1999 VOLVO S80 Complaints

PRIOR TO THE FAILURE, THE IDLE OF THE CAR WOULD SURGE UP AND DOWN AT AN IDLE BETWEEN 500-1500 RPM'S. TRYING TO PARK THE CAR THE CAR WOULD JUMP FORWARD AT EACH SURGE. A COUPLE OF TIMES AS MY WIFE WAS DRIVING THE CAR DIED ON HER, ONE TIME AROUND A CORNER AND SHE COULD HARDLY STEER. THE CAR WOULD ONLY SURGE IF THE FOOT WAS OFF THE THROTTLE, THEREFORE IT WOULD STALL AS YOU TRIED TO CORNER OR WENT TO HIT THE BRAKE. ANOTHER TIME IT STALLED WAS IN A TRAFFIC SLOW DOWN ON THE FREEWAY. THE PART FINALLY FAILED ONE DAY WHEN THE CAR JUST WOULD NOT START. WE HAD TO HAVE IT TOWED TO THE DEALER WHERE THEY REPLACED THE THROTTLE CONTROL. TWO MORE TIMES AFTER THE TC WAS REPLACED THE CAR STARTED TO SURGE AGAIN. AT THOSE TIMES AS SOON AS THE CAR STARTED TO SURGE I BROUGHT TO THE DEALER. BECAUSE IT WAS THE SAME PART THAT WAS REPLACED THERE WAS NO CHARGE. THE DEALER TOLD ME THEY MUST HAVE BEEN DEFECTIVE PARTS. ONE MORE TIME THE CAR DID THE SAME THING AND I RETURNED TO THE DEALER AND ONCE AGAIN THEY SUPPOSEDLY REPLACED THE TC AND TOLD ME THAT THE FLAME TRAP WAS THE CAUSE OF ALL THE PROBLEMS AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. SINCE THEY WANTED ANOTHER $1000 TO REPLACE THAT PART I DECIDED I WOULD DO IT MYSELF. THE DEALER TOLD ME THEY WOULD NOT WARRANTY THE TC ANYMORE. AFTER I REPLACED THE FLAME TRAP, WHICH THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT, 6 MONTHS LATER THE CAR STARTED AGAIN WITH THE SAME PROBLEM ALL AVER AGAIN. THAT'S WHERE I AM AT NOW. ORIGINALLY WHEN THE CAR DIED AND WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER IT COST ME $1390. THEY REPLACED THE MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR $222.53, THE THROTTLE BODY $573.10, GASKET $3.44, ETM RELOAD $35.75, LABOR $439.75 AND TAX. THIS OCCURRED ON JULY 3, 2003. THE CAR THEN WENT IN SEVERAL TIMES FOR THE SAME THING WITH THE LAST BEING MAY 18, 2004. AND NOW WE ARE BACK TO THE SAME PROBLEM AGAIN!!! *NM

INITIAL PROBLEM OCCURRED AFTER VEHICLE WAS RUNNING FOR ABOUT 15 MINUTES. AFTER STOPPING AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT, VEHICLE WOULD ONLY ACCELERATE TO 20 MPH. ONLY AFTER TURNING OFF THE ENGINE FOR 5-10 MINUTES WOULD VEHICLE RESUME NORMAL PERFORMANCE - THEN WOULD REPEAT PROBLEM AFTER RUNNING A FEW MINUTES. DEALER SERVICE HAS REPLACED A COMPUTER MODULE WHICH CONTROLS THIS FUNCTION. I HAVE LEARNED THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM IN VOLVOS. MINE IS A 1999 S80. *JB

DT:VEHICLE STALLED/ LOST POWER AND DIED. THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE BODY FAILED AND WAS REPLACED. *AK

DT;VEHICLE STALLED/LOST POWER, AND OPERATED ON REDUCED SPEED. PCV FAILED AND WAS REPLACED. *AK

RE:1999, S-80,T-6 VOLVO. SAW AN AP ARTICLE IN MY LOCAL PAPER TODAY RE COMPLAINT INVESTIGATION. I EXPERIENCED VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE SAME PROBLEMS CITED IN THE ARTICLE. NAMELY STALL W/O WARNING, FROM A STOP,STEP ON GAS AND BARELY WOULD MOVE(LIKE SLIPPING CLUTCH ON A MANUAL TRANSMISSION) , HAD NUMEROUS INCIDENTS WHERE I FELT VULNERABLE AND UNSAFE IN TRAFFIC, LOSS OF POWER STEERING ETC. SOUNDS VERY MUCH LIKE THESE OTHER COMPLAINTS. AT SAME TIME I HAD LOTS OF INCORRECT "READOUTS" ON DASH PANEL. I COMPLAINED TO DEALER WHO SAID THIS ALL COULD BE RELATED TO THE ABS CONTROL MODULE WHICH WAS REPLACED AT COST OF $825.00. OLD PART WAS NOT GIVEN BACK TO ME. OF NOTE IS THAT DURING THE SAME REPAIR A BELT WAS REPLACED WHICH THEY DID GIVE BACK TO ME, BUT NOT THE MODULE. MILEAGE WAS ONLY 61,376. THIS MODULE DID SOLVE THE PROBLEM HOWEVER I AM NOW GETTING ANOTHER GOOFY READOUT THAT DEALER SAYS COULD BE A DEFECTIVE MODULE. CURRENT MILEAGE IS 61779. I DID NOT THINK THAT FAILURES OF THIS TYPE SHOULD OCCUR AT SUCH LOW MILEAGE. AT THE TIME I ASKED IF THERE WAS A RECALL FOR THIS AND WAS TOLD NO. I AM NOT HAPPY WITH THIS SITUATION AND II DO SUSPICION THAT A DEFECT EXISTS. *JB

