SuiteSuccess

Last update 🤞🤞. Truck out of the shop. Turned out to have no other issues besides the cracked primer pump/secondary fuel filter housing and a dead ECM. Actually the 20 mile drive home seemed like truck ran smoother and shifted smoother than before but probably just my imagination.

Just another update. Circuit Board Medics returned my ECM, promptly refunded my repair charge $1495 and spoke to me once again. I did have some bad capacitors which they replaced and a couple of other components but after the repair they were unable to get it to communicate which was the original error message. There was NO charge for the components. My only cost was the shipping to them and back..approximately $50. I would have to give their honesty, communication, promptness all a five star rating. Just to note for reference when I picked up the ECM from the dealer I looked at the sealing material around the back side of the case and noticed several gaps which I suspect was the water intrusion issue. It may be beneficial for owners of older Volvos like mine to remove the ECM periodically and inspect and reseal if necessary. OTR Performance has a YouTube and it doesn’t look that difficult to remove.

Good Sam is problematic. I explained in a long thread about that on this forum several months ago. You can search and find it. Subject was Good Sam and towing. I also spoke to Coachnet and they don’t like tandems. A lot depends on who answers your distress call whether they will respond or not. Understand with any of them you are purchasing a service contract NOT insurance. Sometimes different rules. Be careful and have everything in writing before you pay a premium and read what they are covering especially the fine print.

You guys are correct. Volvo apparently has a central database that stores your parameters like the cloud. Dealer told me every time you change a parameter it is updated in that database via the computer link. Only an authorized dealer can access that database. So everything has become proprietary and with that setup, it’s $$ to access. An example. You used to be able to purchase stand alone Microsoft Office for Word, Excel, Power Point. Now you must purchase a subscription and the old standalone will soon no longer be supported. It’s all about the Benjamin’s.

Ok new update. Got a call from circuitboardmedics.com and my ECM is toast. Spoke directly with the tech and when he opened it up, he found some water and a thick waxy substance. He wanted to know if the ECM had been repaired before. Told him not my knowledge. They were going to source another ECM for me but it would be another up charge of $1000 making total cost of just the unit $2500 not counting having to pay my dealer to reprogram. I elected to have my unit returned since they couldn’t be sure where they would source the module from. They will refund my $1500 repair charge. I spoke with the dealer and they have located a replacement ECM at a competitor, so gave them the go ahead to replace. Gonna cost more but hopefully less chance of future problems. I also could get a rebuild from goecm.com for $1400 but the reviews of that company are very mixed on service, timeliness, and availability. Deezl Smoke turned me on to thetruckersreport.com and I’ve been doing a lot of reading there. Found one thread that may explain everything with the ECM. Apparently earlier Volvos are known to have a harness that wicks oil from the sensor and would leak around and into the ECM. One of the early temporary fixes was to silicone around the leaking area but the only true fix was to replace the harness. I had that done several years after owning the truck when the leak got worse and was told mine had been siliconed prior to my purchase. I now tend to believe I may have had oil penetration before harness replacement into the ECM which degraded the seal over time and eventually allowed water penetration which was the fatal shorting event inside the module. The “waxy” substance could have been degraded oil, waterproofing sealant, or silicone that eventually migrated into the circuit board. Just took years, and vibration to finally fail. If the truck had been on the road daily, probably would have failed years ago. Hope this helps someone and may want to keep a watch on your harness if it’s leaking. BTW Volvo has a “pig tail” part that can help temporarily avoid replacing the harness but the only true fix is a new harness. Even then cheaper than a new ECM.

Dan, I agree. A monumental endeavor by Mark and in no way trying to diminish his work. Mark and I are friends. If you re-read my initial post you will see I suggested maybe including something like this in the resource guide.

Spin, I appreciate the input. I’ve got the ECM part covered for now. Hopefully the repair by circuit board medics will work. Again, at my age, my mind ponders a lot more. Most folks on here are a wealth of knowledge and I love sharing ideas and that knowledge and learn a lot from the “been there, done that, have the t-shirt” group.

ECM/ module/ Driver Information Display/appliance circuit board repair: https://circuitboardmedics.com https://goecm.com/

I am going to start a thread on hard to find parts and services in hopes it will generate enough interest to act as a guide for HDTers. If folks are interested maybe it could be pinned to the heading page or be incorporated into the resource guide by one of the moderators. If you have had trouble finding a part or service and found a reliable source, I would ask you to post a link here and then the thread would be searchable. A comment saying just search Google, ebay, Craigslist, or Facebook serves no purpose.

You are correct. I have a pretty good relationship with the service manager at my local dealership but they are very expensive. I’ve tried finding a local shop I can trust for just mechanical work but the nearest that fits that category is 60 miles. Saying that, my truck is presently at the dealer mainly for computer diagnostics because the independents around here don’t have the access the dealer has with Volvo and refuse to do electrical gremlins. The service manager told me they access parts from a couple of “central suppliers” and rarely go outside that network. Now with everything “on back order” turnover time to get a part is a crap shoot at best and, as I’ve said before, working trucks needing those parts get moved to the front of the line. It was only with my research and that good relationship with the service manager that I’m going outside the chain to get mine repaired. Just not sure I’d be as lucky if I were a thousand miles from home. Again that’s the risk we take but I like to mitigate that risk as much as possible, hence my pondering if carrying some tough to find spares might be good insurance. BTW , Deezl, that is why it would be nice to maybe start a thread we could get pinned to the top or put in the Resource Guide of people, places, or companies that may be accessible for hard to find parts or services.

