Hi,

Representatives from the Australian Government and Volvo are in Sweden this week to duscuss the ETM failure issue. The following is an email that I sent to Volvo Clubs in Australia. I hope any Australian or American with ETM failure issue notifies the defect with respective federal government transport agencies.

Australians can lodge individual ETM defects here: http://dynamic.dotars.gov.au/recalls/NotifyUs.asp

US residents can lodge individual ETM defects here: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov


The email to Australian Volvo Clubs reads:


Hi,

You may be aware that Volvo cars of series 60, 70 and 80 made in 1999, 2000 and 2001 have a serious and potential safety defect with the "fly by wire" Electronic Throttle Module (ETM).

I have lodged a defect notice with the Federal Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS).

I have also advised Volvo Australia see my extract of that email below:

"Dear VOLVO,

Re: Failure of Magnetti Morrelli ETM's fitted to Volvos from 1999 to 2001.

I have become fully aware of the extent of ETM failures not only here in Australia but overseas as well.

The ETMs fitted to the above models are defective by design and causal resulting in rough idling, sudden acceleration, total shutdown, or limp home mode. Clearly a major safety issue.

I have reported the issue to the Australian Transport Dept. - as a recall issue.

Discussion I had with a representative of your company two weeks ago indicated that Volvo here in Australia were oblivious to the problem. Well that was the stance that your representative took at the time which was knowingly and deceivingly and clearly incorrect, as evidenced by the following.

Your parts records would show that there are a significant numbers of ETM's being replaced across Australia. Your larger dealers keep a number in stock on their shelves.

Non -Volvo repair agents are also replacing ETM's.

It is now widely known - world wide I might add, that there exists an inherent fault with the ETM design that VOLVO was aware of in 1998 before the 1999 Models were released.

I am prepared to take the matter to the Government, Australian public and media to ensure that VOLVO rectify the fault on a world wide basis.

I now need to advise you that if I or my family sustain an injury or inconvenience because of this known design fault, you will be legally taken to task.

In the meantime I suggest that you develop a positive outcome/fix in solving the issue to hand.

I am referring this email to my American contacts, in which country a class action suit and Government investigation is underway. In other words this is a serious issue that VOLVO needs to rectify now.

Happy to provide additional information on request."

Please advise your club members urgently. The issue is currently being discussed in Sweden with reps from DOTARS and Volvo Australia present. I urge any club member with ETM issues to notify the DOTARS defect notification site here: http://dynamic.dotars.gov.au/recalls/NotifyUs.asp

The US are heavily involved with the process of discussing a possible recall. The following links provide significant information:

"Hi Kate

owners@volvo-customers.com (Australia)

Thanks for your phone call this afternoon.

Here are sites that expose the issue of the faulty ETM's :

ETM Cleaning - it does not solve the inherent design fault:
http://www.autosafety.org/uploads/VolvoETMTSB.pdf

Class Action in the States:
http://www.fazmiclaw.com/Volvo.html

The Detroit News - "Autos Insider" :
http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0505/06/1auto-170127.htm

The most important site:
http://vexedvolvo.org

The above site provides all you need to know - technical info galore etc.

I look forward to your response.

In the meantime I'm going to establish an estimate of the number of ETM's being replaced in Australia in ratio to the total fleet number.

My estimate at this stage is that Volvo Australia is supplying about 36 replacements per month, in other words 36 potential disasters waiting to happen.

I look forward to your reply.

Regards ........ Nick "

Excellent job Nick! Here in the U.S. Volvo has recinded their arbitrary position of not acting on complaints of the defective ETM and will now reimburse those owners who have experienced problems re: replacing the ETM after the expiration of the warranty. This per the VCOA. I use Ventil and have had the dealer clean my ETM in an effort to avoid a problem.................but....................why should we do this and why should we pay for the service?
R.

Hi Reg,

Is Don Wilson aware of Volvo replacing the ETMs. This does not rectify the fault which will re-ocurr in all replacements. It does not resolve the safety issue and the "surprise factor" ie sudden acceleration, loss of power and engine and ancillary shut down.

