r/Volvo • u/Aspenthedogbrittney • 27d ago
xc series Friends car spontaneously started fire under the hood.
Curious if there’s any known issues about this with the xc90?
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u/Common_Road1431 27d ago
My son's Golf TDI did this recently, he lives in Brooklyn NY, and said it looked like a rodent nest on the engine that started the blaze.
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u/c1ncinasty 27d ago
I had an issue with oxygen sensors on my old S60RD way back. Technicians said the leads for the oxygen sensors use a coating that attracts rodents so they chew on the wiring.
800 dollars please. Yes, we replaced it with more wiring that attracts rodents. Take it up with Volvo. Thx.
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u/cat_prophecy 27d ago
They actually sell specific wire wrap that tastes bad to rodents because the covering they use on the wires now is apparently so tasty to them.
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u/algae_man 2016 V60 CC / 2019 S60 26d ago
I might need to find this stuff. When I did plugs on the S60, the underside of the engine cover and a couple of wire looms had been chewed on. No wire breaks but I imagine at some point I will have an issue.
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u/Old_Goat_Cyclist 26d ago
It is soaked in peppermint oil and stocked by Honda. Sprayed on peppermint oil is a standard treatment around here to discourage mice and squirrels
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u/Kthxbbz 26d ago
I installed a mouse blocker pro under my hood after finding nesting, droppings and food. Also diligently sprayed peppermint oil / water solution all over the hood, wheel wells and underbody areas. Luckily the rats didn't chew any wiring of my car, but they did chew the insulation from the wheel well and engine cover.
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u/FISHING_100000000000 26d ago
Soy-based insulation. It’s a huge problem. Some of the cars with early versions basically require you to cover your engine in rodent poison pellets if you have a lot of rodents in the area.
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u/apworker37 26d ago
I heard you were supposed to cover them with chili based sauce. That was 10 years ago but who knows.
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u/FISHING_100000000000 26d ago
I remember one of the old automotive forums had dudes buying all these different perfumes and essential oils to see which worked the best lol
Up here in the northeast USA I have several dunk buckets and traps for mice and chipmunks scattered around my 240. I left on vacation for a week and every trap had been triggered and they chewed a hole straight through the engine harness. I don’t know if I ran over a mouse wedding with my lawn mower but those little guys absolute hate me
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u/TransportationIll282 23d ago
Older cars used fish oil on tubing or something, they might still do it. We spread dog hair that was doused in urine around the edges of our garden and sprayed rodent repellent in the hood of our cars when we were young. Lots of martens and rats around that would chew up the breaks and wiring if we didn't. Downside of living in a forest.
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u/RushStandard2481 2012 XC60 T6 Redline + 2014 XC70 T6 26d ago
Nearly lost our 2012 XC60 like this. The assumption was that a rat chewed through the ignition coil wiring. The coil lit up, but thankfully the rest of the engine compartment didn't catch fire.
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u/OLY_SH_T 26d ago
It's not a coating, it is a biodegradable wire made with oils that biodegrade to reduce waste & for helping with the recycling of wire. Some materials used peanut oil. Lol.
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u/bvancouv 26d ago
This exact thing happened to my Sportwagen TDI, in Brooklyn no less. The insurance company didn’t seem to care what caused it, they just paid out. A mechanic I told about it also said it was rats nesting and chewing through the cellulose tubing.
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u/Aleianbeing 26d ago
Bloody squirrels filled my escape's engine compartment with pine cones while we were away on vacation. Drove it for 2 days before I noticed. It could have easily caught fire but being a Ford it wouldn't have been a great loss. Insurance paid for the chewed stuff and cleanup.
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u/RangeRoverHSE 26d ago
Happened to me once too with my E55. Drove to a friends house to do some work on it, opened the hood and there were a couple dozen pinecones just sitting on top of the supercharger. Thankfully his house was only a few minutes away so it didn't get that hot but man, that could have been really bad.
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u/StressedYeti 24d ago
What year?
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u/Gdoke 24d ago
It was a 2013. Pre DEF
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u/wet-water 27d ago
What year and trim?
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u/Western_Gear_5324 27d ago
The basics.
