Power Train Problems of Volvo S60

I am submitting this report to formally document a severe safety-related failure involving my 2013 Volvo S60, VIN # [xxx] . This vehicle is part of the Volvo brand, widely recognized and marketed as among the safest in the world. Incident summary: on [xxx], at approximately [xxx] in norwalk, connecticut, the vehicle experienced a catastrophic mechanical failure while in operation. The auxiliary (serpentine) belt suddenly failed, shredded itself, and wrapped around the timing pulley. Debris from the failed belt entered the timing belt housing — a supposedly sealed and protected compartment — causing the timing belt to jump. This resulted in an immediate loss of engine power while driving, placing me in a highly vulnerable position. Fortunately, I was not on a multi-lane highway or in fast-moving traffic. Had I been traveling on a busier route, the sudden loss of power could have led to a serious crash and potential injury. This failure represented a genuine threat to my safety. Further inspection revealed that: the lower crankshaft sprocket had skipped three teeth due to the intrusion of the auxiliary belt. The timing belt, although not broken, was off track. A new timing belt was installed in an attempt to restart the engine. The engine would crank but failed to start. A compression test revealed zero compression in all cylinders. The valve train was severely damaged (bent valves), and the engine sustained internal mechanical failure beyond repair. Conclusion and context: this is not an isolated incident. Upon further research, I discovered that this failure — specifically the auxiliary belt disintegrating and compromising the timing belt system — is a known and well-documented problem in vehicles equipped with the b5254t12 turbo engine. Volvo has been previously alerted to similar cases before. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

See all problems of the 2013 Volvo S60 🔎.

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? the front warning collision comes on when a car is not even close. Engine, a part in the engine area has been replaced twice. Transmission, not shifting properly when 2/3. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? the unit will try to brake. The check engine light has come on more than once. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? yes and no. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or others? yes by a Volvo dealer. Were there any warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem before the failure, and when did they first appear? yes, transmission service and check engine light. Also red warning light appears on the window.

See all problems of the 2022 Volvo S60 🔎.

I bought the car as a cpo on 9/25/19 32,860 mi. On 8/19/20 at 50,052 the engine failed. The oscillating dampener rubber separated causing serpentine belt to break, which in turn got caught in timing belt which caused that to break which then caused bent valves and valves to break. The failure was sudden. Had I been on the interstate I’d be severely injured or dead. I was told that I needed a new engine but they could not find one. I was told they would completely re-build my engine. In the end they replaced the cylinder head and starter under warranty. I was never told they didn’t re-build the engine and also used “ good parts” from the old engine. In the following months I had the car in the Volvo shop (hendricks Volvo charleston, SC). At 50,277 miles the check engine light showed a problem with the cam shaft position sensor on 9/3/20. They claim to have driven the car 100 miles and cleared the code w/no repairs. On 3/18/21 w/ 64,485 miles, I took the car into the dealer because it was running and idling rough. They found no codes and they aligned the car. “couldn’t duplicate”. The right rear door never shut properly and I was repeatedly told it was fine. Re-call on latches. Seat belts on rt rear passenger constantly was stuck. This is where my granddaughter’s car seat was placed. I’ll have to skip some. At 110,024 miles on 11/28/22 the car continued to have bad gas mileage and heavy oil use. I was told that the egr leak detection pump was faulty and was replaced. At 113,706 miles on 1/19/2023 the cam vvt solenoid was changed. Cause of poor gas mileage stated. On 3/29/23 at 116,790 miles replaced brakes and had aligned. Service tech noticed oil under the car underside while up on racks. Said it would be fine until next service. On 7/3/23 the engine failed again on the road and was towed to the dealer. Apparently a fuel injector failed causing gas to spray into the engine causing it to lose compression. I’ve never been given a clear answer. Records of services done.

See all problems of the 2015 Volvo S60 🔎.

The contact owns a 2015 Volvo S60. The contact stated that while driving at 20 mph the brake pedal was depressed, however the vehicle continued to travel forward before coming to a complete stop as the brake pedal traveled to the floor. The contact stated there were no illuminating lights. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and no failure cause was determined. The contact stated that this was a reoccurring issue and the vehicle has been at the dealer several times. The contact stated that the vehicle has been test driven by the dealer, however no failure occurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was approximately 14,000.

