erratic idling and surging
 

Recently my 99 S80 T6 has been idling extremely rough. It's driving fine but it seems as if my car is going to stall every time i pull up to a stoplight. When it's idling the lights on the dash also begin to dim as the rpms drop. Also, every now and then when im getting ready to stop and am almost completely stopped the rpms will suddenly jump up giving me a pretty good boost so I have to make sure I have my foot hard on the brake. Its actually starting to scare me because I know one of these times it's just going to throw me onto the car in front of me. Im suspecting it to be the ETM, but does anyone else know what could be causing this?

Also, I just had my car in the shop for a message saying "Emissions System Service Required". I took it to the dealer and they told me I needed a software upgrade for $230 because the computer was detecting a fuel leak when there wasnt one. So pretty much there was nothing wrong with my car, but i still had to pay a lot to have pretty much nothing fixed. I dont understand why we should have to pay for a software upgrade. Software is not something that goes bad in a car such as a mechanical part. The problem was obviously there from the beginning, so in my view should be fixed for free. Can anyone explain this to me?

RE: erratic idling and surging
 

Your idling problem is either a Dirty throttle Body or a bad throttle body.
Did the check engine light come back on yet?

I agree about the software. But the upgrades are made to fix the problems that have come up over time.
Remember this car was introduced here in the U.S. first. Not like the other Volvo's that were tested in Europe for a couple of years before the U.S. Thats why we are Dealing with all the bugs here in the U.S.
But I know you should not have to pay for them.

And if you did it should be like $30.00 for the software and between 1/2 and one hour labor.

RE: erratic idling and surging
 

I just talked to the volvo dealer and they told me that there was a software upgrade for the ETM that I needed. From what I've read from various sites, it doesnt seem like a software upgrade would keep the ETM from going bad. Because I havent had any lights come on, such as the check engine light, they just told me to get the upgrade. Will this upgrade actually keep the ETM from going out, or is it just to make it last a little longer so they dont have to replace it?

RE: erratic idling and surging
 

I think it is supposed to make it last longer but see what happens.

RE: erratic idling and surging
 

that new software should be free for the ETM because i got a ETM/ECM software upgrade that my volvo delearship said was for free. It was an open recall. The Emmissions system service light and check engine light came on for me when my throttle body was bad. That too was also covered under warranty.