2017 Volvo XC60

The support battery for start/stop started to show on the dash and tells me that service is required about 2 weeks ago. "THE LOCATION OF THE BATTERY IS MY CONCERN". A month ago, the air coming out from the vent of the ac/heater started to smell like a rotten egg, a very strong smell that gives me a headache and makes me dizzy. This smell comes and go.I had to open the windows and switch to recycled air, this helps a little bit. I brought my Volvo to 2 shops about 3 weeks ago before I went to the dealer on Feb 16, 2024. The first shop smelled it and said they checked the catalytic converter and run a diagnostics and emission and they said emission is very good and there is no problem with the catalytic converter and suggested to bring it to the dealer. They said it could be coming from the battery and I told them that the battery is new and main battery has a box casing so the strong smell is definitely not coming from the main battery. I didn't know that there was another battery. I brought it to an exhaust shop and said the same thing, no leaks in the pipe and catalytic converter and smoke coming from the exhaust looks normal and smells normal. Next I brought it to the dealer and they did nothing and simply stated they could not duplicate the problem. I had no choice but to do an extensive research to find out where the location of the support battery so I can change it myself. I always wondered why the smell is so strong in the passenger side intake screen cover of the cowling. I couldn't believe where Volvo had placed the second battery/support battery. It was on the passenger side, right next to the air intake for the AC/heat of the car and is covered by the cowling between the windshield and the engine. Harmful gases that can potentially come out from the battery is directly suck in to the intake of the car's air conditioner.

SRS Airbag light came on three times in a month but did not stay on. Took it to Volvo dealership to see what the issue was. According to dealership- there was loose pin tension in the left front door harness. They checked for codes and received SRS B11A081 left side pressure sensor message failures. Followed VIDa fault tracing and found the loose tension in SRS pins in the driver door harness. They had to replace the SRS terminal pins and splice wiring. The dealership did mention that this has happened with 3 or 4 different Volvo models already this year. It sounds like it's a defect in the manufacturing of the SRS system within the doors. However, Volvo warranty will not cover this repair. My primary concern was that the airbag was deactivated this entire time, even when the light was off. Again, the warning only came on for three trips in an entire month. I had assumed it was a software glitch, since when my software needs updating electrical things start to happen (i.e. spacial sensors going off when nothing is around me and I'm parked).

I will followup once I have a report from a mechanic. My car stalled while driving in heavy traffic; a pedestrian ran in front of me and I braked. I didn't hit anything or anyone, not even a pothole. My car stalled and all the dashlights went off. I put the car in park and tried to restart, but it would not start. My emergency lights wouldn't work and because I was on a busy thoroughfare in DC, my daughter and I were nearly rear ended by a bus. Even after we got out of the car, we watched other cars nearly hit it because it couldn't be pulled over and the emergency flashers wouldn't turn on. The mechanic said that the battery was fine. I had a regularly serviced oil change 2k miles ago, and everything was fine. The mechanic will replace the starter since the car will no longer start, but said that a bad starter would not cause the car to just die in heavy traffic. I called Volvo to report the issue, but they said they wouldn't take safety reports unless it was towed to a Volvo dealer. Of course, my car stalled out far away from a Volvo dealer, and roadside assistance only tows to the nearest mechanic.

CONSTANT PROBLEMS/FAILURES WITH START/STOP FUNCTION. CAR'S ELECTRICAL SYSTEM WILL COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN FOR NO REASON WHILE IN TRAFFIC AND ENGINE WILL NOT RESTART. CAR HAS TO BE SHUT OFF AND SYSTEM HAS TO BE RE-BOOTED. DEALER SERVICE DEPT CAN FIND NO PROBLEM. MOST RECENTLY, CAR'S STARTER MOTOR FAILED AND HAD TO BE REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY BY THE DEALER. HAVING THE CAR'S ENGINE START/STOP SYSTEM CONSTANT FAIL IS A SERIOUS SAFETY RISK. WE HAD SERVERAL NEAR-MISS ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY THIS FAILURE. THE WORK AROUND HAS BEEN TO MANUALLY DISABLE THE START/STOP FUNCTION, WHICH HAS TO BE DONE EACH TIME THE CAR IS STARTED FOR THE FIRST TIME.