While reversing, the car came to a sudden abrupt halt and the check engine lamp and other warning lamps illuminated. The ignition was still active (the car was in hybrid mode, operating on battery for motive power only), I cycled the transmission to "d" and no forward movement occurred, also tried "r" and back to "d" with the same result - no movement. I cycled the ignition off and on, the engine started and the car could be moved. Cel still on. I scanned the car and found permanent dtc's u0111 (lost communication with battery energy control module) and u0120 (u0120 lost communication with starter generator control module). After several key on key off events, the cel extinguished and battery motive power was again available. The dtc's are still in memory. This is a serious concern, the car suffered complete loss of motive power, had this occurred while operating the car on the road would have created a very dangerous condition and greatly increased risk of injury or death. Today, I checked online and found multiple reports of this exact same problem with other owners of Volvo t8 extended range-equipped vehicles. My car is almost new, about 160 miles and 3 weeks old. Thank you for your attention.

Since purchase of my vehicle, the vehicle has had a vibration on the highway from 72-83mph with 2 different sets of wheels and tires, both pirelli tires but different models. My local Volvo dealer refused to address the issue due to the issue occurring over the speed limit. So they were no help. There are quite a few other 2019 and up Volvo S60 and xc90 owners that experience this same issue. The issue is felt through the bottom of the seats, backrest and steering wheel. You can also visually see the vibration if there is a bottle in the cup holder. The steering wheel "shakes" left to right.

See all problems of the 2019 Volvo S60 🔎.

Gear shifts into neutral randomly at low speeds after coming to a complete stop when auto-off on the engine is activated. This happens on the road when pulling out of an intersection and the gear shifter needs to be physically moved into neutral then drive to engage the transmission again. My dealership was unable to reproduce the problem. I took a video of it when it occurred. There have been no warning lights or indications on the dash when this happens.

The contact owns a 2015 Volvo S60. The contact stated that the gear shifter would not shift into gear as needed. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 86,709.

It is unknown what caused this issue but ever since I bought my vehicle on April 5, 2021, I have been experiencing vibration issues when driving between 65-75 mph. I have had my vehicle inspected at multiple Volvo service centers across texas and no one can seem to figure out what is causing the vibration issues. My front rotors have been replaced 3 times, my rear rotors have been replaced once, I have had multiple tire rotations, alignments and balancing from Volvo service centers and even from discount tire. With all of these items serviced/repaired/replaced, the vibration is still present in the steering wheel traveling at highway speeds. I went on a test drive today, 6/22/22, with a Volvo service technician and he confirmed that the vibration is valid. He also stated that the only thing left to do is to replace all 4 tires, at my cost, to see if the vibration goes away. He advised that when new cars are on the lot parked waiting to be sold, dealerships typically inflate the tires to about 50 psi so as to avoid any "flat spots" on the tires. He also stated that many dealers also typically do not inflate tires on their new fleet due to the rough ride it causes. I have contacted Volvo regarding this issue without any remedy or advice. Additionally, my Volvo dealer cannot say for sure that they will reimburse me for tires, if I do choose to replace my current ones, even though this issue has been present since day 1.

See all problems of the 2020 Volvo S60 🔎.

The vehicle shifts erratically in stop and go traffic with frequent surges and jolts at low gears. This also occurs at higher temperatures (after driving for a while on hot days) and during stop and go traffic on hot days. Transmission engages slowly after a full stop and often with a jerk, especially felt when stopped at an incline. All of these jerks and jolts occur around gears 1 or 2 and during stopping or starting from stop.

My S60 2015. 5 abruptly cut off when at a standstill "stationary" in traffic and on the highway traffic the warning system sound came on, as if close to an object, then the screen flashed on then off one time. Within minutes of a complete stop, the car cuts off completely. The screen displayed "turn on engine. " my car had to be placed in park before the engine would start. This had occurred at least three times in 2019. I was wondering if anyone had this experience. The issue was unable to be dupicated and no fault code.

With less than 50,000 miles on it, my S60 just completely stopped working on my way to work. While pulling out of my development, the entire engine, power steering - everything shut down. I had to coast into a turning lane to put on my flashers. I had not gone more than 3 minutes from my house. After Volvo had it for a few days they told me that the alternator belt had jumped off, hitting the alternator, fraying the belt. This then resulted in the belt wrapping around another part of the engine impacting the drive belt. This resulted in damage to the drive belt, alternator, 1/3 of my engine and my cylinder block. Volvo is blaming this on a faulty belt tensioner, yet they are making me pay for part of the repair which is a total cost of $6,000. This is clearly a defective part - either it was installed incorrectly or it was not properly built as a belt does not just "jump". I was lucky that I had not yet gotten onto the highway or I would have been injured along with other people if not worse. This is a huge safety concern and Volvo does not seem to want to admit complete failure here. This car has been serviced regularly and at the same dealership.

