1999 Volvo V70XC

ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE FAILURE LEFT MY FAMILY STRANDED. REPAIR COST $1000. I'VE READ THAT THIS ISSUE IS VERY COMMON IN MY VEHICLE AND THAT VOLVO HAS NOT MADE ANY ATTEMPT TO RECTIFY. THE SPUTTERING THAT LED UP TO THE FAILURE COULD HAVE EASILY RESULTED IN A MERGE ACCIDENT WITH MY FAMILY IN THE CAR. THE NHTSA AND VOLVO SHOULD NOT WAIT FOR FURTHER EXPENSE AND INJURY TO FORCE A RECALL. *NM

MY 1999 VOLVO V70XC HAD BEEN PERFORMING SLUGGISHLY, WITH INCONSISTENT POWER AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS WHEN UNDER MANUAL CONTROL OR CRUISE. I HAD AN INTERMITTENT CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. I TOOK MY VEHICLE TO A VOLVO DEALERSHIP ON 8/16/05 WHERE THEY REPLACED THE AIR MASS METER AND EVAP VALVE FOR THE CHARCOAL CANISTER. AFTER THIS SERVICE THE PERFORMANCE OF MY VEHICLE REMAINED THE SAME. ON OCTOBER 1, 2005 I HAD A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS INCIDENT. WHILE MERGING ONTO AN EXPRESSWAY MY VEHICLE SPUTTERED AND LOST POWER. THE ENGINE ALL BUT DIED AND IT WAS DIFFICULT TO STEER TO THE SHOULDER. MY MERGING AND FAILURE TO ACCELERATE CAUSED A VERY CLOSE CALL WITH THE CARS BEHIND ME. I PULLED OVER, STOPPED MY ENGINE FOR A FEW MINUTES, AND RESTARTED AS PROSCRIBED IN MY OWNER'S MANUAL. THE VEHICLE DROVE AS IT DID PREVIOUS TO THE INCIDENT FOR ANOTHER HOUR. I DID NOT DRIVE THIS VEHICLE AGAIN FOR ANOTHER WEEK. TAKING IT FOR A DRIVE ON OCTOBER 9TH IT AGAIN DROVE FINE INITIALLY, BUT I HAD A SIMILAR FAILURE AFTER A FEW MILES. AGAIN THE ENGINE LOST NEARLY ALL POWER AND WOULD STALL AT IDLE. TURNING OFF THE ENGINE, WAITING, AND RESTARTING THE ENGINE DID NOT REMEDY THE PROBLEM THIS TIME. AFTER A FEW STOPS AND RESTARTS I WAS ABLE TO MAKE IT TO MY HOUSE WITHOUT A TOW. I CALLED THE VOLVO DEALER WHERE I HAD THE WORK DONE IN AUGUST. AFTER HEARING OF THE SYMPTOMS AND THE PREVIOUS WORK THEY INFORMED ME QUITE QUICKLY THAT THE REPAIR WAS TO REPLACE THE ETM MODULE AND THE COST WOULD BE APPROXIMATELY $1000. THE SPEED AT WHICH THEY REPLIED MADE ME THINK IS WAS A COMMON, OR AT LEAST KNOWN PROBLEM WITH THIS MODEL. I SPOKE WITH A NON-DEALER VOLVO SPECIALIST MECHANIC (SWEDISH CAR SPECIALISTS OF SCHAUMBURG, IL) WHO SAID THIS WAS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH MY MODEL YEAR. ALSO A FEW INTERNET WEBSITES HAVE REPORTED THIS PROBLEM, WITH ONE, HTTP://WWW.VEXEDVOLVO.ORG GOING INT GREAT DETAIL.*JB

