I love my T5, it's fast, it's a wagon, and it's fun to drive. It's just SUCH a PIECE of GARBAGE. Everything that can go wrong with these cars, is going wrong. I've got CELs on and ABS lights on and ETM lights on and flashing arrows and airbag lights. Just such a terrible little problematic car. It runs and drives okay still, but with no speedo and it lurches all over the place at idle, the transmission clunks into gears and it's missing maybe half it's horsepower. But! I'm stuck with it, I didn't do my research before buying my first (and last) Volvo. Didn't think you could go wrong with a $1500 car. You can!

I can have the abs module repaired, no big deal. My transmission issues have something to do with the output speed sensor which apparently controls torque converter lock up. I swapped it with one from a junkyard and that did nothing. I'm only assuming it was just bad as well. I can replace that sensor, too easy.

So my questions!
The one I'm not wanting to mess around with is the garbage fly by wire crap. I know some of these cars came with a cable operated throttle, I know the N/A throttle body/intake manifold is an upgrade. SO, how do I get an N/A cable operated throttle body in my V70? I can get the stock setup all the way to the pedal I assume. The problem would lie in the ECU and TPS wiring. Is there a possibility of swapping an ECU out with another T5 that was cable operated? I'm surprised I couldn't find any info on this, it seems most people are just paying the $500 to fix these things. There's a scrap yard full of Volvos near me (no surprise) what do I need? If anyone knows any info about this, please let me know. Until then I might just start experimenting.

Thank you for reading, and yes, I'm mad bro.

 

Love how people buy old cars for $1500 that have probably been neglected and expect them to have no problems.

Sell the car and buy a pre-1999 one. That's your only option.

 

Bought a 1988 Volkswagen Scirocco for $1200, still runs great. And I bought an $800 Audi A4, replaced the fuel pump, it ran for 2 years before I sold it with no problems. Are you telling me not to blame the car? That these electronics fail because it was neglected? Not because of failed quality control? Because I don't believe you. Why is buying a pre-1999 my only option? Elaborate, please.

 

1999 is when the drive by wire came out.

Get a 1988 Volvo 240. Much less electronics. Much less to go wrong.

 

Okay. So why can't I take pre-1999 parts and put them on. That's the answer I need. I can go to a junk yard right now and pick up an intake manifold, throttle body, throttle pedal, and cable from a junk yard for maybe $60. Then i might need an older ECU to go with it? Which may involve removing the VVT..? I am mechanically inclined, I just want to hear from someone who can tell me for sure that this wont work, or will. I would love a 240. Almost bought one but figured a newer Volvo would be more reliable. I had bought the car for a 3000 mile road trip. I will say that it made the trip with no problems. It didn't blow up until afterwards.

 

This for sure won't work.

 

The ETM is integrated into a set of computers, good luck rewiring the entire engine bay. So as to the faults - yes, the ABS controllers are known to fail due to cracked solder joints. typical fix is about $200-$250. RochaTek and Midwest ABS do this for a living. The ETM is also known to fail. You can try replacing the contact potentiometer yourself - ARD Tuning sells such a kit or again you can send out for about $200-250. For the tranmission - did you check the color/smell of the fluid? Given its a computer controlled system, it would be difficult to diagnose any shifting faults until you address the ABS/Speed sensor issue (yes the speed sensor feeds into the ABS which feeds the ECU and TCU) but you could check the fluid and do a simple drain/fill for about $50. Just check your owners manual to see if your model uses JWS3309 or Dextron/Mercon III to buy what's appropriate for your car. Or as noted, sell the car as is and buy a car that has a known maintenance history. Late model 850s and V70s are fairly well sorted out and predate drive by wire and VVT. Just make sure you check when the timing belt is due etc. BTW, these models use the Aisin transmission (same as Toyota) so the only risk is buying a car that wasn't properly maintained (to note my 850 has 200K+ and is a daily driver)

 

Are you still fighting with this thing? I'm not seeing much about the history of this vehicle. I understand why you'd be upset though. I've also purchased quite a few vehicles for under $1000 that have lasted quite a while and needed minimal maintenance. Unfortunately these vehicles were quite complex for the time and have a completely different set of standard age issues compared to other vehicles of the same vintage. The first one I bought two years ago, and I had a bunch of **** to sort through right after getting it.

If you still have it, I'd love to hear more about any progress you've made or if you have further information on the issues you're experiencing. If it were a true lemon I don't think it would have made it this far in life.

 

​​​​​​I bit the bullet and bought a refurbished ABS module on ebay. I threw it in and it seemed to have solved a lot of my problems. I sold it to a coworker and told him to let me know if it gives him any problems. He's not mechanically inclined though, so I'm not sure how much attention he pays. But it's still running and driving well enough for me not to get phone calls.