Angle/collar gear/sleeve, haldex awd. Hundreds of thousands of awd Volvos have this issue yet Volvo has never taken action or recalled part. This is just one of many issues thousands of Volvo's have. But the awd system non functioning due to stripped teeth caused by rust because of inadequate grease/lube etc. On thousands of vehicles ranging from their small sedans to SUV's should be something. They have even updated the angle gear/collar sleeve with one that has "hardened" teeth, but no recall on a part of the vehicle that is suppose to always function. A lot were lucky enough it happened while still under warranty. But getting stuck/stranded in snow because your vehicle is only 2 wheel drive when its suppose to be awd. I did not find out my awd did not work until I had gotten stuck in the snow. Turns out hundreds if not thousands of people had to find out this same way. I believe Volvo has just been lucky no one has died yet due to failed awd system. I am not certain about what conditions need to be met before a recall is done. This is just one of the issues with Volvo's. I am not sure on the exact date my awd system stopped working because driving on anything other than snow, or ice you cannot tell. But a simple search on the internet and hundreds if not thousands of people starting early as 2000's to most recent as 2019 having same issues, some more than once, and a few coming up with their own way of fixing Volvos issue. But photos can be found all over the web. Also Volvo sells these advertised as awd when in fact it is fwd all time, until front tires lose traction which only then do the rear wheels engage. Yet can break or malfunction even though they only ever come on 20-30% of the vehicles total miles driven. Not sure of awd definition but I always thought it stood for all wheel drive, not front wheel drive; all wheel drive when front wheels lose traction.

See all problems of the 2005 Volvo S60 🔎.

I was involved in a car accident in bronx, NY on 8/16/2017 that caused severe damage to my 2002 Volvo S60. Thankfully, I was the only one in my car. I had just left my last destination, moving slowly and driving straight for a short block or so, when my 2002 Volvo S60, with an odometer reading of 45,000 miles, began to accelerate out of nowhere and race - all on its own. I tried braking (foot and hand) but it was too sudden and neither could slow it down. The car accelerated out of my control, jumped the sidewalk and plowed through a fence before coming to a stop. I'm still shaken, thinking of what could have happened, but thankfully there was no one else involved and no one was in front of me or walking by. While this is shocking and surprising to me, I believe this is a known safety malfunction on certain models of Volvo cars. I have read that other driver's have complained to the company about a racing/slipping transmission before, which suggests that Volvo has been aware of this. For some time. There are so many situations in which this type of malfunction can easily be fatal so I am treating it as an impending disaster for others that needs to be acted on urgently. I am seeking your assistance to investigating this as quickly as possible so that you may have a chance to preserve the car for added testing if necessary. I have provided all the pertinent information that I possibly can.

See all problems of the 2002 Volvo S60 🔎.

Car was purchased on 5/31/2016, in less than 4 months I experienced repeated stalls while accelerating. The car would rev high and the rpms would increase. During this time the car was immobilized. This occurred mid-flight while accelerating. On September 23, I took the car to northpoint Volvo to find out what was wrong. I was told nothing showed up in the vehicle computer and that they adjusted the software. Ok. I have received all of my scheduled maintenance at 10k and 20k miles, with the last one being performed June 14, 2017. Over the last month the car has stalled twice mid-flight. The car's rpms increased and the gas pedal would not move the car. I press the gas pedal and the car engine revs, and the car does not move. I cannot get it out of traffic. That is very dangerous and life threatening. The last incident was terrifying as a I was almost rammed from behind by a pickup truck. All of these incidents have happened while the car has been in motion - normally upon acceleration. I actually fear for my safety in this car which is crazy because Volvo salespeople sell the safety features of the car above everything. I noted all of this in a survey to Volvo months ago and never received any contact from Volvo - I assume they don't care. Because this has happened to me multiple times on a new car, I feel compelled to report it to the ntsb.

See all problems of the 2016 Volvo S60 🔎.

My vehicle was parked in a grocery store lot. I entered the vehicle to back it out of its parking spot. It was next to a full sized van which had carpet cleaning equipment mounted inside. I started the car and placed it in reverse as it began to accelerate on its own. I tried to slow the vehicle with the brake which failed. I collided with a block wall in the rear of the car and attempted to get it out of gear, with the solid jarring from the rear the car went into drive and continued to accelerate to full speed, while I was attempting to brake. The Volvo hit the van which it had been parked next to in the rear left bumper and drove it approximately 20 feet through a planter and into a parking spot on the other side of the planter. This car (Volvo) is equipped with a collision warning system that was supposed to have auto braked and did not. Additionally the air bags did not deploy. I took the car to Volvo and had them attempt to pull codes from the vehicles information system. They reported that no codes were present and attempted to explain away the incident as driver error. The car was totaled in the process. I am certain that there was no driver error and that what happened was a sudden unexplained acceleration. Other somewhat similar incidents are reported on the internet. The car has been retained in my possession until Mar 9th 2017. In the event it should be evaluated I have it available.

