2001 VOLVO V70 Complaints

SURGING, MISSING, SKIPPING WHILE IDLING IN GEAR. IT MAY SURGE, MISS, SKIP WHILE OUT OF GEAR, BUT IT IS HARD TO DETECT. I HAVE HAD THE ETM SOFTWARE UPDATE AND THEN THEY CLEANED IT. THE DEALER DOES NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT NOW AND IT IS STILL HAPPENING. THEY HAVE NOT YET DONE THE VOLVO CAMPAIGN TO REPLACE FAULTY ETM'S BECAUSE THE GUIDELINES ARE STRICT. (SOMEONE HAS TO DIE FIRST, THEN THEY WILL REPLACE IT) THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR OVER THREE MONTHS NOW. *JB

ON THE WAY TO AN APPOINTMENT MY WIFE WAS DRIVING OUR VOLVO V70 T5 ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY WHEN SUDDENLY THE CAR LOST POWER AND A MESSAGE STATING "PERFORMANCE REDUCTION" WAS VISIBLE ON THE CONSOLE. THE CAR FELT LIKE IT WAS ABOUT TO STALL AT ANY MINUTE AND WAS ONLY ABLE TO BE DRIVEN AT 20 MPH. SHE WAS ABLE TO PULL THE CAR OVER TO THE HARD SHOULDER BUT AS SHE WAS ABOUT TO ENTER A SECTION WHERE ROAD WORKS HAD REMOVED ANY HARD SHOULDER SHE DECIDED TO STOP AND CALL FOR HELP. WE ARRANGED FOR A TOW TRUCK TO PICK THE CAR UP AND TAKE IT TO OUR NEAREST VOLVO DEALER. WHEN WE ARRIVED THERE AND EXPLAINED WHAT HAD HAPPENED THE FIRST QUESTION ASKED BY THE SERVICE REP WAS "HAVE YOU HAD THE ETM RECALL PERFORMED ?" I STATED THAT WE WERE NOT AWARE OF ANY RECALL AND HAD NOT RECEIVED ANY LETTER FROM VOLVO OF NORTH AMERICA. 2 DAYS LATTER ONCE THE CAR HAD BEEN DIAGNOSED BY THE DEALER IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT IT HAD BEEN CAUSED BY AN ETM/ECM FAILURE. THE REPLACEMENT PART NUMBER WAS 30785453. I ALSO SPOKE WITH VOLVO OF NORTH AMERICA AND WAS INFORMED THAT THERE WAS NO RECALL BUT A WARRANTY EXTENSION ON THAT PARTICULAR PART. I ASKED WHY I HAD NOT RECEIVED A LETTER YET CONCERNING IT AND WAS INFORMED THAT THEY WE STILL IN THE PROCESS OF SENDING THEM OUT. SINCE THEN I HAVE DISCOVER EVIDENCE THAT THE LETTER WAS AVAILABLE SINCE NOVEMBER 2005. *JB

ETM CLEANED & ADJUSTED AT 48,474 MILES FOR STALLING AND ENGINE SURGING: 10/13/03 ETM REPLACED FOR STALLING; 4/13/05 ENGINE SURGING DIAGNOSED AS ETM AT 79,386, 4/27/05 SOFTWARE UPDATE TO CORRECT SURGING, DID NOT HELP. 5/26/05 ETM REPLACED FOR SURGING IDLE AND TRANS BANGING INTO GEAR, ALSO SOFTWARE UPDATED; 4/24/06 ETM SOFTWARE UPGRADE FOR ENGINE SURGING AND BEING IN LIMP HOME MODE TWICE [S.MCH FROM E-MAIL]