MILEAGE APPROX 115,000 WHEN PURCHASED NOW 120,000 WITHIN 8 MONTHS. HARDLY HARD USE. FAILURE OF ECM AND O2 SENSORS, ON TWO OCCASIONS THE SECOND WITHIN 1000 MILES AND 1 MONTH OF FIRST REPAIR. CAUSED THE CAR TO SURGE, IF RESTARTED MIGHT STALL AND GENERALLY BECOME DANGEROUS TO DRIVE. NO WARNING OF FAILURE. VOLVO DEALERSHIPS WELL AWARE OF PROBLEM AND OFFERED IMMEDIATE AND CORRECT DIAGNOSIS PRIOR TO CHECKING THE COMPUTER CODES, WITHOUT NEEDING MUCH INVESTIGATION. 2 DEALERS WORKED ON THE CAR ONE DON BAYER IN WASHINGTON AND INDEPENDENCE VOLVO IN CHARLOTTE. INSTRUCTED INDEPENDENCE VOLVO DEALER TO MAKE CAR SAFE AND ROADWORTHY. UPLOADED FAULTS AND DOWNLOADED ONTO VEHICLE, NEW SOFTWARE. WITHIN 1 MONTH NEW SYMPTOMS APPEAR. AT VARIOUS TIMES THESE LIGHTS SHOW AND RESET ABS WARNING, ENGINE WARNING, TRACTION CONTROL WARNING, SPEEDO FAILURE, CHECK ENGINE, SERVICE WARNING (EVEN THOUGH SERVICE IS JUST CARRIED OUT).SYMPTOMS INCLUDE LACK OF THROTTLE RESPONSE WHEN PULLING AWAY, WHEN SPEEDO FAILS. NO WARNING OF CHANGE IN STATUS MEANS THIS HAPPENS DURING TURNING MANEUVERS WITH POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS OR LETHAL CONSEQUENCES. CHECKING VARIOUS SOURCES NOTE THAT ABS MODULE FAILURE IS COMMON MAKING THE CAR POTENTIALLY UNSAFE IN EMERGENCY, NOT ONLY FOR BRAKING BUT DURING ACCELERATION AS THE CARS ABILITY TO PULL AT ITS NORMAL RATE IS VASTLY REDUCED, ADDING THROTTLE DOES NOTHING, BUT IF THE SYSTEM TURNS BACK ON AGAIN NO WARNING, THE SPEEDOMETER JUST COMES BACK TO LIFE ) THIS CAN CAUSE UNNEEDED FIERCE ACCELERATION. I NOTED ONE DEATH ON THE HIGHWAY OF A YOUNG WOMAN WHO APPEARED TO ACCELERATE OFF THE ROAD DURING A BENIGN MANEUVER AND AM CONCERNED THAT THIS ON/OFF SPEEDOMETER/ABS TRANSMISSION PROBLEM MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE CAUSE RATHER THAN THE ECM CURRENTLY THE FOCUS OF THE INVESTIGATION. *NM

I HAVE HAD INTERMITTENT PROBLEMS WITH DRIVABILITY WITH MY 1999 VOLVO V70. WARNING LIGHTS WOULD COME ON AND OFF AND ERRATIC DRIVING PERFORMANCE WERE EXPERIENCED. THEN THE ETS LIGHT CAME ON AND STAYED ON. DRIVABILITY WORSENED TO THE POINT OF FEARING GETTING STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE INTERSECTION OR HIGHWAY. SAFETY SEEMS TO BE COMPROMISED BY THE UNPREDICTABILITY OF THE CARS PERFORMANCE. IN SPEAKING WITH THE DEALER IT WAS CLEAR THAT THIS WAS A COMMON PROBLEM. IT WAS ALSO EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE AND THERE WERE NO ALTERNATIVES AS THIS COULD ONLY BE REPAIRED THROUGH THE DEALER. THIS PROBLEM IS WELL DOCUMENTED. THIS PROBLEM IS CONSISTENT. THIS PROBLEM COMPROMISES SAFETY. AND WITH THE COST OF THE REPAIR AND LACK OF ALTERNATIVES MEASURES, THIS FEELS LIKE A MANUFACTURER TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE CUSTOMER. LASTLY, THE DEALER WILL REPLACE THIS FAULTY COMPONENT WITH ANOTHER FAULTY COMPONENT. THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM WILL REMAIN AND I CAN LOOK FORWARD TO MORE PROBLEMS. *JB

DT: THE CONSUMER STOPPED A TRAFFIC LIGHT, AND AFTER THE LIGHT CHANGED, THE CONSUMER STEPPED ON THE ACCELERATOR AND THE CAR MOVED FORWARD ABOUT TEN FEET , AND THERE WAS A DECREASE IN POWER TO THE POINT OF STALLING. THE CONSUMER FELT AS THOUGH IT COASTED THROUGH, SHE IMMEDIATELY PULLED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE SYSTEM ( ETS) LIGHT ILLUMINATED. SHE REFERRED TO OWNER'S MANUAL, WHICH SUGGESTED TO TURN THE ENGINE OFF AND TRY TO RESTART VEHICLE. CONSUMER DID SO, AND THE VEHICLE RESTARTED, BUT THE ETS AS WELL AS THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. THE CONSUMER CALLED MECHANIC, WHO INSTRUCTED THE CONSUMER TO TURN ENGINE OFF AND RESTART THE VEHICLE. THE CONSUMER DID SO, AND THE PANEL LIGHTS CAME ON. ABOUT FIVE MILES LATER THE PROBLEM RETURNED. TOOK VEHICLE TO INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO SUGGESTED THAT ETS FAILED AND REPLACED IT. *NM

DT: THE CONSUMER WANTED THE ETM REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WOULD NOT COMPLY WITH THE CONSUMERS REQUEST, BECAUSE THE PART HAD NOT FAILED. THE CONSUMER HAD DIFFICULTY REMOVING THE KEY FROM THE IGNITION. THE CONSUMER WAS TOLD A DRINK WAS SPILLED IN IT, HOWEVER THE CONSUMER DISAGREED WITH THAT THEORY. THE BATTERY LIGHT ILLUMINATED, AFTER SHOWING SIGNS OF BEING WEAK, HOWEVER THE LIGHT CAME BACK ON AGAIN. UPDATED 12/14/05. *JB