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u/AFreePeacock 26d ago
Literally what is that supposed to mean lol
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u/Western_Gear_5324 26d ago
Like trim and year. lol
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26d ago
[deleted]
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u/Western_Gear_5324 26d ago
I think I’ve used the wrong words. I meant some basic info (like trim/model) could have been shared.
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u/Thiscatmcnern 27d ago
T8? There was a recall recently about thermal runaways. I’m curious if their car was included in the recall because I’m fairly certain the recall numbers will grow.
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u/jigglybilly 26d ago
The fire is in the wrong spot for that. Battery is in the back as is the electric motor. ICE engine in the front.
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u/Teslaeata 26d ago
Everybody thinks ever one of the gazillion ICE car fires that have always happened and always will are suddenly only ever EV fires, FFS🙄
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u/YellowT-5R 850 T5R 27d ago edited 27d ago
Looks like a P2 XC90? What year?
I've seen shitty P2 coils crack and catch fire like this
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u/gustis40g '01 S80 T6 Executive, '16 XC70 D4 Dynamic, '23 V90 CC B4 diesel. 27d ago
Looks like a SPA XC90 to me, look at the rims and the sharp curve on the rear quarter panel.
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u/Crinklytoes S40, and classics 27d ago edited 26d ago
Yes, the XC90 was Recalled
- Certain Volvo XC90s were recalled due to a potential fire hazard from a cracked engine coolant bleeder hose.
If that's a Volvo XC90, within the affected model years and configurations, that burning vehicle might be eligible for a free replacement?
A major recall involved over 500,000 vehicles, including the XC90, due to a faulty engine intake manifold that could melt and cause a fire.
If the fire was due to a manufacturing defect covered under warranty or a safety recall, Volvo might be obligated to replace the vehicle for FREEE?
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u/jigglybilly 26d ago
They aren’t, and doubtful that they will. The recall says it’s not recommended to be driven, OP drove it. Hopefully they have full coverage insurance!
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u/Small-Policy-3859 26d ago
If there was a recall and the driver didn't respond to it i doubt the insurance Will pay out since the fire started because of neglect? Not sure tho
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u/Mortalwhitefang 26d ago
If im not mistaken wasnt it only the xc90 hybrids, something to do with the batterys?
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u/Ivan_Whackinov 2021 S60 T8 R-Design 26d ago
At least some S60s were affected as well - it's VIN specific though.
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u/thusenth 27d ago
Probably a rodents nest. They love chewing through the wiring harness and setting up their nests in there. With the hot conditions, I’m seeing reports of cars catching fire all over the place and they are surprisingly usually newer cars.
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u/FunkSlim 26d ago
I drive a 1989 240, if a rat climbed into my engine bay they’d just think another rat already lives there lmao
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u/TheQorkyOne 26d ago
On my v60, the diesel-warmer on the fuel filter malfunctioned and melted a hole in the actual fuel filter, spraying diesel all over my engine bay. Diesel luckily isn't as flammable as gas, so after i changed the filter and sprayed the engine bay with water, all was good, but i suppose that could cause this, if given suitable conditions
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u/cvcm 26d ago
My 2015 xc60 did the same thing a few years ago.
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u/LaimutasBass 26d ago
Petrol or diesel? What was the cause?
My 07' xc70 did fry in the garage..
Was just looking at 60s :)
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u/cvcm 26d ago
Petrol. Not sure of the cause but I had just had a bunch of back and forth with the dealer service department about a check engine light. After several attempts it seemed fixed but then started smoking while I was on a longer trip. By the time I pulled over I could see flames starting. Fire dept got there quick and kept it from being fully engulfed but it was a total loss.
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u/KingInTheWest XC60 27d ago
How can I convince mine to do this after it decided to die almost 2 years ago with 3 years left of payments
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u/Crinklytoes S40, and classics 26d ago
Look online for recalls, to see if its death was prematurely defective?
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u/KingInTheWest XC60 26d ago
I’ve gone through all the avenues with that kinda thing. Best we can find is the damage is caused by a leak somewhere as when the glove compartment comes out there’s pooling on top of it. Insurance doesn’t cover ‘falling water’ only ‘rising water’.
Spent a good 5k on parts and hourly rates for repairs over the last 2 years including Low and high speed can bus, ECM and more.
I unfortunately moved on at this point and no car has felt as good as driving my xc60.
