VOLVO Complaints

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]

MY CAR IS A VOLVO S70 1999 2.5L NON-TURBO ENGINE. I STARTED EXPERIENCING UNEVEN ENGINE IDLE IN MAY OF 2001, AT FIRST I FEARED THAT MY ENGINE WOULD JUST DIE OUT. A FEW TIMES THE ENGINE REALLY DID JUST STOP WORKING AS I WAS SLOWING DOWN. I'VE HAD A VOLVO DEALER/SERVICE IN LONG ISLAND NY TAKE A LOOK AT THE PROBLEM AND THEY SIMPLY "CLEANED" THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE. THE CLEANING SOLUTION DID NOT LAST LONG AND AFTER A WEEK OR SO I STARTED NOTICING THE UNEVEN ENGINE IDLE AGAIN. AFTER HAVING THE ENGINE JUST GO KAPUT A FEW MORE TIMES, I TOOK THE CAR TO AN INDEPENDANT MECHANIC AND THEY PERFORMED A CLEANING BUT SAYS THAT MOST LIKELY I WILL HAVE TO REPLACE THE ETM. NOW IT IS 2006 AND OUR VOLVO IS LESS DRIVEN BUT STILL IN THE FAMILY. WE STILL EXPERIENCE THE SAME PROBLEMS WITH THE ENGINE. I AM GLAD TO HEAR THAT VOLVO OF AMERICA IS FINALLY STEPPING UP AND AT LEAST TRYING TO REMEDY THE PROBLEM BY EXTENDING THE WARRANTY. BUT THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT CAUSED ME AND MY FAMILY MANY SCARY MOMENTS AND PUT US IN DANGEROUS SITUATIONS. I HOPE POSTING MY COMPLAINT HERE TODAY WILL HELP OTHERS. *NM

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED BOTH REAR OUTBOARD SEAT BELTS HAVE A PLASTIC SHIELD ON THEM, WHICH CAUSES THE SEAT BELT TO BECOME ENTANGLED. IF THE SEAT BELTS ARE BEING OCCUPIED AND THE PASSENGER LEANS FORWARD, THE SEAT BELT GETS ENTANGLED IN THE PLASTIC SHIELD CAUSING EXCESSIVE SLACK THAT WILL NOT RETRACT. THE DEALER IS ORDERING A NEW RETRACTOR FOR THE SEAT BELTS. THE MANUFACTURER HAS NOT BEEN ALERTED. UPDATED 05/10/06. *JB

CAR BEGAN TO LOSE ACCELERATION ON 10-15-05 AND WOULD TAKE A FULL 2 MIN TO REACH 55 MPH WITH ONLY MINIMAL THROTTLE DEPRESSION (ANY MORE THAN ONLY THE LEAST WOULD CAUSE THE DRIVE TRAIN TO JERK AND REFUSE TO PROPEL THE CAR AT ALL). IF THE CAR WAS PULLED OVER AND RESTARTED THE PROBLEM WOULD CORRECT ITSELF FOR A WHILE (SOMETIMES THE GAP IN BETWEEN MALFUNCTIONS WOULD BE SEVERAL HOURS INITIALLY) BUT WOULD ALWAYS RETURN. RAN TROUBLE CODES AND THE OXYGEN SENSOR WAS INITIALLY FAULTY. REPLACED THEN THE ENGINE WOULD IDLE ERRATICALLY UPON STARTUP, BUT AFTER A PERIOD OF TIME (5-15 MINUTES) IT WOULD ALL OF A SUDDEN CORRECT ITSELF - RACING THE ENGINE SEEMED TO SHORTEN THE TIME PERIOD, BUT YOU WOULD HAVE TO DEPRESS AND QUICKLY RELEASE THE GAS PEDAL IN ORDER TO GET THE RPM'S SIGNIFICANTLY HIGH ENOUGH TO FACILITATE THE SMOOTH OPERATION. ONCE THE ENGINE RAN FINE, IT WOULD OPERATE WELL AS LONG AS THE CAR WAS NEVER SHUT OFF (IT WAS RAN ON A JOURNEY OF 1,000 MILES AND OPERATED PERFECTLY NORMAL). THE MOMENT IT WAS SHUT DOWN, EVEN FOR THE BRIEFEST OF SPANS, IT WOULD ACT IN THE SAME MANNER WITH THE IDLE FLUCTUATING WILDLY, BUT SEEMED TO BE PRONE TO STALLING WHEN THE ENGINE WAS WARM/HOT. VOLVO WAS CONTACTED AND RECOMMENDED DEALER DIAGNOSIS TO DETERMINE THE SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM. WHEN THE CAR WAS BROUGHT IN FOR SERVICE, I WAS ASSURED THAT IT "COULD NOT POSSIBLY BE THE COMPUTER(ETM)". HOWEVER THERE WAS A SOFTWARE UPDATE INSTALLED (HMMMMM.....COULDN'T POSSIBLY, BUT LETS ADJUST IT....HMMMMMM ) WHICH CORRECTED THE ROUGH IDLE INITIALLY. ONLY PROBLEM IS NOW THE CAR WILL NOT REACH OR EXCEED 4,000 RPM EVEN WITH THE CAR IN PARK (NOT UNDER LOAD) AND WILL STALL JERK AND REFUSE TO ACCELERATE UNDER HARD PEDAL PRESSURE AND WILL NOT DRIVE ABOVE ABOUT 70 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY WITHOUT PROTESTATION, LOSS OF ACCELERATION OR JERKING. ALL OF THE DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODES STILL INDICATE THAT THE CYLINDERS ARE WILDING MISFIRING AND I'M GETTING SICK OF TRYING TO FIX VOLVO'S ENGINEERING PROBLEM. *NM

