Volvo Dealer Told Me That My New XeMODeX ETM Is No Good.

Carly245 · Post by **Carly245** » 16 May 2012, 21:41

Two years ago my 1999 S70 started going into limp home mode once every two months and for about a year I've been going back and forth between the Volvo Dealership and the Independent Volvo repair shop, and none of them had any idea what was going on with my car, and neither of them seemed to really care.

Anyway, I got fed up, because it's my only car, and so I made the independent shop put in a new ETM because nobody else had a better idea. They said they would order "a really good one" from Canada (I'm assuming this is the XeMODeX ETM), and my car had no trouble for about 7 months...until the other day.

So, I took my car into the volvo dealership (only because I had a coupon and the independent shop seems overwhelmed whenever I go in), and the guy I dealt with told me this, "Looks like you've got an after market ETM- that seems to be causing the problem.", which I thought was quite amusing considering that they were clueless about a year ago when I asked them why my car was stalling- nobody at Volvo blamed the ETM then, so why now? He said that since it was not manufactured by Volvo, it would mechanically work with my car, but it wasn't compatible with the computer.

Has anyone ever heard of this? Does it sound like the mechanics just have no idea what it is going on and decided to blame the non-Volvo-manufactured part that stuck out like a sore thumb? It's almost as if they know my car is a lemon, because it falls in that 1999-2002 range of poorly designed Volvos, and they just don't want to deal with it.

So, if I have a good ole XeMODeX ETM, then what is causing my car to go into limp mode? The MAF? Volvo wants me to buy one of their ETMs...again! I don't think the ETM is the problem anymore, unless XeMODeX ETMs go bad after 7 months. What else can cause my car to go into limp mode? By the way, my car does NOT store any codes...AT ALL.

Post by **MoVolvos** » 16 May 2012, 22:55

-
May have to do the work yourself. ETM & Limp Mode

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/volvos ... ule-fiasco

99 S70 Suppose to be same as 99 S80 ETM
http://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-s80- ... wap-40232/

2001 S80 ETM - Volvo Rough Idle Problems (ETM issues) - how to fix

Blessings,
BKM
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howardc64 · Post by **howardc64** » 17 May 2012, 11:41

Doesn't sound like Volvo has anything to backup the XeMODeX ETM is bad. You can ask them to prove it to you by running an ETM test. The result between good and bad ETM looks like the files in this link

http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showpost. ... stcount=54

Post by **precopster** » 17 May 2012, 17:46

The links you provided require membership to Volvo XC forums. Would you be able to post the PDFs if possible?

howardc64 · Post by **howardc64** » 18 May 2012, 00:15

precopster wrote:The links you provided require membership to Volvo XC forums. Would you be able to post the PDFs if possible?

here is an ETM test result on an ETM with 40k miles on it that is good

https://www.box.com/s/73e88ff945d4c2df6849

here is an ETM test result of an ETM with 116k miles on it that is starting to go bad

https://www.box.com/s/fea71f1def920be59335

The test causes the throttle plate to open and close 4 times and compare the 2 TPS sensors (blue and green lines). The difference in degrees are the black lines (the Y scale is different on the 2 plots, Volvo diag tool (VIDA/DiCE) automatically scales the graphs)

XeMODeX will look just like the good ETM result because they only replace a single TPS sensor and wire the output to both TPS inputs.

Post by **almostarctic** » 18 May 2012, 09:06

Call Xemodex. Their customer support is very good. Your Xemodex has a lifetime warranty. Go to your indie. Maybe the wiring harness or relay is bad? There might be a good reason why your indie is busy and your dealer has available appointment $lot$ and is giving coupons and free coffee and donuts.

Post by **almostarctic** » 18 May 2012, 09:08

Alternatively could be your MAF needs cleaning. A DIY doable job.

Post by **precopster** » 18 May 2012, 09:39

Thanks howardc64

To the original poster. If your car is non turbo it's only about 10 minutes work to remove the ETM and take a look at what type of sensor you have on the opposing side. If it says "Sacer" it's a XeModex.

If it says Magnetti Marelli on both black sides of the housing well that's about as unspecial as a happy meal for a retiree.

The XeModex is a great ETM but you still have the original Magnetti Marelli circuit board which can also fail (though this is less likely)

I've posted a photo of the ETM I repaired myself with the same sensor that XeModex use.

howardc64 · Post by **howardc64** » 18 May 2012, 10:27

precopster wrote:If it says "Sacer" it's a XeModex.

Good point, nothing confirms the op's ETM is XeModex. Best check that first.

I think XeModex puts their own sticker in the front of the ETM replacing the Volvo white or yellow label. An easy way to ID without removal assuming Op can find the ETM

Here is the Xemodex label on the ETM

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/ ... tm/ETM.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/ ... ETM009.jpg

Here is the original Volvo ETM labels. It can be white (original) or yellow (replaced)

http://www.bba-reman.com/images/volvo.gif

Here is ETM's location on the turbo.

http://home.comcast.net/~donwillson/tech_info.html

Here is ETM's location on the non turbo. The label is facing the bottom so probably need a mirror.

http://www.car-pics.net/volvo-v70-2-4-auto-etm-pics

Anyway, ETM test would definitely confirm if Op's ETM is problem or not regardless of the manufacturer.

Post by **almostarctic** » 18 May 2012, 12:49

If you have a Scangauge you can run an Xgauge for MAF and TPS (the programming code is on SS I think). It will show you if your MAF output or throttle position sensor is varying under constAnt load