erratic idling and surging

nick · Post by **nick** » 14 Mar 2006, 13:38

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?

colm · Post by **colm** » 23 Mar 2006, 15:39

Had exactly same problem, same symptoms. Throttle body & ETM reload needed. Bad news is it cost me about 900 euro ($800). I think it has to be done by dealer because of software - then again they will sell you software to inflate a tire. I had the throttle cleaned for 150 euro but only got about 1000 miles out of the repair.
Good luck!

Post by **JRL** » 11 Apr 2006, 18:38

colm wrote:Had exactly same problem, same symptoms. Throttle body & ETM reload needed. Bad news is it cost me about 900 euro ($800). I think it has to be done by dealer because of software - then again they will sell you software to inflate a tire. I had the throttle cleaned for 150 euro but only got about 1000 miles out of the repair.
Good luck!

ETM is a 200K warranty item now, in other words FREE. Go to your dealer

fandre · Post by **fandre** » 02 Oct 2006, 09:13

nick wrote: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?

I had exactly the same problems (2000 Volvo S80, ~100,000 miles at the time of repairs). Got it fixed by having a dealer to replace the throttle module (it is free now with the new 200K warranty) and by replacing the air mass flow sensor. Total cost of the repair is $0 (ETM) + $120 (air mass sensor) = $120 (I replaced the sensor myself, it is 5 minutes job). The car runs smooth now!

BTW, the dealer told me that the new ETM warranty now covers not only replacement of the unit, but also services, like washing the throttle body.

Post by **JRL** » 03 Oct 2006, 21:22

[quote="fandre"][quote="nick"]

BTW, the dealer told me that the new ETM warranty now covers not only replacement of the unit, but also services, like washing the throttle body.[/quote]
Hmm, not really

fandre · Post by **fandre** » 04 Oct 2006, 09:38

JRL wrote:
fandre wrote:
nick wrote:

BTW, the dealer told me that the new ETM warranty now covers not only replacement of the unit, but also services, like washing the throttle body.[/quote]
Hmm, not really

That's what the service manager told me after replacing my ETM. Dealership -- Park Place Volvo, Irving, TX. Do they realy have any reasons to lie about they will and what they will not do under warranty?

Post by **JRL** » 04 Oct 2006, 18:36

Because as I understand it, cleaning is not part of the deal