Hello,

Over the past several weeks my car has been exhibiting symptoms typical of a bad ETM: surging, irregular RPMs, stalling at stops, one stall at high speed, dimming of dash & head lights, etc. It's an '01 with around 132,500 miles, and I had the software recall done in '07.

I brought the car to my local dealership yesterday in hopes that they would recognize the problem as being one with the ETM, as my car turns ten and goes out of warranty in September. Their knowledge of the recall/ETM issues seemed to be pretty limited. They recommended the following work be done on the car, though:

--New Evap hose (very dirty)
--New Engine breather box (very dirty)
--"JB Service" ..Said its a new procedure; has anyone heard of it? I have only heard bad things about engine flushes

They didn't even suggest that the ETM be cleaned as there were no official codes or error messages, and when pressed, stated that there was no point in cleaning it without having the other work done, as it would just get dirty again. Is this the case, or are they just trying to bang me for $1,200 and skirt the defective ETM issue? Any thoughts or past experiences w/ETM replacements greatly appreciated.

Regards

 

call volvo usa and give them your vin #

ask if the car has any outstanding recalls that have not been performed yet... that will get you started

 

The car is eligible for the ETM rebate program as it is a '99-01 S80; like I said it had the software recall done in 2007.

 

hose shouldn't matter, breather box shouldn't matter, JB service sounds like crap and i've never even heard of it. DON'T flush your whole engine on this car. Tell them you'll crawl miles up their *** if they don't help you fix your ETM. and go to this website if they give you any problems. xemodex.com

 

the dealer won't do anything unless the ETM has basically failed and is popping codes. They do not want to pay for anything. You also have to pay a $100 diagnostic fee to trouble shoot and if the get codes they will replace.

 

Try cleaning your EMT yourself? Pretty easy, here's how.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zaxtm-hdyo


Hope this helps

Kris

 

Hey, thanks for the replies. Had the breather box and evap hose replaced along with some other misc. hose attached to said breather box. They cleaned the ETM under warranty. Car accelerates smoothly and beautifully now, though it was hunting at idle not 10 minutes away from the dealer. I'll see what happens...

 

did they charge you for cleaning and did your car throw any codes? i also cleaned my ETM and replaced my oil trap. vehicle runs much better.

 

The car had no codes, hence their reluctance to blame the ETM; my guess is that there were none or that they were soft. I guess the key would be to have driven it there straight after one of those stalls. They did, however, clean the ETM for free. As mentioned, the car now runs beautifully; shuddering which I previously attributed to my transmission is now gone.

The car still hunts at idle, and stalled once after I had the service done. Also, on the way to school this morning I went to pass and when I floored the accelerator, got no response/very delayed response.

 

Still sounds like your ETM is on the way out. Components internally wear out on the axis pins of butterfly in throttle body. There is a company that rebuilds them better then factory if you search trends, but here is the web site...
http://fixyouretm.com/Welcome__to__XeMODeX.php

 

Not interested in another Xemodex plug, just Volvo taking responsibility for their defective design, thanks.

 

Good luck. Even if they do give you a new one for free, expect the same failure again, and again, and again...

 

Wow, you are an angry guy. No plugs here...just trying to help out my friend. The dealer will not do a thing unless the ETM is non-functioning. They do not get reimbursed from Volvo unless the unit is completely broken. I verified this with multiple dealers. Volvo even tests each unit that is returned to them to make sure they are in fact defective and if not they will charge back the dealer for the replacement ETM. The design stinks but they will not budge.

 

Makes you wonder why Volvo don't seem to have persued Magnetti Marelli, afterall they designed and made the part. Then again the other half of the issue is the "marriage" that has to occur with the replacement ETM and the ECM. With the 1.8T VAG you swap it out, do a 30second adaption and you are done.

 

Sorry, didnt mean to come across as angry. Maybe just a little fed up. The dealer refuses to replace this stupid thing because theres no codes, yet has no problems coming up with thousands of dollars of "related" work.

It's funny though, because the only parts on these cars that I have had problems with were the ones NOT built by Volvo (ETM, Trans).

 

I also just learned that my ETM was failing. I bought a computer reader at costco that plugs into the car and reads the codes ($30). after some research came up with ETM failure. Took it to the dealership this am and they told me it was not covered under warranty, but i could pay them $140 to read my codes, no thanks. Clearly this is a problem with Volvo - how do I get them to pay for the cleaning and then the repair?

 

They wont clean or repair unless you pay the diagnosis fee first and if the dealer finds that the ETM has failed and throws codes only then will they clean and eat the original fee. It has to completely fail in order for the dealership to replace it, so most likely they will clean and hope it hobbles on past the 10 yr 200k mark so Volvo is in the clear. You can also try cleaning it yourself if you are semi handy. It is rather easy and there is a post on YouTube for it. If it has not failed to their satisfaction then you pay the diag fee which would completely suck.

 

even if they do replace your ETM (which they won't), it's still just going to fail again. I replaced mine with a Xemodex unit and now it runs great. It's never run that good! And its guaranteed for life. Sorry about the "plug" im just really glad I did that and wanted to share!

 

we got volvo to do free diagnostics after threatening them with a lawsuit/legal action. they know the car is bad. and it was still in warranty when this happened. so they gave me my sheet worth of codes for free and i told em to **** off and went to my mechanic with all of it. my ETM is still fried, and it seems like you have a few thousand miles until it goes completely so i would just use that website as you know they (volvo) will be no help by now.

 

So, a fun little update for anyone possibly in the same situation. Since I last spoke with the forum, the alternator and A/C compressor went. Chalk it up to being a ten year old car. All throughout the car was still stalling, surging, and hunting at idle, etc.

A week ago, the check engine light comes on, car is stalling during high speeds, and my warranty ending soon (today the 30th Sept.), & I bring the car into Volvo for one last try. Call corporate Volvo who said they would monitor the test and how sorry they were for the run-around blah blah blah. Anyway, the car threw a Cam position sensor code which they fixed, and then held onto it to test drive it an extra day (I guess because it was still revving, etc.) and lo-and-be-hold, the car throws the golden ECM communications code while there.

They replaced my ETM, finally, with two days on the clock. Anyway, car drives like new and maybe it will go to 200. On the bright side, I think I have had the longest lasting one at least as far as I have heard (146,000mi). Thanks to everyone who gave me hints and pointers during the way.