I’ve been having a strange problem with my 2004 Volvo S80 2.5T. A few weeks ago, I was driving it home from work, and as soon as I come to a stop, all the lights on the dash came on, and I got a notification on the screen that said “brake failure, stop safely.” I kept driving it and made it home just fine, but when I came back out to look at it, it wouldn’t start. However, the next morning, it starts up, runs and drives with zero problems. This has happened three times now and it usually happens when it’s hot outside. Any ideas?
Hey Pat.
it’s difficult to diagnose this without an OBD scan to check what errors the cars throwing. The error seems to be electronics related so could be a module or a sensor such as the ABS sensor or the brake module sensor, but I’d recommend getting it scanned to see the actual codes it’s throwing out.
Check your battery and charging on your vehicle. If you have a multimeter it is quite easy. Just start your car and connect the leads to the + and - terminals. It should read anywhere between 14v - 15v. You can than perform a load test on your battery by turning on all the accesories and getting someone to start the car while you read the multimeter. It shouldnt drop below 7v while cranking.
If all checks out well than you may need to scan it for some trouble codes.
The reason it says brake failure is because it logically has to decide which things are least important to shut down. Think of it as life support. It must choose your ABS to shut down first as it is lowest on priority.
