Hi all,
Just over a week ago I bought a 2001 Volvo S60 2.4l Petrol non-turbo (with 183xxx kms) as my first car. I have had a few issues with it so far and needed some help on fixing them up.

This is my biggest issue:

1. The Check Engine light and "Emissions system service required" message is ON. We had it scanned and it returned two codes: 640A - Camshaft reset valve faulty signal and 1A5D - Communication with the electronic throttle module (ETM) Signal missing. I have looked at the symptoms of a failing ETM and some of them like fluctuating revs on idle are not true for me. The only ones I have run into include the car sometimes taking a few seconds to start up and the engine turning off while driving. The engine cut out and turned off when I was hard accelerating from 0 to 80km/h. The car would refuse to stay on afterwards - I would put it into ignition, and it would start for a second then turn off. I left the car off for 5 mins then was able to turn it on after...I left it to idle for 2 minutes before being able to successively start driving along the same road (without hard accelerating of course).

Some other issues I currently have with the car include:

1. Fuel smell from the engine bay from time to time
2. Sometimes when moving from a stopped position (at like a traffic light) to start moving, the car kind of "jolts" when the accelerator is applied before moving.
3. As said before, the engine sometimes takes a few seconds to start up on ignition.
4. Power steering is stiff when stopped or driving slowly (like through a parking lot) however the fluid is full. It also sometimes makes an air noise or other noise when the turning is being stiff.

I am new to Volvo's and just need some guidance! I am a student and money is not my strong suit right now. Any help is highly appreciated!
I am also based in NSW, Australia if that helps anyone.

Thank you!

 

The 640A code is saying your VVT (variable valve timing) is not returning to the correct position as the engine changes speed. Could be one of several things including dirty oil (the VVT is driven by oil pressure) or a wonky VVT solenoid or gear. That won't cause fuel smell - but may diminish power

The 1A5D is saying your ETM is not getting power or communicating with the ECM correctly. Causes can be related to the ETM or the connectors or other wiring components (fuse/relay/low system voltage event) can throw this code.

• No power supply to electronic throttle module (ETM)
• Open-circuit in the ground lead to the electronic throttle module (ETM)
• Contact resistance in the terminals
• Open-circuit in the wiring for the CAN high speed network to the electronic throttle module (ETM)
• The electronic throttle module (ETM) is not intended for this car (for example a used control module with different software/hardware).

I'd start by cleaning and inspecting the connector and wiring harness to the ETM and check related fuses and relays, clear the code then see what resets. Its possible the fault is in the ETM but while they are failure prone (rebuild services are available) mostly those are related to worn contacts - but I suppose a poor solder joint can create the open circuit

 

For the Cam timing code the first step would be to make sure the timing belt is on correctly -

And you probably have a bad Throttle module -

Neither of those items are inexpensive - but the throttle will/can strand you -

Not sure what options there are down under but I use xemodex.com for preprogrammed throttle modules. They are a Canadian company.