2004 S60AWD ANGLE GEAR LEAK REQUIRED REPLACEMENT OF GEAR AT 14,300 MILES. THE ANGLE GEAR SENDS POWER TO THE REAR WHEELS, AND IF IT FAILS, IT TAKES THE TRANSMISSION WITH IT. WHILE MINE WAS CAUGHT EARLY AND REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY, A TRACK RECORD OF THE ANGLE GEAR LEAKING AND FAILING IS BEING SEEN. VOLVO NEEDS TO EXTEND WARRANTY ON THIS ITEM. *NM

AN 8-INCH CRACK APPEARED IN MY VOLVO'S DRIVER-SIDE WINDOW WHILE WE WERE DINING INSIDE. THE NEXT MORNING THE HAIRLINE CRACK HAD CROSSED THE WINDOW, LEFT TO RIGHT. OUR AUTO INSURERS GOT SAFELITE TO REPLACE THE WINDOW. THE SAFELITE EXPERT LOOKED AT THE ORIGINAL FACTORY WINDOW AND DECLARED IT DEFECTIVE AS A PIECE OF IT WAS MISSING FROM ONE CORNER WHEN THE VOLVO FACTORY INSTALLED IT IN MY 2002 S60 T5 VEHICLE. *JB

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE TURNING OR DRIVING ON AN UNLEVELED ROAD, THERE WAS A METAL GRINDING NOISE COMING FROM THE FRONT SUSPENSION. THIS CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO HIT A CURB AND THE VEHICLE BECAME INOPERABLE. THE VEHICLE WAS PUSHED TO THE COTNACT'S RESIDENCE, WHERE IT HAS BEEN PARKED.

THE ETS (ELECTRONIC THROTTLE SYSTEM) LIGHT CAME ON REPEATEDLY OVER A PERIOD OF TWO WEEKS. ON TWO OCCASIONS, ON THE HIGHWAY, THE CAR LOST POWER TOTALLY WHEN THE LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE DEALER SAID THE CAR NEEDS A NEW ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE (ETM), WHICH WILL COST ABOUT $1,500. THIS CAR HAS 85,000 MILES, VIRTUALLY ALL OF WHICH WERE HIGHWAY MILES AS IT IS USED TO COMMUTE FROM MA TO CT. A SEARCH OF THE WEB INDICATED THAT THIS SENSOR--THE ETM--WAS DEFECTIVE IN 1999 AND 2000 VOLVOS. IN JULY 2001, VOLVO ISSUED A TECH BULLETIN STATING THAT PROBLEMS OCCURRED ONLY WHEN THE OWNER MADE MANY SHORT TRIPS. FURTHER, THE TECH BULLETINS SAID THE ETM COULD BE CLEANED (BUT NOT REPLACED) IF THE CAR STILL WAS UNDER THE ORIGINAL WARRANTY. THIS CAR HAS 85,000 AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN SERVICED BY A VOLVO DEALER. *NM

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