Shortly after purchasing the car, we had the a problem was with the blinker acting strangely followed by brief messages about the air bags, 4 wheel drive, etc butthe message never lasted very long. When taken to the dealership, they could never figure out what was wrong. The second time we brought it back was because the lights would not go out even after the car was turned off. We would told it was a bad battery…that was two years ago. With the blinker still acting stragely, and the sporatic messages coming on but never lasting very long, the lights would not turn off even after the engine was cut; but this time the dealership tells us the Central Electornics Module has rusted out and needs to be replaced at a price of $6000. This car has been garage kept, never been in an accident, and never in a flood. Anyone ever hear of such a thing?
Never heard of it, but $6K for a Volvo repair - that’s in the ballpark for Volvo. Let me guess that you might not buy any more Volvos?
On most ECU (engine control module) circuits that I have seen the power to it is cut off (except for the memory circuit) with the ignition switch. If lights are coming on with the ignition OFF then there is something wrong with the ignition switch or a power relay for the ECU.
If the ECU is under the dash below the windshield there may be a leak in the seal for the glass that is allowing water to leak on to it. Regardless of what is happening, the repair quote you got to replace the ECU seems way too high to me. I would be very leary of doing any business with this shop and seek out another shop to see what they think the cost of repairs would be. Even if the ECU really is bad you should be able to to get a rebuilt replacement for under 500 dollars I would think. Perhaps you put too many zeros on the repair quote and really meant to say 600 dollars for the repair, which would be about a normal price for this kind of thing. Six grand for repair is in outer space.
I agree. 6K for a CEM is tantamount to robbery. I would consider a used or rebuilt one before buying a new one.