2004 Volvo S60 S60 R won't start

AMS1443

MEMBER
2004 VOLVO S60
6 CYL
AWD
MANUAL
66,000 MILES

About a month ago I purchased a 2004 S60R. Everything has been great with the car until this last week. I made it to my destination and then when I went to move my car, no start. Keep in the mind the lights, air- conditioning, radio everything appears to function except the engine won't even crank over. The message window said "immobilizer see manual", although the manual was of no help as it only provided a definition of what that is and the message does NOT appear everytime. So, the next day I tried starting it again still same situation. I ended up getting it jump started and assumed it was a battery and took it to the dealer, got a new batter and oil change. The dealership did a complete inspection and it seemed I was good to go. The next morning I go to start it, same problem, no start and this time it would not even jump start. I have now replaced the antenna ring and starter relay. The car will start intermittently. So it starts.I let it run a bit, shut it down and then it won't start so I'll wait a while and then it may or may not start. I've used both the master key and the service key, it does not appear to matter, neither work. Very strange! I'm VERY frustrated and based on some of the message boards it appears this is not that uncommon of a problem, however it does not seem anyone has found a solution. It has now been at the dealership a day and no response. If anyone has experienced this I would love any HELP you can give! Thanks

3 Replies

JIS001

MECHANIC
3,411 POSTS

The immobolizer system is very complicated and can be pretty hard to diagnose. First thing would be is to scan the central electronic module (CEM) for codes related to the immobolizer issue and start to fault trace from there. If there is codes which I assume there might be for some sort of missing signal, they would need to measure circuits from the antenna ring to the central electronic module and circuits to the transmission control modul (TCM) and the engine control module (ECM). The will also look close at the CANbus wire terminals at the yECM and TCM connections for fretting and loose contact. They will also need to look at the CEM for any water damage. If all that looks good you will most likely need to replace the CEM since the CEM is where the key security codes are stored. What you may want to try and see if it works is to have them do a CEM reload. When ask if this is for a CEM replacement, they should answer yes and then proceed with the software reload. This will load everything back along with the key codes. Keep in mind this may not work and you may need to replace the CEM if it has some internal hardware fault? Keep me posted as to what happens.