I recently purchased a 96 960 with 45k miles. The turn signals, hazard lights and dash lights were not working so I took the vehicle in to an automotive electrical facility. I was told it needed a hazard switch. The part came in and he was finishing it up when I arrived. As I was walking over to the car I realized smoke was billowing out the drivers door. The man working on the car was choking from the smoke. I looked in the car. He had taken the new hazard switch out and it had a melted spot on the side. I looked through the hole in the dash where the switch was and the wiring was on fire. I immediatley ran to get my bottled water and splashed it in the hole to put out the fire. After inspection the following day the tech said that the fire/short had actually started further up in the wiring harness (behind the instrument cluster) where it was shorting out against the frame. Has anyone else experienced this problem? I have contacted Volvo but have not heard back.

VWs of the 80s vintage have a recurring hazard switch failure that causes the lighting symptom you describe. The question is...How was there enough current to light a fire without blowing a fuse?
You are lucky to have used water, as extinguisher chemicals usualy render the interior of the car unrepairable, although you may want to hit sombodys insurance up for some smoke damage reimbursement.

Dear c.miner,

May this find you well. I'm no expert on automotive electrics and I'm not a lawyer. My comments are aimed at helping you to get your car into working order. The repairs are likely to be pretty expensive, if only because of the labor costs.

You took your car:
(a) to get repaired a minor problem (some lights not working);
(b) to a place specializing in electrical system repairs.

Apart from these non-working lights, the rest of the car was fine.

They diagnosed the problem: a faulty hazard warning light switch, which they replaced. The result: a fire, that you put out, thanks to your quick wits and handy water bottle.

Either their diagnosis was faulty - there was an underlying, larger problem that they missed - and/or the technician did some damage, while trying to fix what was actually wrong, and caused the fire.

I note that the technician did not have a fire extinguisher handy, which suggests that he did not realize there was any fire risk.

Unless the car suffered collision damage - which required repairs in dashboard area or which displaced major structural elements and so damaged the wiring harness - I think it is pretty unlikely that the short occurred as a result of "wear and tear".

While ground failure on Volvos is common due to corrosion, Volvo engineers are pretty careful about how wires/tubes/pipes are routed. You should try to find out if for your car, there are any Technical Service Bulletins relating to wiring. If so, they might shed light on the problem. It behooved the repair shop to be aware of any such bulletins: that is not your responsibility.

I can't recall ever having seen any similar post regarding an electrical fire of this sort.

You should insist that they replace the damaged harness. If that requires dash removal, you should "suggest" (i.e., insist) they take it to a Volvo body specialist for that.

Removing the dash is a non-trivial operation (I have the Volvo manual that covers this). You might want to point out to them that dash removal/replacement will be even more expensive if they damage the trim parts. Further, as an automotive electrical shop, they are not likely to have anyone, who actually has removed a Volvo dashboard.

If they recognize that they do not have anyone able to replace the harness, then they should cover the cost of having it done by a Volvo dealer or an independent Volvo MasterTech.


Hope this helps and that you're soon rolling.

Yours faithfully,

spook

I agree. The dash is not bad to take apart, IF you know what you are doing! I've been inside mine to replace the vacuum motors on the heating system. Couldn't have done it without the manuals!
--
'96 965 with 16' wheels at 112K. Had '85 745 Turbo Diesel for 200K.

Dear Jb,

Good a.m. and may this find you well. I replaced the heater blower motor in my long-gone '75 245. Book time = 6 hrs. I didn't have the book, so it took me 9 hrs. Everything worked.I gather heater blower motor in 940 series is much easier.

In TP 8202201 - Body fittings, exterior (Section 8 ⏞-86, 88]) the instructions for removing/replacing a 960 dash are found on pp. 206-219 inclusive.

There is nothing in this manual about replacing the wiring harness.

What type of 16" wheels do you have on your 965?

Yours faithfully,

spook

I got the Volvo 6.5 x 16 optional 960 wheels which look similar to the standard 15" wagon's wheels. (The 15"s are now used with snow tires for the winter.) There is a picture of my car in the gallery way down at the bottom. Named "Dads965", I think, or "dads960".
--
'96 965 with 16' wheels at 112K. Had '85 745 Turbo Diesel for 200K.

Sounds like they screwed up. There must have been damage that they didn't detect when they diagnosed the bad switch. I've never heard of a hazard switch going bad as they are rarely used. Why they were working on the car with the battery connected is a major question. Almost every procedure in the factory manuals calls for disconnecting the battery.


The wiring on the '96 was one of the items Volvo spent a lot of time upgrading for reliability and safety. (According to the "New Model Features" manual for the '96 year.) Had the wireing been modified with some aftermarket equipment? Has the car been in a accident and the wiring harness damaged somewhere, like in one of the fender areas? In working on my car I've noticed the wiring is very well designed and protected. (I'm an electrical engineer that has worked on military and NASA programs.)

I think your only recourse is with the people who were working on your car. I would request that new factory wiring harnesses be installed to repair the damage. Don't let them just patch it up! Otherwise, in my opinion, you are risking loss of the car from a wiring fire in the future.

One last thought, if you discover that the harness was damaged somewhere when you got the car, that made the original switch fail and..., you may have some recourse with the seller.
--
'96 965 with 16' wheels at 112K. Had '85 745 Turbo Diesel for 200K.

this is not a common problem that i'm aware of,the turn signals are usually tied into the flasher circuit.not a good way to start owner-ship.i hope the shop makes good on the damage they caused.i'm sorry to say that electrical troubleshooting of this sort can be very exspensive and time consuming.it sounds like the dash will probably have to come out so the complete harness can be seen.sorry,i hope i'm wrong!dave
--
83 242 DL -127k, 92-965-189k, 94-965-200k, 83-242 GLT-Gone, but not forgotten,83-245GLT-1'st one (the 1'st 3 currently on the road)