1999 Volvo V70

1. EVENTS LEADING TO FAILURE.... ABOUT 3 WEEK PRIOR, EXPERIENCED HESITATION (ALMOST STALLING) WHEN SLOWING FROM HIGHWAY SPEEDS TO LOWER AND STOPPING SPEEDS. *NM 2. FAILURE.... FINALLY, IT HAPPENED. (I HAD JUST READ AN ARTICLE ABOUT THIS IN THE PAPER!) IT STALLING WHEN SLOWING DOWN AND WOULDN'T RESTART UNTIL SOME 2 HOURS LATER. LUCKILY IT WAS DAYTIME AND IN A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD. 3. WHAT WAS DONE... TOOK IT INTO VOLVO DEALER WITH THE SYMPTOMS AND THEY REPLACED THE ETM. LOTS OF $$$!

I WAS DRIVING SOUTH ON I-85 IN DULUTH, GA. THIS STRETCH OF METRO ATLANTA INTERSTATE HAS SIX LANES IN EITHER DIRECTION AND TRAFFIC WAS FLOWING AT SPEEDS OF AROUND 75 MPH. THE ETS LIGHT CAME ON WHEN WE WERE IN THE FAR LEFT (FAST) LANE, THE CAR BEGAN LOSING POWER. I MOVED TO THE RIGHT AS BEST I COULD AND GOT OFF AT THE NEXT EXIT. BY THE TIME I GOT TO THE EXIT RAMP, THE CAR WAS SKIPPING AND MISSING BADLY. MY DAUGHTER LOOKED UP ETS IN THE OWNER'S MANUAL AND, BASED ON WHAT THE MANUAL SAID, I CUT THE CAR OFF AND WAITED A FEW MINUTES FOR IT TO RESET. I CRANKED IT BACK UP AND WE LIMPED THE REST OF THE WAY HOME. SINCE THEN I HAVE ONLY STARTED IT ONCE, BUT IT WAS RUNNING ROUGH SO I DID NOT GO ANYWHERE. CONSIDERING WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT ETM FAILURES SINCE THIS HAPPENED AND THE AMOUNT OF TRAFFIC IN ATLANTA, I HAVE BEEN SCARED TO DRIVE IT. HAVING TO CROSS FIVE LANES OF FAST-MOVING TRAFFIC IN A CAR RAPIDLY LOSING POWER IS NOT A SAFE SITUATION. *JB

1999 VOLVO V70 DEVELOPED A PROBLEM WITH THE THROTTLE BODY SENSOR RESULTING IN THE VEHICLE STALLING. *MR THE CONSUMER EXPERIENCED NUMEROUS PROBLEMS WITH THE VEHICLE; REPLACEMENT OF DEFECTIVE GEAR SHIFTER LIGHT SOCKET AND THE DRIVER SIDE WINDOW SWITCH, BATTERY LEADS MALFUNCTION CAUSING THE BATTERY TO FAIL, THE REAR WINDOW WASHER PUMP BURNED OUT, AND THE DRIVER DOOR CHECK STRAP HAD BROKEN OFF. *SC

DURING NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS THE 1999 VOLVO V70 GLT WILL STALL, OR DIE OUT. OTHER INSTANCES THAT OCCUR ALONG WITH OR ALONE, ARE THE GAUGES ALL BEING CUT OFF. MY WIFE SAYS THEY LOOK LIKE THEY WERE UNPLUGGED. WE HAVE BEEN REALLY PUNISHED FOR PURCHASING THIS VEHICLE. VOLVO HAS REPLACED NUMEROUS PARTS AND OTHER MECHANICS HAVE AS WELL (BECAME TO COSTLY @DEALERSHIP-THINK THEY ARE VERY DISREPUTABLE). THIS CAR HAS BEEN DRIVEN PRIMARILY IN THE CITY OF NASHVILLE AND KEPT VERY CLEAN AND SERVICED REGULARLY. WITH 117,000 MILES ON IT, THE DEALERSHIP HAS REPLACED ONE THROTTLE BODY @85000 AND IT NOW NEEDS ANOTHER. THESE AREN'T RELATED I DON'T THINK BUT I CAN EXPLAIN MUCH BETTER OVER THE PHONE. *JB

THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE IN MY VOLVO V70 FAILS WITHOUT WARNING. OFTEN AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, THIS RESULTS IN A SUDDEN LOSS OF SPEED (ALMOST AS IF THE BRAKES WERE SUDDENLY APPLIED). THOUGH VOLVO'S OWNERS MANUAL INDICATES THIS CAN HAPPEN, AND RECOMMENDS RESTARTING THE CAR (UNDER THE SECTION ON THE ETS LIGHT), I AM CONVINCED THE REPEATED FAILURES CONSTITUTE A SAFETY HAZARD. WERE IT TO OCCUR WHEN CHANGING LANES OR MERGING, I FEAR THE SITUATION COULD BE QUITE BAD. ALTHOUGH VOLVO RECOMMENDS REPLACING THE ETM FOR $1000+, I AM RELUCTANT TO DO SO, NOT LEAST BECAUSE OTHERS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM HAVE SPENT THE MONEY TO REPLACE THE MODULE, AND THEN ENDED UP WITH THE SAME PROBLEM AGAIN. RECENTLY, THE INCIDENTS ARE OCCURRING AS OFTEN AS ONCE VERY 15 TO 30 MINUTES.*JB

THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE IN MY 1999 VOLVO V70 AS BEGUN TO FAIL WITHOUT WARNING. OFTEN THE PROBLEM WILL FIX ITSELF UPON RESTARTING. HOWEVER, WHEN THE MODULE FAILS (AND THE ETS LIGHT COMES ON IN THE DASH), AN EXTREMELY SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER IS EXPERIENCED---ENOUGH THAT IT COULD EASILY LEAD TO A LOSS OF CONTROL. THE PROBLEM HAS OCCURRED AT LEAST 15 TIMES IN THE PAST 2 DAYS, AND IS A SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD. VOLVO, IN THE OWNERS MANUAL FOR THE CAR, INDICATES THAT THIS FAILURE MAY SOMETIMES OCCUR (IN THE SECTION DESCRIBING THE ETS LIGHT) AND SUGGEST TRYING TO RESTART THE CAR. WHILE RESTARTING THE CAR DOES OFTEN WORK, I FIND THIS TO BE AN UNACCEPTABLE AND VERY SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD. VOLVO'S SOLUTION FOR ME IS TO REPLACE THE THROTTLE MODULE AT $1000 OR MORE. MANY HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS SAME PROBLEM, THOUGH, AND THE DEFECT SEEMS TO BE CLEARLY SYSTEMIC. WHAT'S MORE, THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT VOLVO'S REPLACEMENTS WON'T EXHIBIT PRECISELY THE SAME PROBLEM. *JB

11/12/04 MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR REPLACED 12/16/04 MAP SENSOR & SHUT OFF VALVE REPLACED 3/15/05 SHUT OFF VALVE REPLACED AGAIN! 1/18 05 MASTER WINDOW SWITCH PACK REPLACED - 5/31/05 MASTER WINDOW SWITCH PACK REPLACED AGAIN!! 3/17/05 ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROL MODULE REPLACED!!! 5/9/05 OXYGEN SENSOR AND ABS CONTROL UNIT REPLACED. WHEN THE THROTTLE CONTROL MODULE FAILED IN MARCH 2005, MY 1999 VOLVO V70 HAD ONLY 55,000 MILES ON IT! I WAS ON THE EXPRESSWAY WHEN MY CAR LOST POWER AND HAD NO WAY TO GET BACK ONTO THE ROAD SAFELY.....I HAVE SPENT OVER $4000 IN THE PAST YEAR REPLACING ELECTRICAL CONTROL UNITS IN ORDER TO MAKE THIS CAR SAFE. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME MULTIPLE TIMES OVER THE PAST YEAR. I AM AFRAID TO DRIVE THIS CAR FOR FEAR OF SOMETHING ELSE GOING WRONG WITH THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM. I HAVE FOUR SMALL GRANDCHILDREN WHO ARE WITH ME AT LEAST THREE DAYS A WEEK. *NM

PLEASE INCLUDE MY VEHICLE INCIDENT TO NHTSA ACTION # PE05041. WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY THE VEHICLE ETS (ELECTRONIC THROTTLE SYSTEM) WARNING LIGHT CAME ON. VEHICLE WAS ABLE TO DRIVE HOME. NEXT DAY VEHICLE WOULD NOT START, HOWEVER, WAS ABLE TO START BY BYPASSING GEAR SELECTOR INTO NEUTRAL AND VEHICLE STARTED AND WAS TAKEN TO VOLVO DEALER. VOLVO REPLACED THE ETS UNIT AND RELOADED THE SOFTWARE UNDER THE SPECIAL CA EMISSIONS WARRANTY. SINCE VOLVO REPLACED THE PART WITH AN IDENTICAL UNIT, I AM CONCERNED THE UNIT WILL FAIL AGAIN OUT OF WARRANTY AND I WILL HAVE TO REPLACE AT MY COST ($1,000.00). VOLVO SHOULD REDESIGN AND REPLACE ETS UNITS TO VOLVO OWNERS AT NO COST. *JB

INCIDENCE 7 OF 7 SIMILAR. AS REPORTED ON SERVICE INVOICE: "CUSTOMER STATES: EVER SINCE THROTTLE WAS DONE A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, FEELS LIKE IT IS GOING IN AND OUT OF GEAR WHILE DRIVING- FEELS FOR A MICRO SECOND AT VARIOUS TIMES GOING IN AND OUT OF GEAR. NINO CAN CALL FOR MORE INFO IF NECESSARY. REFER TO RO 435245 09/17/04 78697 MILES - FOUND DEFECT IN THROTTLE UNIT ASSEMBLY REPLACED -- TECHNICIAN FOUND CODES FOR ETM INTERNAL MALFUNCTION. REPLACED ETM AND PERFORMED DOWNLOAD." THIS INCIDENT WAS THE 7TH OF 7 SIMILAR PROBLEMS OCCURRING LATER THAT ULTIMATELY LEAD TO HAVING THE THROTTLE BODY CLEANED TWICE & THEN REPLACED TWICE. I HAVE REPORTED ALL THE PREVIOUS INCIDENTS IN SEQUENCE OF OCCURRENCE ON THIS NHTSA COMPLAINT SITE AS WELL. NOTE THAT THIS PARTICULAR INCIDENT SEEMS TO BE CONSISTENT WITH ALREADY-RECOGNIZED NHTSA ACTION NUMBER PE05041 "FAILURE OF THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROL MODULE (ETM) IN THE SUBJECT VEHICLES." PREVIOUSLY REPORTED INCIDENTS: 1) ODI #10131200 2) ODI #10131206 3) ODI #10131207 4) ODI #10131208 5) ODI #10131209 6) ODI #10131213. *JB