random stalling,no throttle response

bobsnow100 · Post by **bobsnow100** » 19 Nov 2006, 19:53

Hello
My wifes 2001 v70 xc awd car with 110,000 miles will randomly stall. It might run well for a week or two . The tach sometimes surges at idle but not always. It will sometimes stall out after starting it after about 5-10 minutes . It has happened to me once and it happened about 10 minutes after starting it up in the morning,driving and coming up to a red light,as I stopped all dash lights came on (it was still running) and as I gave it throttle there was no response and then it stalled.
A couple times the emission light will come on when it is running good and then go off after a while. I did pull codes and it shows none.
Any body have any ideas

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 19 Nov 2006, 20:55

Being a '01 I would suspect the ETM with what you described. It starts intermittantly....and no repsonse when pressing the accelerator is a classic sign.

bobsnow100 · Post by **bobsnow100** » 19 Nov 2006, 21:06

Would a code not show if that was what it is ?

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 19 Nov 2006, 21:11

Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. As it becomes more pronounced, yes, from what I understand.

bobsnow100 · Post by **bobsnow100** » 22 Nov 2006, 06:52

I called the dealer and they are doing the software upgrade (ETM). This year and model was under the recall so it should be a freebie. Hopefully this will fix the problem.Thanks MIJ for leading me in that direction

bobsnow100 · Post by **bobsnow100** » 29 Nov 2006, 10:08

Had the software upgrade and it hasn't stalled ,so it seems like it corrected it. The car also idles smoothly now .

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 29 Nov 2006, 21:21

Good deal!

vizigot · Post by **vizigot** » 01 Dec 2006, 15:34

I have a question about this ETM problem ('99 - '02). I read somwhere that yes, upgrading the software will allevaite the problem - so as the ECM won't be as sensitive. Also, as far as I know, there is a thin film resistor (some call it thick) in the potentiometer that wears out, meaning that the position of the throttle sent to the ETM computer will not be accurate anymore. As you drive more (in the city), the "wiper fingers" will totally wear out the film, and here I don't know what will happen?
a.) The car will stop for good or
b.) The ETM will shut down, so as to let you drive with 20mi/hr or so to the nearest shop.

The biggest problem is that the ETM with the upgrade will work less and less properly as it wears down (the film resistor), and bad signal will be sent to different components of your car, the result being that it can do great damage to the engine.

What would happen if you just wait like EJVolvo, but instead of asking for the software upgrade, just ask to replace the faulty ETM with the newer ETM model(past '02) on Volvo's budget? Wouldn't that be fair?

Steely · Post by **Steely** » 01 Dec 2006, 17:58

vizigot,

Pre-ETM upgrade you may get some warning (I did) when your ETM goes into limp-home mode, and can be reset multiple times, before you're stranded with a bad case of no-go. Post upgrade: I guess we'll see.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 01 Dec 2006, 19:03

If the ETM stops working, Volvo is obligated to replace it for the first 10 years or 200K miles...which ever comes first. Their hope with the software is that they can get you over this time/mileage hump so they don't have to pay for the replacement. If after the upgrade you notice any issue with throttle, raise holy heck to get them to replace the ETM.