2016 XC90 engine damaged by defective fuel pump module - per dealer

sunilabraham90 · May 11, 2023

First of all, thanks to all the posts and help.

My 2016 XC90 was affected by the excessive oil consumption issue that Volvo finally decided to fix. I started complaining to the dealer at around 50K and they finally got replaced the piston rings in March at about 80K miles. They also replaced the four fuel injectors because the technician felt loss of power after the piston ring fix.
About two weeks later, I took a trip on I-75 and the SUV just lost all power in the middle of the road with the turtle sign and a Reduced Performance message. We were lucky to get out of harms way. The car did not start after that. I towed it to the Volvo dealer closest to where I was on the I-75.
The original dealer who performed the piston service contacted me that evening and towed the vehicle back home (about 185 miles) . I thought it was strange.
After looking at the vehicle for two weeks, during which all they said was that one of the spark plugs was mysteriously broken, they sent me a repair estimate for ~20K to replace the engine.

Diagnosis: Engine damaged - fuel dumped into engine caused by defective fuel pump module .

I am of the opinion that this was caused by either the piston ring issue that went unfixed for almost two years or a faulty piston ring job by the dealer. How else does this happen ? Does it even make sense for this to happen? I am hoping that the Volvo experts here can help me make sense of this.

Very frustrated with Volvo at this time. What are my options ?

Any and all advice appreciated.

Thanks.

Tech · May 11, 2023

This does not make sense.

MyVolvoS60 · May 11, 2023

sunilabraham90 said:
First of all, thanks to all the posts and help.

My 2016 XC90 was affected by the excessive oil consumption issue that Volvo finally decided to fix. I started complaining to the dealer at around 50K and they finally got replaced the piston rings in March at about 80K miles. They also replaced the four fuel injectors because the technician felt loss of power after the piston ring fix.
About two weeks later, I took a trip on I-75 and the SUV just lost all power in the middle of the road with the turtle sign and a Reduced Performance message. We were lucky to get out of harms way. The car did not start after that. I towed it to the Volvo dealer closest to where I was on the I-75.
The original dealer who performed the piston service contacted me that evening and towed the vehicle back home (about 185 miles) . I thought it was strange.
After looking at the vehicle for two weeks, during which all they said was that one of the spark plugs was mysteriously broken, they sent me a repair estimate for ~20K to replace the engine.

Diagnosis: Engine damaged - fuel dumped into engine caused by defective fuel pump module .

I am of the opinion that this was caused by either the piston ring issue that went unfixed for almost two years or a faulty piston ring job by the dealer. How else does this happen ? Does it even make sense for this to happen? I am hoping that the Volvo experts here can help me make sense of this.

Very frustrated with Volvo at this time. What are my options ?

Any and all advice appreciated.

Thanks.

I suggest posting a copy of the invoice here from the dealer quoting 20K. I would also have the vehicle towed to a second dealer for another opinion (independent of the one who repaired engine). If you can pinpoint that Dealer #1 reassembled the engine improperly, then that dealer would be on the financial hook.

I would say we escalate this to Volvo Corporate, but let's first try to get the puzzle pieces together beforehand to see if the issue solves itself.

Old Reliable · May 11, 2023

I had to read this a couple times. I have heard of spark plug problems on earlier SPA XC90's like yours that would break (that was an issue at one point) but the rest of this is very hard to understand. These are very solid engines despite the oil consumption problem in 2016's. Did the fuel pump module lean out the engine? That's the only thing I can think of. Running rich is safer actually. It would have to dump a lot of fuel to cause damage to an engine because it would have to wash the cylinder walls i thought? Do you have any pictures?

Old Reliable · May 11, 2023

If you want to see what the damage is inside the engine you can take the foam cover off and unscrew the coils and spark plugs, then insert a camera scope and just look around and see if you see anything crazy in there. Milwaukee makes one now too, (haven't used it yet) I don't know if you guys already have their tools but they work with their M12 battery system I believe. If there is a way you could post those pictures see we can see it would be very helpful. See if the broken one will come out at all, but go nice and slow.

sunilabraham90 · May 11, 2023

Old Reliable said:
I had to read this a couple times. I have heard of spark plug problems on earlier SPA XC90's like yours that would break (that was an issue at one point) but the rest of this is very hard to understand. These are very solid engines despite the oil consumption problem in 2016's. Did the fuel pump module lean out the engine? That's the only thing I can think of. Running rich is safer actually. It would have to dump a lot of fuel to cause damage to an engine because it would have to wash the cylinder walls i thought? Do you have any pictures?