I OWN A 1999 VOLVO S80 WHICH I DRIVE FOR BUSINESS PURPOSES. ON AUGUST 17, 2004 THE VEHICLE STALLED AT HIGHWAY SPEED. WOULD BARELY RUN, EVEN WITH FULL THROTTLE. HAD VEHICLE TOWED TO NEAREST VOLVO DEALER, VOLVO OF LOUISVILLE, KY. THEY REPLACED THROTTLE BODY . APPROX. 2 WEEKS LATER, HAD SAME OCCURRENCE. CAR STALLED AT HIGHWAY SPEED. HAD VEHICLE TOWED TO LOCAL DEALER, CENTURY VOLVO HUNTSVILLE, AL. THEY EXAMINED IT AND COULD NOT FIND ANY PROBLEM. IT WAS NOT MALFUNCTIONING FOR THEM. THEY KEPT VEHICLE FOR SEVERAL DAYS TRYING TO DUPLICATE PROBLEM. I HAD A SIMILAR OCCURRENCE AGAIN APPROX. 5 DAYS LATER. INSTEAD OF HAVING VEHICLE TOWED AGAIN, THE SERVICE REP SUGGESTED THAT THE CAR MIGHT "RESET" IF LEFT FOR 2-3 HOURS. I LEFT CAR ON ROADSIDE OVERNIGHT AND HAD MY WIFE COME PICK ME UP. THE NEXT DAY I WENT BACK AND THE CAR DROVE FINE. I HAD ANOTHER OCCURRENCE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS ON OCTOBER 26, 2004. VEHICLE TOWED TO ROYAL VOLVO IN BIRMINGHAM. BY THE TIME THEY EXAMINED IT, VEHICLE WAS NO LONGER MALFUNCTIONING. THEY KEPT IT RUNNING UNDER LOAD FOR SEVERAL HOURS. THERE WERE NO COMPUTER FAULT CODES FOUND THAT COULD HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE PROBLEM. THIS IS THE SAME INFORMATION THAT CENTRURY VOLVO HAD FOUND AND ADVISED ME OF EARLIER. I CONTINUED TO DRIVE THE CAR WITH A LOT OF CONCERN THROUGH THE WINTER. IT WENT SEVERAL MONTHS WITH NO PROBLEMS. I HAD ANOTHER OCCURRENCE IN MAY 2005. I WAS ABLE TO MAKE IT HOME BY ALLOWING THE CAR TO SIT FOR 20-30 MINUTES AND THEN IT WOULD DRIVE FOR A SHORT DISTANCE BEFORE GOING BAD AGAIN. AT THIS TIME I PARKED THE CAR AND BEGAN DRIVING MY SECONDARY VEHICLE (A 94 VOLVO 960). UNFORTUNATELY, I WAS INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT WITH THIS VEHICLE ON JULY 29, 2005 WHICH FORCED ME TO DRIVE THE 99 S80 AGAIN. IT STALLED OUT AGAIN TODAY (SECOND DAY DRIVEN). I'VE HAD IT TOWED TO CENTURY VOLVO IN HUNTSVILLE AGAIN. MY SALESMAN SHOWED ME AN ARTICLE IN TODAY'S NEWSPAPER REGARDING THIS PROBLEM. *JB

1999 VOLVO S80 T6-MULTIPLE FAILURES OF ETM (5 FAILURES, REPLACED 4 ETMS TOTAL). CAR WOULD GO INTO "LIMP HOME MODE", "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT WOULD GO ON. VERY DANGEROUS AND FRUSTRATING. THE ETM ALSO HAS FAILED ON WIFE'S 2001 V70 XC ONE TIME AROUND 80K MILES. I NO LONGER OWN THE S80; TOO UNRELIABLE, A COMPLETE JOKE GIVENS VOLVO'S REPUTATION FOR SAFETY!*JB

1999 VOLVO S80-T6 HAS HAD A MULTITUDE OF PROBLEMS LATEST EVENT THE ENGINE QUIT WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY. WAS ABLE TO GET CAR TO SIDE OF THE ROAD. COULD NOT BE RESTARTED. TRANSPORTED VEHICLE 150 MILES TO DEALER. BECAUSE WE HAD HAD SO MAY PROBLEMS WITH THE VEHICLE - $3000.00 WITHIN A THREE MONTH PERIOD CULMINATING IN THIS EVENT, THE DEALER GAVE US THE PARTS AND LABOR ($1500.00 IN THIS CASE.) *JB

MY 1999 S-80 VOLVO LOST POWER TEMPORARILY WHILE MY WIFE WAS DRIVING THE VEHICLE IN TRAFFIC. SEVERAL OF THE CARS WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON INCLUDING THE TRANSMISSION SERVICE REQUIRED AND BRAKE SERVICE REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY TYPE MESSAGES. THE VOLVO DEALER JUST REPLACE THE ABS MODULE AND SEVERAL COIL PACKETS AND SPARK PLUGS. A COUPLE OF OLD PARTS WERE LEFT IN THE INSIDE OF THE VEHICLE. WE ARE NOT SURE WHAT THE PARTS ARE. *JB

1999 VOLVO S80 T6, SUDDEN LOSS OF SPEED WHEN DRIVING IN HIGHWAY TRAFFIC, WITH SUDDEN PARTIAL AND AT TIMES COMPLETE STALL W/OUT WARNING. THIS HAS HAPPENED FIVE TIMES, TWICE I HAD TO BE TOWED. EXTENSIVE WORK HAS BEEN DONE ON THE ETM BY TWO VERY GOOD VOLVO SERVICE DEPARTMENTS, BUT THE PROBLEM PERSISTS AND IS A MYSTERY AS TO WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT. THIS IS VERY FRUSTRATING - I NEED THIS CAR TO WORK!! *JB