The Neighbours Can Sleep. . .

[v70torslanda]

Spent most of last night snoozing with the remote in my hand. Every half hour or less the sodding alarm went off. Took it to Trevor Burgess - my fave Volvo man - this morning and guess what? Sodding alarm siren.

It's fixed now (and I'm the thick end of two hundred quid poorer!) but at least the neighbours should have no excuse to chuck bricks at us any more.

J

[cornclose]

What was the problem? New siren module? The thing with the battery in it etc?

[AlanG]

Funny how the only time anyone takes any notice of alarms is when they disturb......

[v70torslanda]

What was the problem? New siren module? The thing with the battery in it etc?

I'm really beginning to wonder about so-called 'build quality' as it would seem that my Volvo has actually been built down to a price rather than up to a quality standard.

Or am I expecting too much?

I have a 97 B5 Passat and the only electronic issues with that came about cos it got flooded! Yes I understand the Volvo has some very clever electronics and I do realise that it is 7 years old but I was rather hoping that spending a year's salary on a car would reflect in the longevity of the product. If that really isn't the case then I'm going back to 10 year old Dubs, I can mend them!

Having said all that there is one thing I wouldn't change and that's the ability to cruise the French Autoroutes at 180kph - Controles Radares permitting of course.

Am I ranting? :)

luv'n'stuff

J

[cornclose]

Nah we all get peed off every now and then. Pot luck with cars though, some you win, some you lose.

So, what was the issue exactly?

[p fandango]

i'd of thought the siren unit is one of the thing brought in by another manufacture & not actually made by Volvo so you can't really blame them, if you wanted to you could always point the finger at F*rd for any mistakes/faults that happen on cars made after 1999 lol

[RobbieH]

As Pedro states most car bits are not actually made by the car manufacturer themselves, even though they might be badged or marked as such.

Just to give you an idea I've recently finished a project at work looking at the failure of a fuel pump in a well known "softroader" (can't say who due to client confidentiality, etc) but interesting to hear the manufacturing trail:

Parts moulded in France
Pump itself from Japan
Assembly in Poland
Assembled into fuel tank in UK
Assembled into vehicle elsewhere in UK (probably 200 ish miles from fuel tank assembly plant).

Go figure..........

Back the alarm issue.

Looks like that's three of us so far in the last couple of months. See
http://www.vpcuk.org/forums/showthread.php?t=23344.

And http://www.vpcuk.org/forums/showpost.php?p=243282&postcount=10 for the little blighter that's probably the simple (but not simple to fix) cause.

Still trying to source a replacement cell stack but no joy yet.

[cornclose]

What deets do you have on the cell stack Robbie ? Might be able to help there...

[RobbieH]

Stack of three cells with a 2core power cable soldered on (should be able to see in my other post).

25mm (ish) diameter, 30mm (ish) stack height.

Negative side marked "made in Germany" and an odd C shaped symbol.

Positive side marked N2H 280, F04, and 2.4 280.

Found this on an earlier search:
http://www.univercell-batteries.co.uk/cells.php?method=quicksearch&value=nimh

Scroll doen a bit, N2H 280 is 33rd entry down the list.
But seems to point to single cells and not a stack.

[cornclose]

The physical dimensions don't matter a great deal, as long as the pack fits where it's supposed to go.

As long as the pack is electrically the same (or better) than the stock one, it can be replaced, no doubt about that. Do you still have the stock (knackered) one ? Is it only the batteries that get knackered ? Or was it corrosion on yours that screwed a few other things up aswell ?

[RobbieH]

The physical dimensions don't matter a great deal, as long as the pack fits where it's supposed to go.

As long as the pack is electrically the same (or better) than the stock one, it can be replaced, no doubt about that. Do you still have the stock (knackered) one ? Is it only the batteries that get knackered ? Or was it corrosion on yours that screwed a few other things up aswell ?

Still have the sawn open remains of the old one. One of the cells had certainly leaked (so cells were knackered)and maybe even corroded the negative connection (but maybe I disturbed it when opening the unit).
If I can get a replacement power pack I can't see why it shouldn't be ok as a spare or swap for someone. I should be able to reseal the unit with judicious use of duct tape or something similar on the new "joint".

saying that on one of the VOC threads I found, there was some talk of the leaking battery fluid having corroded the circuit board within the unit. I guess it's just chance what happens. In my case I was lucky and the electronic gubbins look OK.
The only other thing to check is if these things code themselves to a specific vehicle.

[v70torslanda]

I seem to have started something with the 'recondition/refurbish thing'.

I think I may be aware better than most about what vehicle 'manufacturers' actually 'manufacture'. In common with every other VM, Volvo make the shell and the engine. Virtually EVERY other component is 'outsourced' and 'batch engineered'. Glass from Pilkington, transmissions from Aisin Warner in Japan, suspension from Lemforder, brakes from ATE, hydraulics from Zeppelin and so on.

My point is that as the car gets older more obscure components show unreliability. Volvos are known for longevity yet I have just had to replace the alarm siren, a component you wouldn't expect to give problems. Pretty soon I'm sure it will need new anti-roll bars 'cos you can't get the bushes. Part of the selling process is Volvo telling you how long their cars last, IIRC the average life of a vehicle is 12-14 years whilst Volvo will tell you theirs last 18-24 years.

Don't even get me started on needing a new instrument cluster because of a failed circuit board, not being able to fit a used one and getting another HUGE bill for a 50p component failure . . .

luv'n'stuff

J

[cornclose]

Still have the sawn open remains of the old one. One of the cells had certainly leaked (so cells were knackered)and maybe even corroded the negative connection (but maybe I disturbed it when opening the unit).
If I can get a replacement power pack I can't see why it shouldn't be ok as a spare or swap for someone. I should be able to reseal the unit with judicious use of duct tape or something similar on the new "joint".

saying that on one of the VOC threads I found, there was some talk of the leaking battery fluid having corroded the circuit board within the unit. I guess it's just chance what happens. In my case I was lucky and the electronic gubbins look OK.
The only other thing to check is if these things code themselves to a specific vehicle.

Regardless, if the same unit comes off and goes back onto the same car with a replacement cell pack, it should work.

Bring the bits with you next Sunday, then if I can make it (make be working) we'll have a look...

[dave stew]

It's a matter of modern manufacturing and economics that cars are
made this way. Where the influence of the manufacturer improves things is the design in the first place and choice of (some) materials. Look at the seats in our cars - the design means that they are far superior to virtually everything out there and the quality of the leather means that even after 7 years, 150,000 miles and my non too svelte 13.5 stone there is virtually no wear on it.
I had an Alfa GTV that used Bosch components for the primary engine stuff, but some absolutely rotten unknown electric motors for the windows and wipers. Replaced the driver's side twice (the car only had 40k up).

Anyway, I am in 'getting out of bed avoidance mode' at the mo while Wifey battles with the boys downstairs - I reckon I've got three minutes tops...

[dave stew]

Nope. Got my summons already. Bugger.

[cornclose]

Lol, the Neighbours can sleep, but Dave can't...:worried:

[AlanG]

Seems like it's luck with these. Mine is Jan '96 and everything works as it should including the alarm. Hope I'm not tempting providence......

[RobbieH]

Seems like it's luck with these. Mine is Jan '96 and everything works as it should including the alarm. Hope I'm not tempting providence......

IIRC the 850's and V70 P1's siren module thingyumybob is not the same sealed unit as on P2's and you can easily change the battery when it goes phut.

[AlanG]

IIRC the 850's and V70 P1's siren module thingyumybob is not the same sealed unit as on P2's and you can easily change the battery when it goes phut.

Enlightened........Many thanks..