Interesting my daughter dropped by and saw my order sheet and asked if we were having an appliance issue. When I told her no, she said they used the same folks to do a refrigerator circuit board repair and she gave them a 5 star rating for communication and service. Said still working fine 4 years later.

Sage advice from an old timer. 😂 but you taking an all too common approach and avoiding the question as posed, lol. Again risk vs benefits. Your step up I assume was $$$$ compared to my insurance policy (spare parts) of $$. Just a friendly discussion my friend. Besides I’ve got yours and David’s number. You want me to dig up some more Mason jars. 😜

Rod and others. Just a question. You said the shop was interested in your old truck if the price was right. Will salvagers give a reasonable price? And has anyone dealt with salvaging a vehicle? BTW congrats on the new truck.

My recent travails with my 2006 Volvo D12 has me pondering. To rehash, luckily we were backing up to hitch at our storage facility when the truck coughed, sputtered and died. Threw all kinds of codes and J1939 communication errors and said check just about every control module at next stop. Next stop? I was dead in the water with no restart. Anyway turns out I have two issues: 1. Cracked primer/secondary fuel filter housing sucking air and 2. A dead ECM. Now to the pondering. The primer housing is fairly widely available. The ECM for older trucks very difficult to find and very expensive $3-4k if dealer buys it. Everything on back order and could be 3 days to 6 months. Rebuilt ones can be had for $1500 that you can get personally. Just need programming to your vin BY SHOP WITH COMPUTER and access to Volvo on line site where your parameters are stored. Don’t know if that’s same with Pacar orCummins. Now I’m not sure if that module has to be physically attached to the truck or just the computer software added by the dealer. I’m just wondering if investing some $$ in those hard to find parts on older vehicles might be good insurance? Pay to have pre programmed. May not get your money totally back with sell but I can imagine there is a market. If we had been on our trip several hundreds of miles away, the cost of getting the trailer and/or truck home would be many thousands of $$. Having to stay in an area for a long length of time waiting on parts would be problematic. Insurance is not for everyday frequent occurrences..it’s for catastrophes. Anyway, your thoughts? And if you agree, in what “spares” would you invest? Again just pondering.

Rick, Rebuild through Circuitboardmedics.com is $1500 with a ONE business day turnover. Dealer will have to reprogram once I get it back. Shipped off yesterday. I went up to dealer yesterday and they could only find one for my truck through their network and it was going to cost me just shy of $4000 with reprogramming. I hope this turns out ok. My research shows over 25k five star reviews for this shop and both Charlie Lord and I have talked on the phone with them and got pretty good vibes. Now their techs do all kinds of boards not just ECMs but I’m thinking if you know what you’re doing that education should apply across multiple circuits. We also found another site Goecm.com which sells remans or does repairs but really couldn’t find a whole lot about them. Oh BTW just about everything for an older truck is on “backorder” and dealer said it could be 6 weeks to 6months to get a part that is not in stock. Unfortunately we’re not first in line for those precious parts because we don’t make a living with them. That’s why it’s important to advocate for yourself.

I know older thread but any updates on issues? BTW sent you a p.m. Think we have sister trucks.

Okay, progress report. Two major problems with truck. 1. Priming pump and secondary filter mount was cracked and sucking air. That is why truck would start, run a couple of seconds, then die. 2. ECM is dead. That is the source of the multiple error codes. Gonna be big $$ for this one. I have been researching rebuilders for the ECM and I can get mine rebuilt for $1500 from a company called Circuit Board Medics in Greenville, SC. There is also one in Texas and one in California. Don’t know if anyone has experience with any of these but I do know dealer has to re-program to your particular truck after rebuild or replacement. So I’m not sure how receptive they would be to not getting to replace it themselves? Any thoughts?

Rod, Thank you but I’ve located the part close to me. Going to get it shipped out today. Truly appreciate the help.

Anyone ever used this place before? Feedback? They have my fairing piece. https://www.finditparts.com/?srcid=CHL01SCL004&gclid=CjwKCAjw-IWkBhBTEiwA2exyOyMo7wx0m85GPF-5QWGoo2bztkM_px41sHrpi-lMZLfuRGj5TEHT3xoCCP8QAvD_BwE

Did it also several years ago. As Michael said, wasn’t that difficult that I recall and all my friends will tell you I’m not very mechanical.

Yes Gen 2. Rod those panels come in two sizes 53” and 72”. Mine is the extended 72” panel. volvo part #824870084. Should be labeled on back side of panel.

Ok thanks.

Thanks

Another question. I found the piece by the highway and it was scuffed, had several cracks, and a small section missing. Could a good paint and body shop plastic weld the cracks and fabricate a small piece to fill in the gap and plastic weld in place? Alternatively I can buy a new 53” piece and could a shop cut out a piece of my old, insert, and plastic weld to get desired length?

Thanks Steve. Close but it is only 52”. I need 65”. I appreciate the help. I’ll give them a call though and see if they have others.