Hello. I am new to this forum so I hope its in the right place!

I have a 2004 s60 2L t5 and unfortunately came across (another!) problem.

I was driving down the highway here in Dubai (in cruise control) and an amber coloured warning light came on. I looked to the left to read 'reduced engine performance' which is a bit underestimating as I couldn't accelerate what so ever. I put my foot down and nothing happened so luckily it wasn't so busy, pulled off and let the car sit there in idle. The engine was shuddering and 'spitting'... also sounding like it could barely stay on. I turned of the car, waited only a few seconds, turned it back on and the light was gone and the car was back to being fine.

I drove home and nothing happened again. I haven't been back on the roads since although a little drive around the neighborhood produced no issues. I'm assuming this issue may only happen when going at a faster speed (120-140kph) at a constant? It's obviously something pretty serious so I dont want to drive it again until I figure out what the issue may be. I've done a little research but it seems there could be lots of issues. The one that stood out though was the ETM? Electric Throttle Module which i heard could be an issue and is with a lot of Volvos. I'm not a whizz with cars so I am not sure so if anyone could let me know in the most simplistic terms, that would be great.

It is also worth noticing the engine light DID come on and was present for about a month until i got it fixed. The incompetent people at the garage (Not Volvo as they charge crazy prices) decided to check the issues and said no issue were noted on the computer. An engine light doesn't come on unless theres an issue, right? Was very annoyed.

The only other thing that I have noticed is that there seems to be a 'wheeze' sound that comes from the engine/turbo. Like there is a crack or a hole somewhere. Like I said, I don't know much about cars so I may be completely wrong. I think everyone knows what it sounds like when a turbo is working and it sort of sounds like that but louder and hollow. A wheeze is the best word to describe it.

I thank anyone who took the time out to read this! Any help would be very much appreciated!

 

Hello Dude, this kinda sounds like an overheating thing. By any chance did you notice the temperature when it happen? This has happened to me once in a ford F150, I was running it hard through some pretty rough terrain, and the same thing happened. maybe your thermostat is stuck in the closed position. About the computer thing, volvos have this thing that the computer doesn't store certain faults if it only happens once or twice, i have a intermittent fault for an abs sensor but every time i take my car to the dealer they cant see the code themselves and that is at an over priced volvo dealer LOL. I hope that helps bro.

 

If that message came on, it isn't an overheating problem and there would almost definitely be codes stored. An independent garage may not be able to read them all though.

 

thanks for your responses! My temp was fine. It was normal (halfway) and its not stuck. It goes down when the car is turned off and when turned on comes back up to half way after a few minutes of driving.

Any other suggestions? Im sure it has something to do with the throttle/turbo it has to be. I could have my questions answered of course but i know Volvo and they charge something like 350 pounds or 500 dollars JUST to do a service here. Mental.

 

It could be throttle related, or a bad accelerator pedal or MAF sensor. Guessing is expensive too. Without having the codes, I could guess all day.