i have a 1998 S70 T5 with a manual trany
today it randomly bogged down to about 600rpm (it normaly idles at ~950rpm) and then died. i restarted cuz i had to get home and the rest of the 5 min trip it would not rev past 3000rpm when i gear (in netural it would rev fully) and would go get past 40mph in any gear
the car had 144000 miles and has been maintained
please help im a student who needs the car for work and school!

 

I actually had a similar problem just a couple days ago where out of nowhere with no warning, I start her up in the morning and the first thing I notice is that the car vibrates and the engine revs up and down between 500 and 1500 rpm when idle (normally, like you said, it does about 950 rpm). Nevertheless, it started up and I was able to drive about 30 miles going about 70 mph most of the way (the check engine light was on also). After I parked to take care of some errands, I tried to start her up again, and it starts to vibrate really violently for a few seconds. Then, the oil lamp, the arrow lamp also come on and start flashing on and off before it just flat out dies. I ended up calling a tow truck to take it in to the nearest Volvo dealership so they can find out whats wrong. Turns out the mass air flow sensor had failed and needed to be replaced. The cost to me? 450 dollars total.

As a fellow student, I feel your pain, especially in these times. However, after I fixed her up, she runs awesome as she did before. It might not be your problem, but its something to consider.

 

Bro ur right on! I took my car to the mechanic i use and after running some tests he replaced the mass air flow sensor and I havent had any problems with it since. My cost was only $320 but hes a friend of the family so he cut me a little bit of a break. Thanks for the dead-on help!!

 

Awesome! I'm glad its fixed because I know how bad it feels when your car doesn't work, and how good it feels when it's back in top shape. Here's to many more miles of problem-free operation!

 

that mechanic didn,t cut you much of a break,you could have easily buy a Mass air flow for around $100.00 and install it yourself.

 

MAF sensor costs around $200 online and at the time it went out I didnt have the time or know-how to fix it myself. Now that ino when it is i could do it myself in a hour or so

 

Next time ask here first MASS AF sensor has only 2 screws,and a plug,I change mine in less then 3 minutes.