Volvo recalls XC60 and S60

VOLVO Cars Australia has issued two recalls on its XC60 SUV over potential fuel-line faults, bringing to 14 the number of official recalls made on its best-selling vehicle since 2009.

The latest recalls, on small numbers of 2011 XC60s with either 2.0-litre T5 or 3.2-litre petrol engines, are part of a global action that also involves the new S60 sedan in T5 guise.

A recall statement issued on the website of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says the fuel supply line might have been incorrectly fitted on a total of 55 XC60s and S60s powered by the 2.0-litre T5 petrol engine.

“In a worst case scenario a fuel line connection may completely detach and the engine may stall without any prior warning due to no fuel supply,” it says.

“This may occur suddenly and without prior warning to the driver which poses an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety.” The notice also says that drivers of affected vehicles might notice a fuel smell.

Affected XC60 vehicles lie within the VIN range (final six digits on VIN number) 192616 to 195006, while the VIN range of affected S60 cars is 031679 to 033476.

Left: Volvo S60.

Owners of affected vehicles will receive a letter from Volvo, and are advised to contact their dealer to have the faulty male fuel pipe and the female fuel pipe replaced.

The other recall, affecting both 2.0-litre T5 or 3.2-litre petrol variants, is due to a possible production mix-up in which the connectors for the fuel pressure line and the purge line may have been switched.

The ACCC recall notice says that if this condition occurs, “the pressure line will be missing an O-ring, which could lead to fuel seepage in sub-zero temperatures and the customer noticing a fuel smell”.

The recall notice also says 22 cars are affected, including XC60 vehicles with a VIN ranging between 193110 to 193764 and S60 cars with VINs between 032029 to 032502.

Owners of affected vehicles also will be contacted by letter. They are urged to see their local dealer to have the connectors checked and the fuel bundle assembly under the car replaced if necessary.

Both recalls are part of wider global campaigns, and Volvo Cars Australia public affairs manager Jaedene Hudson told GoAuto that no real-world fuel line issues had been reported on either model.

When asked to comment on the seemingly high number of recalls involving the XC60, Ms Hudson said that “only three of them are XC60 specific. So I guess you could say that it's one of the few negatives you get as a result of platform sharing.

“So (for example) if it’s a faulty fuel line on a D5 engine then all models that have that particular engine will have to be looked at.

“The majority of those recalls are not actually safety related, they are compliance issues. Obviously we do the recalls to check (for faults) and of the ones we checked none of them were actually found to be faulty,” she said.

Since its early-2009 launch, the XC60 recalls have included problems relating to the engine cooling fan, fuel-line rail cover, power steering belt tensioner, driver's airbag and curtain airbags, as well as comparatively trivial details such as the wiper fluid level sensor.