1999 VOLVO V70 Complaints

ETM DEFECT , CAR STALL ON HIGHWAY,REPLACE ON DEALER ON MY COST AND BROKEN AGAIN 3 MONTHS LATER, SAME SITUATION LIKE EVERYBODY WITH THIS DEFECTIVE PARTS . VOLVO REPRESENTATIVE SAID THERE NO PROBLEM WITH THESE PARTS !!! SO I HAVE TO PAY FOR THE REPLACEMENT ALL THE LIFE OF THE CAR !! EACH 6 MONTHS ??? 1200.00 $$$ *NM

MY 1999 VOLVO V70 XC SUDDENLY LOST POWER AND THROTTLE CONTROL WHILE TRYING TO PASS ANOTHER CAR. LUCKILY NO ACCIDENT OCCURRED IN WHAT WERE EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. I HAD TO PULL OFF THE ROAD AND THEN COAST DOWNHILL TO FIND A SAFE AREA IN WHICH TO PARK. THE ETC WARNING LIGHT CAME ON AND REMAINED ON. I WAS UNABLE TO REGAIN POWER AND THE CAR HAD TO BE TOWED 20 MILES TO PIONEER VALLEY VOLVO IN SOUTH DEERFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS. THE CAR HAS NOT YET BEEN REPAIRED.*JB

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

THERE WERE NO EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE FAILURES. MY 1999 VOLVO V70XC SPUTTERED AND WOULD NOT ACCELERATE AS I WAS PULLING OUT INTO TRAFFIC IN JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN IN JANUARY OF THIS YEAR. IN THAT MOMENT THE CAR WOULD BARELY MOVE, REGARDLESS OF THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL POSITION. I WAS LEFT BROADSIDE AGAINST TWO LANES OF ONCOMING CARS. THE CAR WOULD ONLY MOVE, LURCHING, AT WALKING PACE. AFTER NEARLY BEING HIT BY THE ONCOMING TRAFFIC, I TRIED SHUTTING OFF THE CAR AND RESTARTING, TO NO AVAIL, AND WAS ONLY ABLE TO "DRIVE" SLOWLY AND SPUTTERING TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND INTO THE NEXT PARKING LOT WHERE THE CAR HAD TO BE ABANDONED SINCE IT WAS UNDRIVEABLE IN TRAFFIC. RETURNING TO THE CAR LATER, A RESTART ELICITED THE SAME PROBLEM. AFTER ANOTHER RESTART THE CAR OPERATED NORMALLY UNTIL ABOUT 20 MILES LATER WHEN IT FAILED AGAIN. AT THE TIME, MY CAR HAD ABOUT 80K MILES. THE REPAIR, DIAGNOSED BY THE VOLVO DEALER WHERE I PURCHASED THE CAR, WAS TO REPLACE THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE (ETM), WHICH WAS MANUFACTURED BY MARELLI. THIS TURNED OUT TO BE A FAMILIAR ISSUE ON THESE CARS TO MY LOCAL VOLVO DEALER. THE PRICE QUOTED FOR THE REPAIR WAS $1,200. I HAVE THE FAILED ETM IN MY POSSESSION. THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE AND, I AM NOW AWARE, A KNOWN DEFECT (UNFORGIVABLE ON A CAR COSTING NEARLY $40,000). VOLVO SHOULD RECALL AND REPLACE THESE POORLY DESIGNED PARTS ON ALL 1999-2001 VOLVOS, AND REIMBURSE OWNERS WHO HAVE ALREADY PAID FOR THE REPLACEMENT. (I NOW KNOW THAT VOLVO HAS REDESIGNED THE PART ON NEWER MODELS). NO ONE IS NOTIFYING OWNERS, LIKE MYSELF, OF THIS EXISTING SAFETY ISSUE.) FURTHER, I DO NOT KNOW IF MY DEFECTIVE ETM WAS REPLACED WITH A REDESIGNED (IMPROVED?) ETM,OR WITH ANOTHER OF THE DEFECTIVE MARELLI PARTS.*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

MALFUNCTIONING OF THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE SYSTEM (ETS) ON MY 1999 VOLVO V70 STATION WAGON CAUSED ME TO LOSE POWER OR STALL COMPLETELY WHILE DRIVING. IT HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES PRIOR TO HAVING THE ETS REPLACED. IT OCCURRED FOR ME AT LOW SPEEDS AND IN LIGHT TRAFFIC ALLOWING ME TO GET OFF THE ROAD. I WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE ENGINE AFTER A SHORT TIME INTERVAL. IT COULD HAVE BEEN A MAJOR SAFETY HAZARD IF I HAD THIS FAILURE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS AND IN TRAFFIC. THIS OCCURRED SEVERAL MONTHS AGO AND HAS BEEN REPAIRED AT MY EXPENSE, BUT ON READING AN ASSOCIATED PRESS ARTICLE TODAY ON AN INVESTIGATION OF THIS PROBLEM BY THE NHTSA, I AM SUBMITTING THIS AS ANOTHER INSTANCE OF THE PROBLEM BEING INVESTIGATED. *NM THE AIR CONDITIONING COMPRESSOR AND POWER WINDOWS HAD TO BE REPLACED. CURRENTLY, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON. *JB

DT: CONSUMER OWNS A 1999 VOLVO V70. VEHICLE STALLED/ DIED AND LOST POWER DUE TO THROTTLE VALVE FAILURE. *AK

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

ENGINE STUTTER / STALL / ENGINE SPEED REDUCED AND NOT DRIVABLE - MULTIPLE OCCURRENCES BEFORE AND AFTER REPAIRS OVER PERIOD OF 5 YEARS. DEALER REPAIR 9/27/00 13941 MILES REPLACED THROTTLE BODY. SECOND INSTANCE RECORDS NOT READILY AVAILABLE - BELIEVE REPLACED MANIFOLD. THIRD INSTANCE 9/16/03 36061 MILES - REPLACED MULTIPLE COMPONENTS UNTIL PROBLEM WENT AWAY. FOURTH INSTANCE JULY 2005 APPROX 75000 MILES TRACS, ABS, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WITH ERRATIC VEHICLE SPEED - HAD TO KEEP THROTTLE HIGH RPM BUT DIAGNOSIS WAS WHEEL SPEED SENSOR REPAIRED AND PROBLEM WENT AWAY - BUT STARTING TO SHOW SAME STUTTER ON START UP THAT PREDATED FIRST FAILURE - HAS NOT FAILED YET, BUT WIFE REFUSES TO DRIVE AS UNSAFE DUE TO MULTIPLE FAILURES AND LOSS OF POWER / SPEED IN TRAFFIC. I BELIEVE THIS CAR IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE INVESTIGATION IN WORK - REF PE05041. *NM