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures and the car is still at the dealer.

sunilabraham90 · May 11, 2023

Old Reliable said:
If you want to see what the damage is inside the engine you can take the foam cover off and unscrew the coils and spark plugs, then insert a camera scope and just look around and see if you see anything crazy in there. Milwaukee makes one now too, (haven't used it yet) I don't know if you guys already have their tools but they work with their M12 battery system I believe. If there is a way you could post those pictures see we can see it would be very helpful. See if the broken one will come out at all, but go nice and slow.

Car is still at the dealer. No pics yet.

sunilabraham90 · May 11, 2023

MyVolvoS60 said:
I suggest posting a copy of the invoice here from the dealer quoting 20K. I would also have the vehicle towed to a second dealer for another opinion (independent of the one who repaired engine). If you can pinpoint that Dealer #1 reassembled the engine improperly, then that dealer would be on the financial hook.

I would say we escalate this to Volvo Corporate, but let's first try to get the puzzle pieces together beforehand to see if the issue solves itself.

Copy of invoice below. Unfortunately there is just one dealer in town and I would have to tow the vehicle at least 200 miles to take it to someone else. I may do it if I get the car back in my possession. Even then, I suspect the dealers would try to protect each other. I have sent out emails to Bill & Casey at Volvo corporate and updated my original case about oil consumption with customer service.

volvogod · May 11, 2023

I agree with Tech, does not make sense. This is my opinion. Defective fuel pump module, should be the PEM. If the PEM fails, the in tank fuel pump turns off. No fuel pressure going to the engine. Too much gas going into the engine may cause the plug ground tip to glow red and melt off. There was a service action to replace the plugs on 2016-2017? at the next scheduled service. Did your plugs get replaced at the 60K service? If you have no record of plug replacement this could be an issue. It will not be easy to get the dealer to confirm if they had to remove the plugs during the oil consumption test and/or piston/ring repair. You need to get Volvo corporate involved since the piston/rings were just completed.

DFrantz · May 11, 2023

Wait.. the dealer that did the piston ring and injector job contacted you without you contacting them? That doesn't make sense. The dealer you towed it to would have been the ones looking at it and letting you know. Which dealer is it at?

Normally the dealer you towed it to would tell you what happened and what it needs and if it does need a new motor, would be happy to accept your $20k through no fault of their own. It's quite possible the service managers know one another, but by and large a dealer is not going to "stick up" for another dealer. They could give each other a heads up if they found a problem, but if it was just mechanical failure this wouldn't happen. We all want to be the good guys in a bad situation. I'm confused by the timeline of communication here.

sunilabraham90 · May 11, 2023

volvogod said:
I agree with Tech, does not make sense. This is my opinion. Defective fuel pump module, should be the PEM. If the PEM fails, the in tank fuel pump turns off. No fuel pressure going to the engine. Too much gas going into the engine may cause the plug ground tip to glow red and melt off. There was a service action to replace the plugs on 2016-2017? at the next scheduled service. Did your plugs get replaced at the 60K service? If you have no record of plug replacement this could be an issue. It will not be easy to get the dealer to confirm if they had to remove the plugs during the oil consumption test and/or piston/ring repair. You need to get Volvo corporate involved since the piston/rings were just completed.

View attachment 195368
View attachment 195369

According to my service records and the advisor, spark plugs were replaced at the 20K service. Waiting for corporate to respond. Thanks.

sunilabraham90 · May 11, 2023

DFrantz said:
Wait.. the dealer that did the piston ring and injector job contacted you without you contacting them? That doesn't make sense. The dealer you towed it to would have been the ones looking at it and letting you know. Which dealer is it at?

