2001 Volvo S60

2001 VOLVO S60 - GAS LEAK FROM ABOVE THE FUEL TANK. STRONG GAS ODOR, DISCOVERED FUEL DRIPPING DOWN SIDE OF TANK UNDER VEHICLE ON PASSENGER'S SIDE. DROVE FOR AT LEAST 2 WEEKS OR MORE BEFORE I FIGURED OUT IT WAS MY CAR THAT CREATING THAT GAS SMELL AT LIGHTS (ONLY NOTICED WHEN WINDOW WAS DOWN). UNTIL VEHICLE BEGAN LEAKING A LOT OF GAS AND ODOR WAS OVER POWERING. WAS TOLD VOLVO'S "EXTENDED WARRANTY" WOULD NOT COVER THE DEFECTIVE FUEL PUMP BECAUSE THE "EXTENDED WARRANTY" WAS ONLY FOR 10 YEARS OR 150,000 MILES. HAD VEHICLE REPAIRED AT MY EXPENSE. ONE DAY AFTER REPAIR AN EVEN WORSE GAS LEAK APPEARED UNDER VEHICLE ON DRIVER'S SIDE ABOVE REAR GAS TANK. NOT RESOLVED AS OF DATE OF COMPLAINT. PUDDLE OF GAS UNDER VEHICLE. GAS ODOR STRONG REALLY AFRAID TO DRIVE IT BACK TO THE MECHANIC. ADDITIONAL COMPLAINT: INTERMITTENT LURCHING OR SURGING OF SAME VOLVO S60 AT LOW SPEEDS SHORTLY AFTER STARTING. IT LUNGES FORWARD AND THEN PULLS BACK WITH NO DEPRESSING OF ACCELERATOR. IT IS A MANUAL TRANSMISSION SO THE LURCHING IS VERY ALARMING CONSIDERING NO ADDITIONAL DEPRESSION OF THE ACCELERATOR IS HAPPENING WHEN IT RANDOMLY LUNGES FORWARD. USUALLY STOPS LUNGING AFTER 10 MINUTES OF DRIVING. *TR

INTERMITTENT FAILURE OF ELECTRONIC THROTTLE IN 2001 VOLVO S60. FORTUNATELY OCCURRED IN PARKING LOT WITH VEHICLE AT REST. VEHICLE SUDDENLY STOPPED RESPONDING TO THROTTLE. TURNED OFF VEHICLE AND DID VISUAL AND TACTILE SURVEY OF THROTTLE PEDAL AREA. RESTARTED VEHICLE AND PROBLEM DISAPPEARED. COULD HAVE BEEN VERY SERIOUS SITUATION HAD VEHICLE BEEN AT SPEED. *TR

WHILE STOPPING AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT, I NOTICED ALL THE WARNING LIGHTS ON THE LOWER RIGHT SIDE OF THE INSTRUMENT PANEL CAME ON AND IMMEDIATELY WENT OFF, NO OTHER INDICATIONS. WHILE WAITING AT THE LIGHT, EVERYTHING APPEARED NORMAL. WHEN THE LIGHT CHANGED TO GREEN, I PUSHED ON THE GAS PEDAL TO PULL AWAY AND NOTHING HAPPENED. THE CAR WOULD NOT ACCELERATE AT ALL. NO LIGHTS WERE ON. I PUSHED TO GAS PEDAL TO THE FLOOR AND BACK UP AND THEN HALF WAY DOWN, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WORKED. IT WOULD NOT GO ANY FASTER THAN IDLE. NO INCREASE IN RPM'S AT ALL, NO MATTER WHAT POSITION THE GAS PEDAL WAS IN. I'M IN THE FAST LANE AT RUSH HOUR AND COULD ONLY GO ABOUT 4 MILES PER HOUR. I MANAGED TO WORK MY WAY OVER THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND PULL INTO A PARKING LOT. I STOPPED AND PUT THE CAR INTO PARK. I HEARD A "CLICK" AS IF A RELAY WAS RESET. I THEN PUT THE CAR INTO REVERSE AND IT SEEMED TO WORK. I PUT IT IN DRIVE AGAIN AND EVERYTHING APPEARED TO WORK OKAY AFTER THAT. I TOOK IT TO TURNER VOLVO, HERE IN SACRAMENTO, CA AND THEY SAID THEY COULDN'T DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM AND THERE WEREN'T ANY CODES IN THE COMPUTER SO THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO. THIS WAS AN "EXTREMELY" DANGEROUS SITUATION AND COULD HAVE CAUSED A VERY SERIOUS ACCIDENT, MADE WORSE BY THE FACT THAT MY 5 YEAR OLD NIECE WAS WITH ME AT THE TIME THIS HAPPENED. WE COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED AND TURNER VOLVO SAYS THERE'S NOTHING THEY CAN DO. WELL TURNER, THANKS FOR NOTHING AND FOR TAKING OUR LIVES SO LIGHTLY. MAYBE SOMEDAY A MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY WILL BE INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT CAUSED BY THIS PROBLEM AND THEN WE'LL SEE WHAT YOU THINK. THIS IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM WITH VOLVO'S AND NEEDS TO BE TAKING CARE OF BY THE MANUFACTURER NOT THE PEOPLE WHO TRUSTED YOU ENOUGH TO BUY YOUR CARS. *TR

