i have a 2000 S70. At freeway speeds and in city driving, the car has episodes of hesitation. The tachometer needle does not bounce. Stepping on the accelerator results in smooth acceleration. I took it to the Volvo Dealer who charged me a lot of money to clean the throttle body. This had no apparent effect. I have also used fuel injector cleaner with no apparent effect. The problem comes and goes, but seems to occur more frequently as time goes on. Have any of you experienced a similar problem? If so, how were you able to fix it? Your insights will be appreciated.

 

Do you have a cel?

 

I have a 2001 V70 XC, 150,000 miles, with hesitation problem at cruise speed. Very slight but feel it in my seat. Wife complains of the same hesitation. Tach is steady, idles smooth, no codes in memory. I took it to Volvo dealer and he said it would be a waste of time and money to have it worked on until it gets worse. Thanks for not taking my money. I hope I'm not in the middle of nowhere when it quits. 1200 mile trip yielded 25.9 mpg fully loaded, power stutter every few miles. Worrisome! I will watch this thread for input. Thanks.. Bill

 

Now 6000 miles later, all new plugs and coils, throttle body removed and cleaned. Still have hesitation and is worse in 40 to 55 mph range. Some hesitation but slight at 70 mph. Fuel mileage is great. I'm just waiting for total failure in the middle of nowhere. Wife will not travel on long trips with this condition. No fault codes in memory. The worst case 40 to 55 mph must be a clue. Any ideas?

 

I have the same issue with my '98 s70, been there since I bought it three years ago and haven't been able to figure it out yet. Only difference is mine is worse at idle. Sitting at a stop light you can feel it throughout the entire car when it does it. It does it at speed too, but it's harder to notice.

I have no codes other than a leak in the evap circuit that I haven't chased down yet, but I don't think that would cause it. But maybe. Recently replaced the plugs, wires, cap and rotor and it actually seems to be getting a little worse. Other than the injectors I'm not sure where to go next. I don't really feel like spending $500+ on new injectors just to see if that's the cause or not.

 

Sorry to hear about the hesitations. My first thing to check would be fuel pressure. #2 Would be fuel pump relay.

A plugged Catalytic converter would cause issues like this but I think that would toss a code. Do you guys run a fuel injector cleaner? I run Lucas every 2,500 miles and run premium gas. Maybe you can try that. Run 3 tanks of 91+ octane and run Lucas in the next 3 tanks. See if it clears up on the 3rd tank.

 

Further research and new observation of tach variation when hesitation is worse(40 to 55 mph) I'm pretty sure the throttle body is bad. You have to watch the tach closely, not so close you run off the road, and I could see the tach move up and down. Now looking for best deal on a new/rebuilt ETM with non-contact wiper arm, as is the case with 1999-2002 volvo engines. Bad design by Volvo. I've invested about $1100 in this problem and now hate my beloved V70XC, third and last Volvo. 2014 Mazda6 will probably be my next car. I'll post when I've replaced the ETM.