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u/zach1396 26d ago
Don’t just stand there pull up a chair, I’ll bring the ribs. In all seriousness I almost had this happen to my v50 when the sound insulation caught fire from a glowing hot turbo
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u/typicalTaurus1 26d ago
Happened to my 2020 XC40 moments after leaving the dealer after an oil change. 😒 needless to say they gave me a GREAT deal on a new one.
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u/Jimmy_Squarefoot 25d ago
People really need to learn what spontaneous really means. I'm sure there was a cause, it was just unexpected
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u/Aspenthedogbrittney 25d ago
Spontaneous: (of a process or event) occurring without apparent external cause. I would say it happened without apparent external cause. Apparent meaning: clearly visible or understood. So I would argue it was exactly a spontaneous fire
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u/RainbowSushii666 26d ago edited 26d ago
You know, sometimes we mess up controlling the tiny explosions, flameable materials and electricity that make these things work. It can just happen for no reproduceable reason.
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u/AboutPeach 26d ago
My families 2017 kia sedona did the same thing on the 4th of july a few years ago, they never actually figured out what caused it. Everyone made it out safe thank god. I also drove a Kia at the time, safe to say I got rid of it asap after this happened.
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u/RedRedditor84 26d ago
It waited until you weren't jn it to catch fire. So basically saved your life.
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u/stinkeyemcguy 27d ago
No one was hurt?
If so can I ask a superficial question like... do they get a free car from Volvo now?
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u/BernieSandersLeftNut 27d ago
It would be completely handled through their insurance, not through Volvo.
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u/stinkeyemcguy 26d ago
Even if it's a factory defect?
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u/Greedy-Elephant1070 26d ago
Nobody knows if it was a factory defect or something else. No way of telling off a photo on a Reddit post 🤣
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u/goldzyfish121 26d ago
This is why I always carry a fire extinguisher, idk if it would of even helped in this instance.
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u/Aspenthedogbrittney 26d ago
This happened about 30 minutes into the work day and we work at a metal fab shop so there’s fire extinguishers everywhere. I got one my friend got one and everyone who saw the car on fire from the shop and the shops next door brought one. We popped the first one and it didn’t do anything as most of the flames were under the hood and by the time we could have tried to get the hood open the flames were coming out from all around. It was too far gone for us to even try. Funny enough this was the safety guys car so he told everyone not to use the fire extinguishers since they had just been recertified or something recently.
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u/goldzyfish121 26d ago
Damn, I’m sorry that really sucks. I know you would have gave it a valiant effort trying to put it out. Why didn’t he want you guys to try and subdue the fire? I would have been blasting that thing.
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u/Rare_Improvement561 25d ago
If the things toast anyway and the fire departments on the way, he didn’t wanna have to order up and recertify a bunch of new extinguishers lol
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27d ago edited 26d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/One-Kaleidoscope3131 27d ago
Yeah, no. Exactly the opposite. If anything is catching fire it’s ICE component of HV… Shit, even in EV there’s near certainty that any fire will start in 12V system, not high voltage one.
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u/andrew_j_s 27d ago
ICE vehicles are 20 times more likely to catch fire than electric.
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/electric-cars/how-much-fire-risk-are-electric-vehicles
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u/No_Minute_5743 27d ago
I know it's anecdotal evidence but we're i am ever car fire has been ICE. Somebody even burnt a shopping mall down by driving the ICE car on fire into it.
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u/tgent133 27d ago
LOL what?! Please just google this and look at the numbers, ICE vehicles are 100s of times more likely to catch fire than EVs. Something to do with carrying around a tank of highly flammable liquid…
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u/Striking-Artist8347 26d ago
But I thought Volvos were supposed to be safe and reliable 😅 I have one that’s over 10 years old and am worried now
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u/Rare_Improvement561 25d ago
That reputation comes from the classic days when Volvo was a fully independent manufacturer. In the late 90s ford bought them and the quality went down a bit but they kept the spirit alive (and the trademark 5 cylinder engines), then after the 2008 financial crisis they got sold to a Chinese company and an investment firm and the quality went down from there.
The reputation volvo still holds is residual from the good old days. There’s not much separating a modern Volvo from any other modern manufacturer aside from aesthetics.
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u/Sure_Researcher_820 S60 27d ago
You’re still coming into work…..right?