I OWN A VOLVO S60 AND HAVE EXPERIENCED AN ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE FAILURE. AS THE VOLVO DEALER HAS TOLD ME. "OH YEAH, WE KEEP THOSE IN STOCK. MANUFACTURING FLAW. THEY ARE BURNING OUT LIKE CRAZY." THE REPAIR IS GOING TO COST ME $900 USD AND I AM ABSOLUTELY LIVID. SOME RESEARCH HAS YIELDED THAT AN EXCESS OF 200,000 VEHICLES COULD BE AFFECTED AND SO FAR TENS OF THOUSANDS HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED AND CLEANED, OR REPLACED. MY VEHICLE HAS RECEIVED THE "SOFTWARE UPGRADE 'RECALL'", BUT CLEARLY TO NO AVAIL. MY CAR HAS ONLY 60,000 MILES ON IT AND HAS TO HAVE A FAULTY MANUFACTURED PART REPLACED. I BOUGHT VOLVO FOR THE RELIABILITY AND SERVICE AND THUS FAR, HAVE RECEIVED NEITHER. THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM THAT RESULTS IN EXCESSIVE AND SUDDEN STALLING IN TRAFFIC, OPEN ROAD, AND PARKED CONDITIONS. AS A DIRECT RESULT OF THIS DEFECT, I WAS ALMOST SANDWICHED AND NO DOUBT WOULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY INJURED, IF NOT KILLED, BY TWO TRACTOR TRAILERS ON A MERGE ON ROUTE 295. I'M AFRAID THAT VOLVO AND THE US GOVERNMENT IS AWAITING FATALITIES OR FORD'S SALE TO A FOREIGN COMPETITOR (BMW) BEFORE ISSUING THE RECALL. THIS IS DIRTY POOL AND I AM REQUESTING THIS ASSOCIATION TO MAKE A ONCE GOOD COMPANY REMEMBER THEIR ROOTS IN SAFETY AND RESPONSIBILITY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. *TR

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED AFTER NHTSA RECALL #06V441000 CONCERNING THE VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL WAS PERFORMED ON THE VEHICLE, IT STALLED WHILE DRIVING 60 MPH WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING. IT WAS MANEUVERED OFF THE ROAD AND RESTARTED. HOWEVER, IT WAS TOWED TO AN INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOP WHO SUGGESTED THE VEHICLE BE TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION. THE DEALER WAS NOT CONTACTED. *AK