WHEN I STEP ON THE BRAKES, SOMETIMES I GET A WARNING ON MY DASHBOARD TO CHECK BRAKE LIGHTS, WHEN I CHECK, I GET THE WARNING WHENEVER THE LEFT AND RIGHT BRAKE LIGHTS DO NOT LIGHT UP, AND ONLY THE CENTER DOES. IF I PRESS MULTIPLE TIMES THEY MAY WORK. I FOUND A SIMILAR RECALL ON THE 2002 MODEL, I HAVE THE 2001 MODEL THE NUMBER IS 04V051000. *NM

DT*: WHILE BRAKING THE CHECK BRAKE LIGHTS WARNING ILLUMINATES. THERE IS A NHTSA RECALL, # 04V051000, REGARDING THE BRAKE LIGHTS. THE VEHICLE HAS THE SAME PROBLEMS AS INDICATED IN THE RECALL; HOWEVER, IT IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL DUE TO THE VIN. UPDATED 5/10/2006 - THE RIGHT AND LEFT BRAKE LIGHTS DID NOT WORK, ONLY THE CENTER BRAKE LIGHT WORKED. *NM

I PURCHASED A 2001 V70 XC IN NOVEMBER 2004, WITH ABOUT 37K MILES. IT NOW HAS ABOUT 64K MILES AND YESTERDAY (MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2006) IS WHEN SHE TOOK A DIVE. I HAD JUST RETURNED FROM A 1200 MILE TRIP EARLY MONDAY MORNING. ON MONDAY AFTERNOON, I STARTED ON AN ERRAND; BACKED OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY AND DROVE ABOUT 100 YARDS TO THE ENTRANCE/EXIT OF OUR SUBDIVISION. THIS HAPPENS TO BE A BUSY INTERSECTION AND DIFFICULT AT TIMES TO GET OUT. I SAW A SMALL OPENING IN THE TRAFFIC AND I GAVE THE ACCELERATOR A PRETTY GOOD PUSH.......AND ALMOST NOTHING HAPPENED. I JUST STARTED CREEPING ALONG AT LESS THAN 20 MPH. ON INCLINES IT WAS EVEN WORSE. THE FIRST WARNING WAS "REDUCED PERFORMANCE." I TURNED ON THE EMERGENCY FLASHERS. AT THAT POINT I WAS WONDERING HOW TO GET OFF THIS BUSY ROAD AND TAKE A LESS TRAVELED ONE TO THE REPAIR SHOP. I GOT OFF THE BUSY ROAD AND DOWN THE NEXT HILL, BUT NOT UP. THE ENGINE WAS BARELY RUNNING AND PUSHING ON THE ACCELERATOR DIDN'T DO ANYTHING. NEXT I BACKED/COASTED DOWN THE HILL AND ONTO A SIDE STREET, ENGINE STILL SORT OF RUNNING. I DECIDED TO TRY SHUTTING THE ENGINE OFF. IT WAS DIFFICULT TO RESTART, BUT EVENTUALLY WOULD WITH THE SAME PROBLEMS. I DID THIS A COUPLE OF MORE TIMES - START/ SHUT DOWN AND AFTER A FEW MORE ATTEMPTS, THE ENGINE STARTED TO RUN FINE. I HEADED FOR MY USUAL REPAIR SHOP (FRANKLIN AUTOMOTIVE) AND THEY GOT ABOUT 12 THROTTLE BODY ERRORS AND SAID I NEED TO TAKE IT TO THE AUTHORIZED VOLVO DEALER - ROYAL VOLVO. I AM IN BIRMINGHAM, AL. I TOOK IT STRAIGHT THERE. THE DIAGNOSTIC CLEARED ERROR MESSAGES. THE "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT WAS ON AND A "SERVICE ENGINE URGENT" MESSAGE WAS PRESENT ALONG WITH ONE OTHER MESSAGE THAT I CAN'T REMEMBER. ROYAL VOLVO UPDATED THE ETM SOFTWARE, AND REPROGRAMMED THE ECM AS PART OF SERVICE CAMPAIGN 155. SERVICE ADVISOR SAID THAT THIS SHOULD FIX THE ETM PROBLEM AND IT SHOULD NOT REQUIRE ANY ADDITIONAL SERVICE OR NEED ADDITIONAL REPAIRS. ALL THIS WAS LISTED UNDER A VOLVO RECALL AND THERE WERE NO CHARGES. *NM

ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE FAILED ON 2001 VOLVO V70 T5 AT 75,400 MILES. FAILURES OF THIS COMPONENT ARE COMMON DUE TO POOR DESIGN OF ETM. VEHICLE GOES INTO "LIMP HOME" MODE AT UNPREDICTABLE TIMES. MOST RECENT FAILURE WAS AS MY WIFE WAS MERGING WITH TRAFFIC ONTO FREEWAY. FROM 55 MPH VEHICLE SUDDENLY LOST POWER AND REDUCED SPEED TO 20 MPH IN TRAFFIC!. MY WIFE CREPT OVER TO THE SHOULDER AND CALLED A TOW TRUCK. *NM

BOTH FRONT SPRINGS HAVE BROKEN DURING NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS. ON BOTH OCCASIONS THIS CREATED A TRAFFIC HAZARD WHEN THE CAR BECAME SUDDENLY DIFFICULT TO STEER AND IMPOSSIBLE TO DRIVE. THE PASSENGER-SIDE FRONT SPRING BROKE 2 YEARS AGO WHILE DRIVING ON A WELL-PAVED, MAJOR THOROUGHFARE. THE DRIVER-SIDE FRONT SPRING BROKE 9 DAYS AGO WHILE DRIVING ON A WELL-PAVED SIDE STREET. ON BOTH OCCASIONS THE CAR WAS TRANSPORTED BY FLAT BED TRUCK TO A REPAIR FACILITY WHERE THE PART WAS REPLACED AT MY EXPENSE. *JB

FAILURE OF "ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE (ETM)". LOSS OF POWER WHILE DRIVING WITH NO ADVANCED WARNING OR OTHER INDICATION IMMANENT FAILURE. CAR WENT INTO "LIMP HOME MODE" WHICH PROVIDES ENOUGH POWER FOR THE VEHICLE TO BE DRIVEN, BUT BECAUSE THE ENGINE MANAGEMENT COMPUTER ATTEMPTS TO KEEP A FIXED, SOMEWHAT ABOVE IDLE, THROTTLE SETTING, RELEASING THE THROTTLE DOES NOT RESULT IN ENGINE BRAKING AS NORMAL FOR A MANUAL TRANSMISSION VEHICLE. NEITHER SITUATION, LOSS OF POWER OR LOSS OF THROTTLE CONTROL, IS ACCEPTABLE AND COULD CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. THE SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER NEARLY RESULTED IN MY BEING REAR ENDED, LUCKILY THE DRIVER BEHIND ME REACTED QUICKLY ENOUGH TO AVOID HITTING ME. THE DEALER INSTALLED NEW SOFTWARE IN THE ETM IN AN ATTEMPT TO RECTIFY THE PROBLEM. *JB

I RECENTLY BEGAN HAVING PROBLEMS WITH MY 2001 VOLVO V70 STATION WAGON. IT TURNS OUT THAT THE PCV SYSTEM HAD BECOME CLOGGED AS A RESULT OF PROBLEMS WITH THE ETM. WHEN THEY TESTED THE VEHICLE AT THE DEALERSHIP THEY DID NOT FIND ANY COMPUTER CODES RELATED TO THE ETM SO THEY ARE REFUSING TO COVER THE DAMAGE DONE TO THE PCV BY THE FAULTY ETM UNDER WARRANTY. WHEN THEY CLEAN OR REPLACE THE ETM THEY SERVICE THE PCV AS PART OF THE REPAIR THEY HAVE INDICATED TO ME THAT UNTIL THE ETM FAILS COMPLETELY THEY ARE UNWILLING TO COVER THE PCV PROBLEM UNDER THE EXTENDED WARRANTY. *JB