Normally the dealer you towed it to would tell you what happened and what it needs and if it does need a new motor, would be happy to accept your $20k through no fault of their own. It's quite possible the service managers know one another, but by and large a dealer is not going to "stick up" for another dealer. They could give each other a heads up if they found a problem, but if it was just mechanical failure this wouldn't happen. We all want to be the good guys in a bad situation. I'm confused by the timeline of communication here.

Correct.. I was surprised as well to learn of a dealer refusing to get paid. I was on my way from FL to GA when the vehicle stopped. The dealer in GA that I towed the vehicle to said that I would pay a diagnosis fee of $200 and I left the vehicle with them first thing in the morning. I did tell them that the piston service was done at the original dealer (FL). I did not hear from the GA dealer where the car was but heard directly from the FL dealer that they are going to pick up the car and take it back home (FL). Reason given was that the GA dealer did not have the manpower. I did not have to pay the GA dealer.

DFrantz · May 11, 2023

It's quite possible they didn't have room to book a big job, many places are booked out over a month, but the communication still is odd to me. It could be just bad luck on the timing (in most cases it actually is), but the too much fuel blowing an engine doesn't make a lot of sense, but I just dabble with wrenches. I learn stuff all the time from my techs and service advisors. I'd say it warrants follow up and a solid explanation you're comfortable with.

sunilabraham90 · May 11, 2023

sunilabraham90 said:
According to my service records and the advisor, spark plugs were replaced at the 20K service as part of service action S29842. They were not replaced at the 60K service. Waiting for corporate to respond. Thanks.

volvogod · May 11, 2023

"According to my service records and the advisor, spark plugs were replaced at the 20K service as part of service action S29842. They were not replaced at the 60K service. Waiting for corporate to respond. Thanks."
S29842 also states, replace the plugs at the next service scheduled replacement. If the dealer did the 60K service and did not replace the plugs, this may be in your favor.

Tech · May 11, 2023

Spark plugs are not part of the 20k service but if the service campaign to replace them was open when you had your 20k done, then that would explain why they were replaced then.

Do you have your invoice from the piston job? I always replaced spark plugs during that job. So they might have also been replaced then.

831t5r · May 11, 2023

Never seen a fuel pump module go bad on a spa car causing fuel dump. When we do piston jobs we replace spark plugs regardless since your already tearing an engine apart. Old spark plugs used to break but new updated units rarely break like the old plugs but have seen them. Sounds to me like plug was defective and caused engine damage. But even if plugs break your car will run on 3 cylinders.
Sounds to me like warranty should cover repairs right after a rebuild too close and mysterious

sunilabraham90 · May 11, 2023

volvogod said:
"According to my service records and the advisor, spark plugs were replaced at the 20K service as part of service action S29842. They were not replaced at the 60K service. Waiting for corporate to respond. Thanks."
S29842 also states, replace the plugs at the next service scheduled replacement. If the dealer did the 60K service and did not replace the plugs, this may be in your favor.

Interesting.. No spark plug replacements were done at the 60K service. Valuable piece of info. Thanks.

DFrantz · May 11, 2023

831t5r said:
Never seen a fuel pump module go bad on a spa car causing fuel dump. When we do piston jobs we replace spark plugs regardless since your already tearing an engine apart. Old spark plugs used to break but new updated units rarely break like the old plugs but have seen them. Sounds to me like plug was defective and caused engine damage. But even if plugs break your car will run on 3 cylinders.
Sounds to me like warranty should cover repairs right after a rebuild too close and mysterious

It didn't sound like there is an active warranty on the car for this problem unless the OP had purchased something. It's really a matter of if the last servicing dealer screwed something up or not.

sunilabraham90 · May 11, 2023

Tech said:
Spark plugs are not part of the 20k service but if the service campaign to replace them was open when you had your 20k done, then that would explain why they were replaced then.

Do you have your invoice from the piston job? I always replaced spark plugs during that job. So they might have also been replaced then.

This is the invoice from the piston job. Don't see spark plugs mentioned.

2016 XC90 engine damaged by defective fuel pump module - per dealer

sunilabraham90

Tech

MyVolvoS60

Old Reliable

Old Reliable

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sunilabraham90

sunilabraham90

volvogod

DFrantz

sunilabraham90

sunilabraham90

DFrantz

sunilabraham90

volvogod

Tech

831t5r

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DFrantz

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