Volvo 850 fire or smoke problems

Filed Apr 6, 2009 · Engine · 155,000 miles · NH · fire

Tl*the contact owns a 1996 volvo 850 glt. While parked in the contact's driveway, the vehicle burst into flames unexpectedly. The fire department was called to the scene and a report was filed. The report indicated that the fire originated from the engine compartment. The vehicle was completely destroyed. The garage door, house siding, and driveway surface were damaged. In addition, a small area of the lawn was damaged by the fire. There were no personal injuries. The insurance company and manufacturer were notified of the failure. The vehicle is currently being investigated and has not been towed from the scene. The failure and current mileages were 155,000.

Filed May 30, 2008 · Electrical · LA · fire

Tl*the contact owns a 1993 volvo 850. After driving approximately 55 MPH, the contact parked the vehicle. Two minutes later, the hood burst into flames. There were no warning indicators prior to the failure. The fire department was called to the scene and a police report was filed. The contact was informed that the cause of the fire was electrical. There were no injuries. It has not yet been determined if the vehicle was destroyed. The contact was only covered for liability insurance. The vehicle was towed to his residence. The current and failure mileages were unavailable.

Filed Dec 17, 2005 · Seats · 96,000 miles · CA · fire

My wife & daughter smelled smoke while driving on a neighborhood street. It seemed to be coming from under the driver's seat. They stopped the car right away and got out. As my wife opened the door to the back seat to get her purse, she saw flames coming from under the driver's seat. They ran to the nearest house to call 911. While on the phone with 911, less than a minute after getting out of the car, my wife saw the entire inside of the car become engulfed in flames. The fire department was on the scene within 3 minutes, but it was too late. The entire inside of the car was burned beyond recognition. What had been leather seats were now metal frames, the dashboard had evaporated, and the car was totaled. Although our insurance company covered the loss of the car, we have had to spend several thousand dollars to replace burnt possessions (like a cell phone and a pda) and pay for car rental. The fire department indicated that the seat heater was the likely cause of the fire, but volvo has not admitted any product failure. When we bought a volvo because of its reputation for safety ("volvo for life"), we certainly didn't expect it to burn up!

Filed Aug 31, 2005 · Fuel system · VA

> my family received a notice from volvo cars of north america, via us mail, dated february 2005 > notice explains that: "in certain cases, after prolonged exposure to extreme heat, the fuel tank in model year 1994-1997 volvo 850 vehicles may develop seepage at the heat shield attachment. When this occurs, a fuel odor may be present." >this is a serious understatement and, in my opinion based on my family's recent experience on our volvo 850 listed ed in the recall, borders on criminal neglect. > we experienced this problem with our own volvo 850 within the last two weeks, and it was much more than fuel vapor. I will explain: - a very strong intermittent fuel odor became noticeable, followed several days later by sever leaking from near the top of the gas tank down onto the cars exhaust pipe. I am really surprised it had not caught fire while we were driving the vehicle. - gas was dripping from the tank at a rate of one drop every two to three seconds. My wife and I noticed this after a quick trip to the grocery store where we had parked on level ground, allowing the gas to pool under the car. - we had to call the fire department to secure the vehicle; they had em move the car to a sloped gravel area to keep the gas to one side of the tank and to absorb the dripping gas. > the dealer took care of the problem immediately. The point that I am trying to make with all this is that if the notice had been worded more strongly and indicating the potential severity of this problem, we would have had the car in a lot sooner. I'm just glad we didn't have the car parked in a garage attached to our residence. Feel free to give me a call or e-mail and I will be glad to forward a copy of this notice to your office for review. John dominski fairfax, va.

Filed Aug 5, 2005 · Seats · MD · 1 injury

1994 850 glt volvo was total destroyed by fire. *mr the consumer was driving the vehicle when the seat felt hot, then it begun to smoke and smelled burning. The dealer disconnected the seat heater circuits. Shortly after that, the vehicle was turned on and begun to smoke again. Flames were shooting out from underneath the driver's seat.

Filed Feb 25, 2005 · Engine · 168,000 miles · IL · fire

While attempting to start the vehicle it caught fire in the engine compartment without warning. The consumer states that there was excessive fuel leakage. The cause has yet to be determined. Please provide additional information.

Filed Mar 11, 2004 · Seats · NJ · fire

Consumer's heated seat caught on fire. The seats fabric contained the fire. *ak

Filed Sep 24, 2003 · Electrical · MA · fire

Consumer noticed an odd smell inside of vehicle while traveling. Consumer pulled vehicle over and noticed smoke coming from under hood and a fire. Fire department was called and put fire out.

Filed Aug 3, 2003 · Electrical, Engine · MD · fire

The entire alternator wiring harness was melted and destroyed before the fuseable link opened the circuit. This clearly is not an acceptable electrical design. In fact, it is my contention that if my wife had not turned the car off when she did, due to the white smoke from the fan, the wiring harness would have caught on fire. Most likely the resulting fire would have destroyed the car as the melted wiring harness is directly under and around the engines fuel injection system. Personally inspected the electrical damage, and was appalled by how much of the wiring was fused together. If the safety design (fuseable link) of the fan circuit had worked properly the alternator wiring harness would never have been damaged to the extent I saw and more importantly my wife would never have been in personal danger.I have reported this issue to volvo america and they contend that a loose fan mount caused this issue. The repair shop was at a lose to explain this position to me as they could not understand how this was relevent to the extensive damage caused as the wiring harness melted down.

Filed Mar 17, 2003 · Seats · 117,000 miles · WV · fire · 1 injury

I am the owner and driver of a 1996 volvo 850. On sunday march 16th 2003, the driver and myself were stopped in a drive through restaurant when my drivers seat caught on fire. The car started smoking from the seats, then we turned around to look where it was coming from we noticed flames coming out from under the seat into the back seat area. We yelled for a fire extinguisher that the driver used to put out the fire, while putting it out he sustained injury. The local fire department was notified and a report was taken. They had advised me not to drive my car. I was confused on what had happened so I decided to research "electrical wiring problems in volvo's" when I found different articles recalling my make and model of my car that as of december 2, 2002: 65,000 1996, 850 volvo's were being recalled because the seat heaters could short circuit and catch fire. In many of the articles it has stated that either volvo hasn't started a campaign yet to notify their consumers or that volvo would not return calls to comment on recalls. I contacted the nearest vovlo dealership to me and they were very confused on what to do. The man on the phone first told me that he hasn't heard of a recall for that but a few minutes later he said they recently serviced his boss' 1996 850 volvo for the same recall, he said he would research and call me back. Early afternoon, I contacted volvo cars of north america to complain. I told the above story, where they thought they weren't liable for this. One man said just because it's recalled doesn't mean that is what happened with my car. I then spoke with his supervisor who told me that I needed to tow my car to the dealership which is approximately 45 miles away, I have to foot the bill and that's where an adjuster from volvo will inspect the car. In the meantime I can not drive my vehicle and they will not pay for a rental while my car is out of commission. Livid at the fact that my safety and the safety of my passengers was compromised!