See all problems of the 2012 Volvo S60 🔎.

My 2012 S60 has less than 63k miles and it is burning oil. I've not seen any leaks or exhaust smoke, so I assumed all was well. Dealer ship advised it's normal for a Volvo to loss 1-2 quarts of oil between oil changes. Recently the engine failed with no warning, and warranty is out. Can't believe a 2012 veh. Would have such engine problems and Volvo customer service does not acknowledge the problem.

When I am sometimes either stopped at a stop sign, intersection or on a highway, the transmission will almost stop, buck and then resume driving.

On April 12, 2016 I took my Volvo s-60 leased brand new from Volvo and the purchased at the end of the lease as a certified pre-owned car in for an oil change and a check oil light. Volvo had a recall on oil pressure censors (this had caused other car engines to seize something that the ntsb has reported on). The Volvo authorized dealer, herb gordon, claimed to have made this repair. However on June 21, 2016, the engine seized in the middle of a busy road. The Volvo authorized dealer determined it needed a new engine, at the time, I asked about simply applying the cost to replace the engine (about $12,000) to getting me into a new car. Volvo refused and went ahead with an engine replacement (they had my car from June 21, 2016 to August 1, 2016. The car broke down again on August 15, 2016 while my family and I were on the road for a vacation. When we returned from vacation the car was given back to us but the problem now is that the car's value has significantly diminished because of the engine replacement, the bluebook value of the car is on average $13,789 but the highest we can get for it is $8,000 because of the damage done to it by Volvo. We have tried to get Volvo to work with us by making up that difference as a trade in on a car they have in stock. We have been met with nothing but hostility and abuse. In fact earlier today we were told by a customer service representative at Volvo to shut up and then he hung up on us,.

When coming to a stop, once stop has completed, while foot is on the brake at random times the vehicle we jolt forwarded. The jolt would be in comparison to the feeling of being rear ended at a complete stop. I have taken the car to the local Volvo dealership and they checked it and came back with nothing being wrong. On the fourth return to the dealership I asked if anyone drove the vehicle. The answer was no. The service department specialist asked if he could drive the vehicle home for the night. I said yes, because this problem happens randomly. The next day, the service specialist said that he experienced the same problem. Again, nothing they said could be done because no error code appeared. The trans jumps too much, to be normal.

By default, the auto stop/start function is engaged every time you start the 2015. 5 vovo S60. The car has about 1,800 miles and was picked up at the end of August, 2015, leased as new. My wife was stopped at a traffic light, on a relatively flat road. The car turned off the engine using the auto-stop/start. When she took her foot off the brake and put it on the accelerator, the car turned off completely. The dash turned off. She had to put on her hazard warning lights, put the car into park and press the stop/start button to start the car. She then was able to put it back into drive and continue. This is not how this is supposed to function. This represents a very serious problem that could result in someone getting rear-ended or not being able to accelerate from a stop in an emergency situation--imagine if an ambulance, firetruck or police car was coming through and you had to move through an intersection or to the side of the road but the car died?.

Our Volvo S60 has been experiencing a well known issue with what's commonly called transmission flare. When shifting into lower gears from a stop or at lower speeds and in slow traffic the automatic transmission jerks the car forward severely. There are hundreds of posts in online car forums with consumers complaining about this same problem. While it started out as a nuisance the problem has gotten progressively worse and is aggravated by hot weather, so much for taking the Volvo on a drive for summer vacation. We trusted Volvo's quality and integrity when purchasing our car and are very disappointed that there has been no recall issued to fix this problem. When we asked the dealership where we purchased the car what we could do to fix the problem they suggested we purchase a new car from them. Shame on you Volvo. Before this problem we were proud Volvo owners now we feel ripped off and abused.

See all problems of the 2001 Volvo S60 🔎.

While driving 45 miles per hour and about to get on the on ramp on to I-10. Car lost all acceleration and came to a complete stop.

See all problems of the 2004 Volvo S60 🔎.