I HAVE APPROXIMATELY 80,000 MILES ON MY VEHICLE AND ON INTERMITTENT OCCASIONS I HAD EXPERIENCED PROBLEMS WITH IDLE FLUCTUATION AND SLIGHT ERRATIC ACCELERATION AND POWER BEHAVIOR. ON ANOTHER OCCASION I WAS ENTERING THE FREEWAY AND AS I ACCELERATED INTO POSITION ON THE FREEWAY THE CAR FELT SLOW TO RESPOND AND SLUGGISH, THEN I RECEIVED AN URGENT ENGINE SERVICE REQUIRED MESSAGE ON MY DASH DISPLAY. AS SOON I HAD THE CHANCE I PULLED OVER TO CHECK ENGINE VITALS, OIL, COOLANT ETC, EVERYTHING WAS GOOD AND I HADN'T NOTICED ANY SERIOUS DRIVABILITY ISSUES BUT RELUCTANT TO TRAVEL AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS ON THE FREEWAY. I INQUIRED WITH THE VOLVO DEALER AT MY NEXT SERVICE WHICH COINCIDED WITH THIS MOST RECENT ISSUE. IT WAS EXPLAINED TO ME THAT THE FAULT CODE INDICATED PROBLEMS WITH THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE/SYSTEM (ETM/ETS), AND THAT I COULD EITHER HAVE IT CLEANED WHICH WOULD BE A TEMPORARY FIX, OR REPLACED WHICH WOULD COST OVER $1000.00. THE SERVICE REP CHECKED TO SEE IF THERE WERE ANY RECALLS FOR MY VEHICLE AND THERE WERE NONE THAT APPLIED TO MY VEHICLE AND AS FAR AS TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETINS WERE CONCERNED THERE WERE TWO THAT APPLIED BUT EVEN THOUGH, MY VEHICLE STILL WOULD NOT QUALIFY UNDER ANY EXTENDED WARRANTY BECAUSE MY VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED IN EUROPE AND SHIPPED IT BACK TO THE U.S. WHAT IS THAT? I THOUGHT ALL VOLVO'S INEVITABLY COME FROM THE SAME PLACE. WHAT SETS MY VEHICLE APART FROM ANY OTHER, ITS STILL U.S. SPEC AND ITS STILL A VOLVO AND WE ARE ALL EXPERIENCING THE SAME PROBLEMS IT APPEARS. AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET, I HAVE LEARNED THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM EFFECTING SEVERAL MODEL VEHICLES RANGING FROM YEARS 1999-2002 AND IS A POTENTIALLY LIFE-THREATENING PROBLEM UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES AND WHICH VOLVO HAS REFUSED TO RECOGNIZE AND REFUSES TO ISSUE A RECALL ON THE PROBLEM PART THAT IS NOT MECHANICAL AND IN MY OPINION DOES NOT QUALIFY AS NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR. *JB

AT 53,000 MILES (FEBRUARY 2006) MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, SERVICE TRANSMISSION LIGHT AND URGENT SERVICE WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON AT THE SAME TIME. HOWEVER, I WAS I NOT EXPERIENCING ANY NOTICEABLE DRIVABILITY ISSUES. (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SOME SLIGHTLY ROUGH GEAR SHIFTING - BUT I DIDN'T THINK MUCH OF IT). THE DEALER TOLD ME THAT THE FAULT CODE WAS RELATED TO MY TRANSMISSION AND THAT I NEED A SOFTWARE UPGRADE TO MY TCM (TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE). IF THE FAULT CODE RETURNED AFTER THE UPGRADE, MY TRANSMISSION WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED. AND THAT MOST LIKELY (99.9%) THE SOFTWARE UPGRADE WOULD CORRECT THE PROBLEM. IN ADDITION, I HAD TO PAY $340 FOR THE SOFTWARE UPGRADE BECAUSE I WAS 6 MONTHS / 3,000 MILES OUT OF WARRANTY AND SOFTWARE ISSUES WHERE NOT COVERED BY THE EXTENDED WARRANTY (3RD PARTY - EASYCARE -[VIA FORD]). A FEW WEEKS LATER (3/5/06), THE CHECK ENGINE COMES ON AGAIN AND THE DRIVABILITY DETERIORATES RAPIDLY ON MY TRIP HOME FROM WORK. HIGH RPM'S - LITTLE POWER - ABRUPT SHIFTING. FORTUNATELY, I WAS CLOSE TO HOME (WITHIN 1 MILE). IT FELT LIKE THE TRANSMISSION FELL APART. I BROUGHT IT TO THE DEALER (3/8/06), AFTER TWO DAYS OF 'TESTING', I'M TOLD THE ETM WAS REPLACED AT NO CHARGE AND TO COME PICK UP THE CAR. I PICKED IT UP AND COULD NOT LEAVE THE DEALER DRIVEWAY. THEY APOLOGIZED PROFUSELY AND SAID THE ETM WAS REPLACED BUT NOTICED THAT THERE IS STILL A PROBLEM. AFTER A FEW DAYS OF TROUBLESHOOTING BY THE DEALER, I WAS INFORMED THAT THE CAR NEEDED A NEW TRANSMISSION (AND I HAD TO PAY AN ADDITIONAL $200 FOR EXTENDED WARRANTY CO-PAY). *NM

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE TRYING TO ACCELERATE TO HIGHWAY SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE STALLED THREE TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS TRAVELING 30-40 MPH EACH TIME. THE VEHICLE WAS PULLED OVER; THE BATTERY WAS DISCONNECTED, AND THEN RECONNECTED. THE VEHICLE RESTARTED AFTER THE COMPUTER RESET. ALSO, THE VEHICLE WOULD ACCELERATE WHEN THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL HAD BEEN RELEASED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THE ECM MODULE WAS REPLACED. THERE HAVE BEEN NO FURTHER PROBLEMS.