2000 Volvo S70

CAR BEGAN TO LOSE ACCELERATION ON 10-15-05 AND WOULD TAKE A FULL 2 MIN TO REACH 55 MPH WITH ONLY MINIMAL THROTTLE DEPRESSION (ANY MORE THAN ONLY THE LEAST WOULD CAUSE THE DRIVE TRAIN TO JERK AND REFUSE TO PROPEL THE CAR AT ALL). IF THE CAR WAS PULLED OVER AND RESTARTED THE PROBLEM WOULD CORRECT ITSELF FOR A WHILE (SOMETIMES THE GAP IN BETWEEN MALFUNCTIONS WOULD BE SEVERAL HOURS INITIALLY) BUT WOULD ALWAYS RETURN. RAN TROUBLE CODES AND THE OXYGEN SENSOR WAS INITIALLY FAULTY. REPLACED THEN THE ENGINE WOULD IDLE ERRATICALLY UPON STARTUP, BUT AFTER A PERIOD OF TIME (5-15 MINUTES) IT WOULD ALL OF A SUDDEN CORRECT ITSELF - RACING THE ENGINE SEEMED TO SHORTEN THE TIME PERIOD, BUT YOU WOULD HAVE TO DEPRESS AND QUICKLY RELEASE THE GAS PEDAL IN ORDER TO GET THE RPM'S SIGNIFICANTLY HIGH ENOUGH TO FACILITATE THE SMOOTH OPERATION. ONCE THE ENGINE RAN FINE, IT WOULD OPERATE WELL AS LONG AS THE CAR WAS NEVER SHUT OFF (IT WAS RAN ON A JOURNEY OF 1,000 MILES AND OPERATED PERFECTLY NORMAL). THE MOMENT IT WAS SHUT DOWN, EVEN FOR THE BRIEFEST OF SPANS, IT WOULD ACT IN THE SAME MANNER WITH THE IDLE FLUCTUATING WILDLY, BUT SEEMED TO BE PRONE TO STALLING WHEN THE ENGINE WAS WARM/HOT. VOLVO WAS CONTACTED AND RECOMMENDED DEALER DIAGNOSIS TO DETERMINE THE SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM. WHEN THE CAR WAS BROUGHT IN FOR SERVICE, I WAS ASSURED THAT IT "COULD NOT POSSIBLY BE THE COMPUTER(ETM)". HOWEVER THERE WAS A SOFTWARE UPDATE INSTALLED (HMMMMM.....COULDN'T POSSIBLY, BUT LETS ADJUST IT....HMMMMMM ) WHICH CORRECTED THE ROUGH IDLE INITIALLY. ONLY PROBLEM IS NOW THE CAR WILL NOT REACH OR EXCEED 4,000 RPM EVEN WITH THE CAR IN PARK (NOT UNDER LOAD) AND WILL STALL JERK AND REFUSE TO ACCELERATE UNDER HARD PEDAL PRESSURE AND WILL NOT DRIVE ABOVE ABOUT 70 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY WITHOUT PROTESTATION, LOSS OF ACCELERATION OR JERKING. ALL OF THE DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODES STILL INDICATE THAT THE CYLINDERS ARE WILDING MISFIRING AND I'M GETTING SICK OF TRYING TO FIX VOLVO'S ENGINEERING PROBLEM. *NM

NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION: #1: IN EARLY 2005, AN INTERMITTENT PROBLEM BEGAN OCCURRING WITH THE IGNITION AND STARTING OF THE VEHICLE. #2: UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION THROUGH LOCAL VOLVO DEALERSHIPS, THE PROBLEM WAS IDENTIFIED AS THE IMMOBLIZER (ANTENNA RING) WHICH READS THE COMPUTER CHIP WITHIN THE KEY TO DETERMINE IF THE CORRECT KEY IS BEING USED TO START THE VEHICLE. INITIALLY, THE PROBLEM WAS INTERMITTENT BUT HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY WORSE WITH AN INABILITY TO START THE VEHICLE. #3: VOLVO "IS" AWARE OF MY PROBLEM, HOWEVER, THE ONLY ASSISTANCE THEY HAVE PROVIDED IS TO TURN THE KEY BACK TO THE START POSITION, REMOVE THE KEY, TURN 180 DEGREES, RE-ENTER THE KEY AND THE VEHICLE SHOULD START. ALTHOUGH THIS IS ONE SOLUTION TO A RECURRING AND ON-GOING PROBLEM, IT DOES REQUIRE REPAIR AS THIS PROBLEM IS OEM EQUIPMENT INSTALLED BY VOLVO AND I BELIEVE REPRESENTS A SAFETY ISSUE. PLEASE HELP US...*NM

