miles away and no where near civilization, but since we had no other choice we did. No further incidents upon getting home. Dealer had no idea what could have caused that, they update computer codes, and a control module. To this date they still do not know what could have caused that. We are very lucky to have not gotten into an accident or worse.

- South Pasadena, CA, USA

While driving at night after picking up soccer carpool, low beam head lights would intermittently go off, causing a message to appear of low beam bulb failure then after a 5 seconds would come back on and the message would disappear. This occurred 4 or 5 times within a couple of minutes then never occurred again during this trip. This is the second time in the past 2 weeks we have experienced this problem. Fortunately both occurrences occurred during low speed driving in well lit areas.

- Charlotte, NC, USA

My 2004 Volvo XC90 sef has been experiencing intermittent engine failures/power shortages for the past several months. After driving for approximately 1 hour, often at highway speeds, the car will make a large sound and intermittently jerk, and simultaneously the gauges go down, exterior lights go out, interior lights may go on, radio shuts off, wipers cycle once, air/heat goes off. This lasts approximately one second, however, at times the interior lights will not shut off until the car is restarted. Once the problem begins, it happens intermittently (5+ times) until the car is shut off and not used for a period of time.

- Windham, NH, USA

My headlights, driving lights, park lights, and turn signals are not working. This began when I started to go somewhere last night. All of these things were working the day before. The tail lights, turn signals, and brake lights are working in the rear. My vehicle is garaged when it is not in use. My radio, cd player, or satellite radio would not operate 2 days ago and started working the next time I started my car. About 2 weeks ago the car wouldn't start. It acted like the security system had been activated as it would crank, but not start. I waited for about an hour and tried it again and it started the first time. I have checked all fuses. I am taking it to the repair shop today to see if they can figure out what is happening. These problems are intermittent and do not repeat often enough to diagnose properly. I can see this being very dangerous if I were driving at night and the headlights went out. I live in a rural area with a large deer population and it is hard enough to avoid them with the headlights working.

- Rogers, AR, USA

The vehicle is intermittently shutting off while driving on the private roads or freeway, all electrical equipment (dashboard, gauges, stereo, some windows, driving tranny changer - can't shift), and all other items are going out. The power of the vehicle will stall for 1/2 second in as many as 3-5 times during an episode. Ultimately resulting in all electrical power failing. This appears to also be causing the batter to not be charged. The battery is new, purchased a few days ago to see if this would resolve the issue, which it didn't. thus the car cannot be started after a few days of driving without trickle-charging the battery. The SRS baggage warning has not become engaged. I am the second owner of this vehicle, it doesn't appear through carfax or other records history that the previous owner had repaired these issues. This is very concerning, because this could cause an accident, leave me or my family stranded.

- West Valley City, UT, USA

The contact owns a 2004 Volvo XC90. While driving approximately 45 mph, the vehicle became unresponsive to the contacts attempts to accelerate. All electrical components also failed. The vehicle was pulled over and shut off for approximately 3 hours. Upon restart, the vehicle would drive as normal but all of the warning indicator lights on the dashboard were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the failure was unable to be diagnosed and the vehicle was not repaired. The failure recurred twice and the vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic. The mechanic was still unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 94,000 and the current mileage was 97,000.

- Moraga, CA, USA

Our 2004 Volvo XC90 has been experiencing intermittent power shortages for the past several months. After driving for approximately 1 hour, often at highway speeds, the car will intermittently jerk, and simultaneously the gauges go down, exterior lights go out, interior lights may go on, radio shuts off, wipers cycle once, air/heat goes off. This lasts approximately one second, however, at times the interior lights will not shut off until the car is restarted. Once the problem begins, it happens intermittently (5+ times) until the car is shut off and not used for a period of time (I.e. you reach your destination). We have had our Volvo dealer look at it twice, and both times they were unable to diagnose the problem. Today, after driving for approximately two hours, the car lost electrical function completely. We had no use of gauges, blinkers, hazard lights, radio, air conditioning, headlights and brake lights. Windshield wipers had power and were moving while on the automatic setting, without any rain to automate them. An ABS error light came on but we were able to use the brake and gas pedal. We were driving approximately 65 mph on a highway and were luckily able to exit without having the use of blinkers or brake lights. When we turned the car off and back on, we resumed power, but had an SRS warning light appear. After doing research on Volvo-forums.com and aboutautomobile.com, we have discovered this to be an issue many (50+) 2004 XC90 drivers have experienced. We feel very lucky that this happened during the day, because the situation could have been much more dangerous on a 4-lane highway in the dark. We do not feel safe driving this car and will be taking it to our Volvo dealer tomorrow morning and demanding a response to the problem. From what we have read from others, it appears to need a new cem. Given the number of identical complaints on identical models, it seems to be a defect with the cem.

- Gaithersburg, MD, USA

My wife was driving our 2004 Volvo XC90 back from vacation with our two children in the vehicle and all the dash instrumentation lost power and the steering became heavy. This was during the day so I do not know if the head lights went out as well. The car did not stop and the power came back on. This occur a second time during this trip which was about 3 & 1/2 hours in duration.

- Charlotte, NC, USA

I have been having an issue with my 2004 Volvo XC90 which the dealership has not been able to correct for my fourth visit now. The entire electrical system shuts down while driving on the highway. This has been happening and each time I take it in, they are unable to replicate the issue and of course find something else to repair. I have been lucky as not have been in heavy traffic when it happens, but I could imagine it could cause a horrible accident. The last time this happened was about 7/18. I was driving about 70mph on the freeway and the car made a 'thump' and all the lights and gauges turned off momentarily and started back up again. I slowed down to about 60mph and moved to the right side and the exact same thing happened again about 5 min later. Luckily I was close to the exit where my mechanic shop was so I slowed down to exit. All of the lights on the instrument panel turned off, as well as the airconditioning (115 day in phx) and a warning light flashed saying I had a break failure. I was able to limp to the mechanics and left the car running so they could see the engine was on, but nothing else. They did not have the equipment to check the 'code' on a Volvo. They were able to re-set it by disconnecting the battery, and the lights worked again. As I pulled out of the mechanics, the car thumped again and I once again lost all power. I limped the car home with plans to drive it early in the morning before it got too hot, to the Volvo dealership. In the morning, the car would not start at all. I called a tow truck and had it brought over. The Volvo dealership once again could find nothing wrong, but found something to fix and charge me for, the impulse sensor ($250). I finally got the car back on July 29th, 10 days later. This issue has been experienced by many 04/05 XC90 owners as described in this forum, www.Volvo-forums.com/T23397-XC90-electricalengine-power-failure.htm. I ask that you have Volvo fix this issue, before someone dies.

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

Our 2004 Volvo XC90 always had an erratic electrical system. Last year it suddenly got worse when the entire electrical system, including brake lights, turn signals and gauges started to fail and within a few days were completely non-functioning. The local Volvo dealer charged us about $1200 for a new computer-related part.

- Woodbury, MN, USA

Radio turns on and off spontaneously especially when heated seats are tuned on.

- Lemont, IL, USA