I have made a recent complaint regarding safety concerns with a faulty etm (electronic throttle module) on my vehicle. I dropped it off at my local authorized dealer for Volvo and I did not tell them that the car produced an error code p2135 / ecm-9200 -- throttle position sensor --faulty signal, because I wanted to see what error codes they would pull off. It is my understand even if I reset the 'check engine' light the dealer is able to pull the codes of the computer. Well in this case the dealer called me today and adviced me that no codes could be pulled but wanted to know if the person working on my car could take it home with him and take a reader. I said no, but I did not take my car there because I want something for free. I am beyond fraustrated with the Volvo because of the faulty design. What will it take next time for me to be on the freeway and driving and the error to be displayed and cause me to drop my speed down and get into an accident? I fear that day will come someday if not me someone else.

See all problems of the 2006 Volvo S60 🔎.

On the above date I started my vehicle and put the vehicle in reverse to pull out of parking space. Immediately after releasing my foot from the brake and before touching the gas pedal, the car accelerated in reverse so fast that I bounced off a cement pole in the middle of the parking lot. The force was so great that the vehicle bounced three times before I was able to stop it which I did by applying the brake and being blocked by the pole. After I came to a stop I realized that it was in fact the pole that had stopped my car. I was also blocking the parking lot so I put my foot back on brake and put the car in drive to get out of way of other motorists and to assess damage to the rear of my vehicle. At this point, to my surprise, as I took my foot off the brake and before I could touch the accelerator, the vehicle did the same thing in drive as it had done in reverse and I went hurling toward a very busy four lane street. I applied foot brake and pulled emergency brake and was still not able to stop due to the force of acceleration. Thankfully I hit the cement parking marker and a divider which raised my car off ground so that the front wheels we in the air. Never once did my foot touch the accelerator of the vehicle nor was their anything else touching the accelerator.

See all problems of the 2008 Volvo S60 🔎.

I had stopped at the traffic light. As I started again on green light, the car jerkily jumped forward. I had to push hard on the brakes. As the car stopped, the check engine light came on together with service transmission light.

The car continues to have shift flares and slippage when shifting up from 1 to 2, 2 to 3 or shifting between the same gears.

Approximate a month later after I brought 2004 Volvo S60 at Dec 2011, when I was driving in freeway to post office, what a sudden, the engine stalled without warning, I press the accelerate pedal, but it was not response, but the car still hv a little momentum, then it turn it to the corner and the car was stopped. I turn off the key and restart the car again, it worked. After a year, the problem come back again and the frequency become more, up til Dec, 2012, 3 more times same problem incurred. It was scary.

From around oct. Of 2011 I have been experiencing trouble with my throttle body or as Volvo calls it 'electronic throttle module'. These problems include but are not limited to, stalling at freeway speeds, rough starting/ not starting at all, reduced engine performance not allowing for safe speed to be maintained, costly repair work with no improvement, and bouts of self accelerating at stops with parking brake and foot brake engaged. I have research a Volvo recall/ warranty extension for a defective throttle body, contacted Volvo customer service only to get the run-around. Various web forums encourage owner experiencing these problems to file complaint with NHTSA to help come to a resolution.

When pulling into a parking space at my daughter's school, vehicle suddenly accelerated over the sidewalk and struck the building. Transmission popped in reverse and vehicle accelerated backwards. Even with the brake pedal all the way to the floor, vehicle would not stop. I forced the transmission into park and turned off the vehicle to get it to stop after going in reverse for approximately 50 feet. There was significant damage to the car and building (pictures available). None of the airbags deployed.

I was stuck in high way traffic for about 45 minutes, once the traffic cleared I tried to accelerate but could not, I was afraid I was going to get hit because I could not get my vehicle up to a safe speed (the vehicle went into limp mode). I was able to get the car to at least 50 mph to get it home. This now happens within approx 1-2 miles of driving. Due to the hi cost of repairs for this vehicle I had the diagnostics done first (cost $90. 00), the result was a bad mass-air sensor and faulty throttle position sensor. I had the mass-air sensor replaced at a cost of $140. 00, I then had the throttle positioning sensor cleaned ( this is what the dealership will do first, because of the hi cost involved in replacing the throttle body & programming it) at a cost of $180. 00. The cleaning did not work and therefore the throttle body needs to be replaced and programmed at a cost of $800. 00.

Angle gear failure in Volvo S60r awd.

2004 S60awd angle gear leak required replacement of gear at 14,300 miles. The angle gear sends power to the rear wheels, and if it fails, it takes the transmission with it. While mine was caught early and replaced under warranty, a track record of the angle gear leaking and failing is being seen. Volvo needs to extend warranty on this item.