ADD TO NHTSA ACTION NUMBER : PE05041 I WOULD LIKE TO ADD MY COMPLAIN TO ABOVE CASE. FIRST TIME MY CAR JUST STALLED ON A HIGHWAY. LUCKLY FOR ME, I MANAGED TO AVOID AN ACCIDENT. IT HAPPENED BACK IN FEBRUARY OR MARCH OF 2003, WHEN MY CAR HAD APPROXIMATELY 65,000 MILES. LAST WEEK "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT CAME OFF AND I TOOK MY CAR FOR A CHECK-UP. DEALER TOLD ME THAT ETM IS FAILING. MY CAR NOW HAS 104,000 MILES, THUS LESS THAN 40,000 SINCE LAST FAILURE. DEALER REFUSED TO FIX THIS AND QUOTED ME REPLACEMENT COST OF APPROXIMATELY $1,100. NOW I HAVE TO DRIVE EVERYDAY AND WAIT IN FEAR WHEN ETM WILL FAIL AGAIN.

THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE ON OUR VEHICLE HAS CAUSED US TO ENCOUNTER HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION. IN JANUARY, 2004, THE ETS WARNING LIGHT CAME ON AND BEFORE WE COULD DRIVE THE 60 MILES TO THE NEAREST VOLVO SERVICE CENTER, OUR CAR WAS SPUTTERING AND SURGING AND LOSING POWER ON A CONTINUAL BASIS. THIS WAS A DANGEROUS SITUATION FOR US TO BE IN. THE REPAIR THAT WAS MADE INVOLVED INSTALLING A USED PART BECAUSE OF COMPUTER RELATED PROBLEMS (WHICH IS ANOTHER STORY AND A COMPLAINT TO VOLVO). NOW, 20 MONTHS LATER, THAT USED PART HAS MALFUNCTIONED AND PUT US IN A SIMILAR HAZARDOUS SITUATION (NOT TO MENTION AN INCONVENIENT SITUATION) AGAIN. WHEN THESE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULES MALFUNCTION, THERE IS LITTLE NOTICE AND THE RESULTS CAN BE SERIOUS WHEN THEY OCCUR AS YOU ARE DRIVING IN TRAFFIC. *JB

THE AUTOMOBILE WOULD BEGIN TO SHAKE AND STALL WHEN APPROACHING LOWER SPEEDS. ALSO WHEN ACCELERATING, THE ENGINE WOULD HAVE A DELAYED RESPONSE AND NOT ACCELERATE PROPERLY. THE ETS WARNING LIGHT WOULD COME ON JUST PRIOR TO THE EVENT. AFTER THE CAR WAS RESTARTED, THE VEHICLE WOULD OPERATE FINE UNTIL THE NEXT OCCURRENCE. AFTER THE ETM MODULE WAS REPLACED AT MY EXPENSE, NO PROBLEMS. *JB

WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY (JUST NORMAL HIGHWAY DRIVING), I LOST CONTROL OF THE CAR - THE GAS SEEMED TO STICK AND THE ENGINE REVVED UP AND THEN THE CAR JUST SHUT DOWN. IT SEEMED TO STALL. THIS HAPPENED TWICE BEFORE IT TOOK IT IN FOR REPAIR. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY REPLACED THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE SYSTEM FOR $2,000. IT HAS NOT HAPPENED AGAIN BUT DURING OTHER ROUTINE MAINTENANCE IT WAS FOUND THAT THE THROTTLE SYSTEM WAS NOT FUNCTIONING PROPERLY SO IT WAS REPLACED FOR A SECOND TIME.

