ETM failed third time in four months.

sylvesterp3 · Post by **sylvesterp3** » 30 Jul 2010, 09:56

I have a 1999 Volvo V70 T5 and live in NYC.
I am on my third ETM and am clueless as to what is wrong with the car!
Four months ago it went into limp mode as the ETM module stopped working and it needed replacing. I got the Canadian version from Xemodex. It worked perfectly fine until two weeks ago when I was slowly driving in traffic on a very very hot day and it went to limp mode again. The ETS sensor on the dashboard went on instantly. Xemodex was very kind and sent me a replacement right away, I was very pleased with the service and customer care. Got the new one and my mechanic installed it last week. The car drove without any issues for about five days!!!
I was rushing to a meeting and drove fast with a lot of breaking (red lights) for about 15 minutes. All of a sudden the ETS light went on and the car started going crazy. The brake pedal got really hard to push and it would hardly brake (completely opposite from the other two times when it got really soft and you had to push it all the way down to the floor to brake) and the engine idles all over the place. It shakes like a tractor and is unstable. Stops shaking when the rpms go over 2000. What's really interesting this time is IT IS NOT IN LIMP MODE!!! I can drive it faster than 25mph and the only issue is unstable rpms and very tough breaking. It does perfectly well in higher gears and higher rpms...

I have a gut feeling these ETM modules fail when a car gets too hot for some reason. Can't confirm this but it's just my experience...
Can anyone help and try to help me find a cure for this thing? It's been a real struggle and it makes the car completely unreliable.

Thanks in advance for all the help
Sylvester.

ChrisatXeMODeX · Post by **ChrisatXeMODeX** » 03 Aug 2010, 07:08

Sylvester, I suspect that you have a vacuum leak somewhere in the system. Smoke test will revile the leak source, like brake booster etc.

Jesse · Post by **Jesse** » 04 Aug 2010, 10:29

My ETS light also comes on when the outside temperature is above 90 specially if the humidity is high(the care goes into limp mode somtimes when this happens). Does anyone know what the source of the problem could be.
Does any one know what damage if any driving with this condition will have on other parts of the car? The dealer says it could damage the engine when driving with ETS light on.
Many thanks,

my3rdvolvo · Post by **my3rdvolvo** » 14 Aug 2010, 17:26

I just replaced the ETM (from XeMODeX) and MAF of my 99 S70GLE, which went into the infamous limp home mode a few times in a month. The replaced ETM is the original white label Volvo ETM from day 1. The car ran smoother and more responsive after the ETM replacement. I was quite happy until today. The same old limp-home problem popped up again with a code P0300. All my problems happened with the same scenario: (1) drive the car for a while, (2) stop at some place for 10-20 minutes, and (3) relatively high temperature. The problem seems to be sensitive to temperature. Helps from experts are needed desperately. Thanks.