2001 S80 with HU-611 sound system

--- I have TERRIBLE reception on all but one powerful AM station.

This is a fairly recent development. For 2-1/2 years I had no problem at
all. Then the quality of AM reception began to degrade. I became aware of
a factory "fix" involving a brass strip Volvo authorized its dealers to
perform, but never found time to get the car in to the dealer while the car
was still under warranty. Seemed like a waste of time to tie the thing up
for such a trivial thing --- especially when it meant I'd have to struggle
without a loaner car for a day while they worked on it.

But nonetheless --- I eventually DID take it in, even though it was out of
warranty and I actually PAID good money to have the work performed a month
ago.

Guess what?

No help.

So I took it back and they looked at it again and supposedly fixed it right.
The service writer relaid a story from the tech who worked on the car,
saying he "found" a loose connection, but don't worry - I tightened it up
real good this time.

Guess what?

It STILL doesn't work!

In fact it's WORSE THAN EVER by a factor of 10.

The only problem - if it can be called a problem - is that 10% to 20% of the
time it works perfectly. Which means (I guess) that the radio IS capable of
performing as it was designed to do. The problem is that 80% to 90% of the
time it won't.

Now I'm getting conversation from the dealer to the effect that "Well, in
Europe, they don't even care about AM radio...yada yada yada." and I'm
thinking "So what? I don't live in Europe. And I DO care about AM radio!
I want it fixed.

Somebody told me I cannot take this thing to a radio shop and have an
external antenna installed. Is this correct?

Then what can I do with it? The dealer is incompetent. He has my money and
would prefer now that I just went away.

Pat

your dealer is full of sh%$...there is a wwll known "fix" and tech
bullitin that is in the volvo VADIS system...all s80's (except new
ones) had the mfg defect that caused very poor am radio
recptn...something about how they grounded (or failed to) the am radio
antenna...give your dealer one more chance, tell them you will be
contacting volvo of north america and the us auto repair / consumer
group about this well known, documented volvo defect....they should fix
it for free...fix it corectaly as well....good luck !! keep the group
posted...you need to demonstrate to the dealer you are a educated
informed volvo driver...i would report this dealer to volvo of n
america as well, as they rate all the dealers and need to weed out the
bad ones...

"~^ beancounter ~^" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
> your dealer is full of sh%$...there is a wwll known "fix" and tech
> bullitin that is in the volvo VADIS system...all s80's (except new
> ones) had the mfg defect that caused very poor am radio
> recptn...something about how they grounded (or failed to) the am radio
> antenna...give your dealer one more chance, tell them you will be
> contacting volvo of north america and the us auto repair / consumer
> group about this well known, documented volvo defect....they should fix
> it for free...fix it corectaly as well....good luck !! keep the group
> posted...you need to demonstrate to the dealer you are a educated
> informed volvo driver...i would report this dealer to volvo of n
> america as well, as they rate all the dealers and need to weed out the
> bad ones...

Thanks for the advice.

This morning I re-called the dealer and he said I could bring it back and
they would run a HD antenna cable from the radio to the rear of the car (he
didn't finish explaining but I believe he would have added that it would be
connected to an external antenna). Currently the car has no visible
external antenna. I interrupted him and asked who would pay? He answered
that I would pay. I asked how much? He said "About $400.00." (As I said
earlier - the AM antenna "fix" with the little brass strip has already been
performed AT MY EXPENSE.) He said "Yeah, let's get that cable done and see
if that takes care of it."

Excuse me? "See if that takes care of it"? So - I guess if it doesn't then
I should just bring the car back and let you try something else at my
expense? And what if that doesn't work?

ARRRGGGH!

So anyway I called 1-800-458-1552 > 3 and talked to a customer service rep.
I might as well have pissed on a duck. I got no satisfaction at all. The
only commitment that guy made was to say he'd "enter my comments into the
record on this incident".

Completely, totally unsatisfactory.

Anybody want to buy a well maintained S80 with a radio that works fine on FM
and CD? It looks real nice.