EVER SINCE PURCHASING OUR VOLVO, THERE HAS BEEN POWER REDUCTION AND SURGES OF WHICH I'VE BROUGHT UP TO THE DEALERSHIP WHERE PURCHASED. MY HUSBAND HAS ASKED WHAT MAY CAUSE THIS SORT OF THING BECAUSE WE DIDN'T WANT IT TO BE THE TRANSMISSION. WE WERE TOLD IT WAS PART OF THE WAY A VOLVO WORKS. THE INCIDENT THAT LED TO IT HAVING TO BE REPAIRED WAS WHEN WE RETURNED FROM AN HOUR AND HALF DRIVE AND PULLED INTO A PARKING LOT WHERE THE ENGINE STARTED REVVING CONTINUOUSLY. A LIGHT CAME ON THE DASH, ESL. THE ONLY THING IN THE MANUAL I COULD FIND WAS WHAT THE INITIALS STOOD FOR-ELECTRONIC THROTTLE SYSTEM. WE WERE ABLE TO DRIVE IT HOME AFTER SHORT WHILE BECAUSE OF A SAFETY DEVISE IN THE VEHICLE THAT ALLOWS THIS APPARENTLY. THE NEXT DAY MY HUSBAND CALLED OUR DEALERSHIP WHO WE BOUGHT IT FROM AND WAS TOLD WE HAD TO TAKE IT TO A GARAGE 50 MILES AWAY BECAUSE THEY'RE THE ONLY ONES WITH THE EQUIPMENT TO DIAGNOSE AND REPAIR THE PROBLEM. WE CONTINUED OUR QUESTIONING OF THE SITUATION AND 3 MECHANICS IN 3 DIFFERENT GARAGES TOLD US THEY WERE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM BUT THERE WAS NO RECALL (YET). HOWEVER, I UNDERSTAND FROM AN ACQUAINTANCE NOW THAT THE REPAIR IS ONLY A BAND AID AND THE PROBLEM WILL RETURN BECAUSE A COMPONENT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. THE COST FOR THIS REPAIR WHICH IS ULTIMATELY A COMPUTER CHIP REPLACEMENT AND DOWNLOAD IS APPROXIMATELY $1100. THE GARAGE PERFORMING THE REPAIR HAS ALSO ALERTED US OF A HEAD LIGHT DEFECT THAT COST $55 TO REPAIR AND SUGGESTED WE TAKE CARE OF IT BECAUSE THE HEADLIGHTS MIGHT JUST STOP WORKING AT ANY GIVEN TIME. *JB

I OWNED A VOLVO S70 2000 MODEL WITH A VARIETY OF MAINTENANCE ISSUES RELATED TO STALLING AND SURGING. I HAD TO PAY FOR A NEW THROTTLE MODULE, AIR MASS SENSOR AND THROTTLE CLEANING. I BELIEVE THIS COST OVER $1000 ON PARTS THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DESIGNED TO LAST FAR LONGER THAN THEY DID. YOU CAN FIND MORE INFO ON THIS PROBLEM AT HTTP://WWW.VOLVO-FORUMS.COM/LOFIVERSION/INDEX.PHP/T1877.HTML. *JB

RECENTLY MY 2000 S70 VOLVO HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING ACCELERATION PROBLEMS. MY ETS ELECTRONIC THROTTLE SYSTEM)LIGHT WILL ILLUMINATE CAUSING THE CAR TO SHUDDER AND EVENTUALLY STALL IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC. AFTER A FEW MOMENTS AND AFTER RE-START , THE VEHICLE WILL FUNCTION AS NORMAL. I TOOK IT TO MY VOLVO SHOP AND WAS INFORMED THAT IT IS THE ELECTRONIC MODULE AND MUST BE REPLACED BY A CERTIFIED VOLVO DEALER. I HAVE RECENTLY SET UP AN APPOINTMENT TO HAVE THIS REPAIR COMPLETED. *JB