2001 S60 Sometimes, It's Not The ETM...

linuxrunner · Post by **linuxrunner** » 07 Dec 2013, 22:15

about a month ago our 2001 S60 started surging at idle, given it has 140k miles it looked like it was likely the ETM. It did not throw any codes.

Looking at the ETM it still had a white sticker, it seemed pretty obvious. So i purchased a sacer TPS and installed it... no better, in fact it seemed to be getting worse.

Still no codes, but it sounded like when the ETM goes often the MAF goes too. bought and installed a ACdelco referb MAF with no change. I was told that NO referb would work and they always fail right away, so i purchased and OEM and installed it... no change.

At this point i was certain that i must have installed the sacer sensor wrong but i don't have a way to do any sweep tests so i had to take it to a garage with the tester. And they said it tested great also the computer was not showing any troubles. What they found was that the oil separator/pcv setup was malfunctioning.

I replaced it today and the surge is completely gone. the old unit was completely plugged and i hear that the diaphragm inside them often collapse?

Don't ask me how i could possibly have an ETM with a white sticker that was still working.

Post by **vtl** » 07 Dec 2013, 23:12

MY2002 V70 built in 2001, 130k miles at the date, has Magneti Marelli ETM, still runs great too. Ran ETM test in VIDA, both sensors seemed to work without glitches. I read somewhere that film strips wear off quickly if ETM seals crack and the whole body is not waterproof anymore.

Post by **precopster** » 09 Dec 2013, 01:20

I recently rebuilt a spate of white stickered ETMs and many of the film strips were worn through and the customers had codes.

Once the white stickered ETMs have more recent software which allows sweep tests through Vida, you can better test them and I tend to find the early black putties used are a dream to remove when swapping to contactless.

Nothing wrong with white stickered ETMs at all.

jammiedodger · Post by **jammiedodger** » 10 Jan 2014, 07:16

Is there anway to test the PCV/breather system? How did they know it was malfunctioning? and why on earth can't the contact strips on the ETM just be replaced? they seem to pop out and slip back in, mine's a 2001 with 248,000 km and just recently started to die not bad going but they could do better.

Post by **precopster** » 10 Jan 2014, 13:54

There are 12 spring loaded contacts between films and endcaps (6 contacts on each side) The contactless repair eliminates them. Before doing my own ETM refurb we would drive over a pothole and it would go into limp home mode. The film removed was perfect.

I've repaired over 50 of them now with contactless and many had perfect films.

Flawed design!! If you can go contactless you're much better off.

Search PCV on this forum; literally thousands of posts about how to test.

Erupert66 · Post by **Erupert66** » 23 Jan 2014, 15:36

Just picking up on this thread. I have an '01 s60 t5 with 160k and original ETM. my surge happens at intersections after full warmup. Pcv was serviced, didn't help. Seems more Iike a "miss" which causes the car to surge then settle out. Sitting in neutral at a light diminishes it to the point that I'm not sure if it's happening or not. I think all my code is original as I still have the neutral mode in the Trans. Sound like the ETM? I was planning on paying for new firmware first before investing in a new ETM