Volvo’s V70 can’t stand the heat

volvo v70Hundreds of Swedish Volvo-owners have been left by the side of the road as their vehicle suddenly dies. It turned out that the fuel pump at Volvo V70 Flexifuel breaks down when the outside temperature gets too high.

“Yes, that’s correct that a number of cars of the first production series have problems with the fuel pump, and it’s a problem that accelerates in this heat”, said Bo Larsson, spokesperson at Volvo, to Swedish Radio.

Volvo V70 Flexifuel is currently the company’s most popular clean vehicle. Hundreds of complaints have been reported from all over Sweden.

What happens is that the non-return valve and pressure regulator in the fuel pump looses its grip, which stops the flow of fuel to the engine and the car dies. Volvo is currently investigating the problem to find out what causes the parts to fall of.

Between late autumn 2007 up to July 2008 some 3,500 cars by the V70 2.0 Flexifuel model were produced, Swedish Radio reports. The ones produced from August 2008 and on have another fuel pump construction and are not troubled by the same problem, according to Bo Larsson.

In April Volvo Cars recalled more than 20,000 vehicles across Europe over fears they have faulty cooling fans. The recall affects four-cylinder diesel engine models of Volvo’s C30 hatchback, its S40 compact saloon and its sister model, the V50 estate.