Pat

wrong...do not add any external antenna...the s80's is built in
or hidden and works fine once hooked up and grounded right...

go to another dealer, and report your current dealer to volvo
corp...and..let
us all know so we don't take our volvos to the flakey dealer...do some
searching on the consumer reports / auto recall web sites, or do a car
fax ($15) on your volvo & vin and you will get a print out of the
nation wide
recall and fix for the poor am reception on all s80's...then you will
have
the recall/fix tec number and something in hand to show the dealer...

i would not let some clown install a "outside" antenna on my s80....

good luck !! keep us posted...

you can try callong my local volvo shop...carl the owner taak a quick
looksie at mine (2000)
the other day and told me all about the am radio problems...(carl @
970.225.2559)..
he told me if the re gounding he did did not ttly fix the problem (it
seemed to have) he could
do the volvo recomended install of a amp (new version) and some sort of
antenna pig tale
fitting....anyway, what i am trying to let you know is it is a well
known s80 problem...you just
need to find a mechanic who knows what they are doing......but, if you
do decide to sell...what color,
miles, xtras, and asking price? location, etc...i may be
interested......

"~^ beancounter ~^" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message

> and report your current dealer to volvo corp...

....that's exactly what I did. In my previous posts I said: "So anyway I
called 1-800-458-1552 > 3"

That number is Volvo's North American hotline. They were as unhelpful as
the dealer - Shelly Volvo in Buena Park, CA. I also had unsatisfactory
answers on this and a number of issues with my selling dealer - Volvo of
Orange County. That's two separate dealers and now the Volvo Corp itself
which have all pretty much told me to go piss up a rope.

Not a problem.

No more Volvos for me or any body in my extended family.

Pat

sounds screwed up Pat...try long beach
volvo..or dump it and get a different car...let
me know the miles & price...i may be interested...

my mechanic can fix these problems pretty
easily......

"~^ beancounter ~^" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) ups.com...
> sounds screwed up Pat...try long beach
> volvo..or dump it and get a different car...let
> me know the miles & price...i may be interested...
>
> my mechanic can fix these problems pretty
> easily...

....the natural question is "Where are YOU - and where is your mechanic?
Anywhere close to me?

Pat :-)

PS - there's 5 pics posted of the car from various times last year at
http://www.brickboard.com/GALLERY/?model=S80
the mileage as of today is about 74,500

Until now I hadn't even thought about getting rid of it or what it might be
worth.

pat...i am 1,000 miles away (northern colorado) your s80 is probabally
worth around $9-12k...it l@@k's nice....Check w/long beach volvo
or find a good independent is so calie...i am sure they are
around...check
w/the local volvo club, they would know of someone good...then send the
bitt to volvo no america and explain how their dealers refused to fix a
known mfg defect (have dates, people you talked with, etc.) post this
info to us here on the volvo board, explain to volvos of north america
how
you are publicing the event and char w/the LA Times auto guy....I am
sure
they would like to hear of your volvo expierences, they are already
doing
articals on the big ETM problem w/volvo inc...

Pat Durkin wrote:
>
> --- I have TERRIBLE reception on all but one powerful AM station.
>
> This is a fairly recent development. For 2-1/2 years I had no problem at
> all. Then the quality of AM reception began to degrade. I became aware of
> a factory "fix" involving a brass strip Volvo authorized its dealers to
> perform, but never found time to get the car in to the dealer while the car
> was still under warranty. Seemed like a waste of time to tie the thing up
> for such a trivial thing --- especially when it meant I'd have to struggle
> without a loaner car for a day while they worked on it.
>
> But nonetheless --- I eventually DID take it in, even though it was out of
> warranty and I actually PAID good money to have the work performed a month
> ago.
>
> Guess what?
>
> No help.
>
> So I took it back and they looked at it again and supposedly fixed it right.
> The service writer relaid a story from the tech who worked on the car,
> saying he "found" a loose connection, but don't worry - I tightened it up
> real good this time.
>
> Guess what?
>
> It STILL doesn't work!
>
> In fact it's WORSE THAN EVER by a factor of 10.
>
> The only problem - if it can be called a problem - is that 10% to 20% of the
> time it works perfectly. Which means (I guess) that the radio IS capable of
> performing as it was designed to do. The problem is that 80% to 90% of the
> time it won't.
>
> Now I'm getting conversation from the dealer to the effect that "Well, in
> Europe, they don't even care about AM radio...yada yada yada." and I'm
> thinking "So what? I don't live in Europe. And I DO care about AM radio!
> I want it fixed.
>
> Somebody told me I cannot take this thing to a radio shop and have an
> external antenna installed. Is this correct?
>
> Then what can I do with it? The dealer is incompetent. He has my money and
> would prefer now that I just went away.
>
> Pat

Try putting the power locks up and down when the reception is crappy and
see what happens.

--
Mike F.
Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)