It seems cleaning the ETM's is not preventative as the faulty components are sealed.

Have you been to Don's site and read the technical bits? Here at:

http://vexedvolvo.org


Cheers

Good morning Nick (eastern time zone U.S.A.)
I was under the assumption that there was a 'wiper' which wore into the plastic housing allowing the ETM to fail. I have not personally taken my ETM off...............my Volvo is a driver and not one of my 'collector' autos and so I am not enthusiastic about getting dirty on it.................but rather take it to the dealer for service other than changing oil and light maintenance. I had not seen the referenced web site: VEXED. It was interesting but added nothing to what we already knew. My information regarding Volvo reimbursing owners of 'out-of-warranty' autos came from the July/August issue of Rolling, the VCOA magazine. A telephone call to the service writer at the dealer I associate with confirmed that they had a "more liberal" program in force and each case would be submitted to Volvo of America. I can only hope for one of two occurances: 1) I have traded off the Volvo although I purchased it because of its outstanding styling and I still enjoy the style. 2) Volvo sends me correspondence stating that they will extend the ETM warranty. At any rate, an individual could NEVER pursue an action against Volvo as the cost would be prohibitive in relation to the damages of $1,200.00 which would reflect the replacement cost. That is why the class action was filed here in the U.S.. I can well imagine the cost associated with just the engineering expert!!!
R.

reg.........so can i assume the volvo dealer here in wisconsin will replace my ETM with a new for no charge?, we bought a used 99 S70 AWD turbo, and from time to time the ets light comes on, we just got the car about a month and a half ago, and have yet to take it to a dealer for fear of the very high price it may cost to fix. All help is welcome

updates??

You must be near Madison or Milwaukee. The nearest Volvo dealer to me is in Libertyville, Illinois. As far as the throttle body is concerned, I wish I could clear it up, but I'm confused as well.

i am about 30 min away from both volvo dealers, hoping to get some info soon tho, or maybe find a permanent fix for the tb. like converting to a cable operated pre 99 set-up??

December 11, 2005

Matthews has givem me my own forum to only discuss the ETM failures. http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com and click on "ETM Room'.

As you probably know the California Air Resources Board got Volvo to agree to a 10year/200,000 mile warranty with reimpbusement for costs already incurred in replacing the ETM for the United States and Canada. I talked with them last week and when I asked them if this was once per car or once per vehicle she said they were unaware that the replacements are failing also. Even if you have a failure now go on into the dealer and tell them to fix it under the warranty. If they are not aware or give you problems have them call Volvo North America. At www.matthewsvolvosite,com you can find a service record for a free replacement on a 132,000 mile car. One problem is that if they cannot duplicate the problem or a fault code is not set you might have some problem. VEXED is working on this.

As of Saturday December 10th the National Highway Traffic Safety Adnimistration moved the ETM problem to and Engineering Analysis. This means that they will be researching the various modes of failure, about 4 to date, and evalulating the safety aspects. You can see their letter at http://vexedvolvo.org and click on 'NEWS'.
This post lists all Volvo affected by this action., namely:
VOLVO / 700 2000, VOLVO / 740 2000, VOLVO / 780 1999, VOLVO / 850 1999-2000, VOLVO / 855 2000, VOLVO / C70 1999-2002
VOLVO / C70 CONVERTIBLE 1999-2001, VOLVO / COTTRELL 1999, VOLVO / S40 2000-2001, VOLVO / S60 1999-2002, VOLVO / S70 1999-2000, VOLVO / S80 1999-2001, VOLVO / S90 1999, VOLVO / V40 2000-2001, VOLVO / V70 1999-2002, VOLVO / V70XC 1999-2001, VOLVO / V90 1999, VOLVO / VOLVO 1999-2001, VOLVO / X70 1999, VOLVO / XC70 2001.

Don Willson for VEXED
VEXEDvolvo@comcast.net
http://vexedvolvo.org
SKYPE me at Skype name "donwillson" if you want to talk