1999 V70 ETS Comes ON then OFF

roberius · Post by **roberius** » 11 Apr 2014, 08:36

My wife's 1999 V70, the ETS comes on. The car runs normally. After you switch the car off, the light might come on or not.
We drove all weekend long no problem. Came within 5 miles from home, the ETS light came on and the idle was surging. I turned the car off then back on, no problem.
Today, the light came back on, no hesitation, no problems. I turned the car off and back on, no light?
Any insights? I have already replaced the electronic throttle module.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 11 Apr 2014, 08:52

What throttle module did you replace the original with and how long ago was it replaced? If it was one of the white sticker to yellow sticker swaps that Volvo did, and it has been several years ago, it could once again be a module problem. The yellow sticker modules are better than the original white sticker modules but they still are failure prone. The Xemodex modifications seem to pretty much solve ETM problems for good so if you did a Xemodex swap then you really need to get the system scanned. It could be a problem with the accelerator pedal.

...Lee

roberius · Post by **roberius** » 11 Apr 2014, 08:57

They replaced a white sticker with white sticker about 2 months ago. When they replaced it, it was fine until now.

roberius · Post by **roberius** » 11 Apr 2014, 12:34

Drove it all day and no ETS light. Runs fine. Any answers?

Post by **abscate** » 11 Apr 2014, 13:19

The Electronic Thottle Module is probably bad. They can fail intermittently, and I suspect that is the case here.

If it is a non-turbo, you can probably clean it fairly easily - at this point there is nothing to lose.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 11 Apr 2014, 20:47

I'm curious as to the circumstances that led to a white sticker module being replaced with another white sticker module??? The white sticker modules were born bad and they don't get better with age. It might be worth a call to your dealer to see what, if any, recall information they have. There was a full blown recall on the early modules that at least got a firmware upgrade and often got the owner a yellow sticker replacement. I have not followed the progression of recalls in detail since my one ETM car has a yellow sticker and, knock on wood, it hasn't given me any grief. If it does I have a spare yellow sticker to swap it with. The "Don's ETM room" forum on this site has voluminous information on the battle with Volvo Cars of North America about the module problems and it might be worth your while to read through it since you are having problems.

Even the yellow sticker module won't cure all of the ETM ills but it is a heck of a lot better than a white sticker.

If you do clean the ETM take care not bathe the black position sensor boxes on the sides of the module with solvent. Carb cleaner or throttle body cleaner only hastens their demise.

...Lee

Post by **precopster** » 12 Apr 2014, 02:34

Replacing a "prone to fail" unreliable part with another one that is over 10 years of age would not be the way to go.

A white stickered ETM'S build date is typically no later than 2001. That makes a 13 year old used part. Hope it didn't cost too much.

The yellow stickered ETMs come into my workshop as often as the white ones, however most of the problems are corrosion between the contacting films and the ridiculous stainless steel spring loaded intermediary contacts which then touch inner brass contacts on the end caps.

A yellow stickered replacement may well be an improvement however it will need to be from the same type of vehicle with the same engine type (or an S70) and have firmware matched to your car's ECM version.

Some films are worn badly (but not the majority) and others respond well to the contactless conversion purely because it totally eliminates the stainless contacts which intermittently fail while poor road surfaces are encountered.

Your car will need to be read by a scanner when the code appears. Most of the time intermittent ETS light means a worn film or corrosion between the films and/or the endcaps and the stainless contact I mentioned.

Reading the car with a diagnostic system that can delve deeper than the standard scanner will be a great help. Vida/Dice is thoroughly recommended here. A bad or failing brake pedal position sensor will illuminate the ETS light and will not place the car in limp mode or affect performance.

roberius · Post by **roberius** » 12 Apr 2014, 08:10

No diagnostic codes have come up.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 12 Apr 2014, 09:21

A generic code scanner won't get you the full diagnostics on the throttle system. You need to have a Volvo specific system to get to the ETS codes.

...Lee

Post by **precopster** » 12 Apr 2014, 17:02

In addition to what Lee stated the car should be scanned WHILE THE PROBLEM IS OCCURRING. I repair ETMs as a sideline to my daily business and using Volvo Vida/Dice is essential to a diagnosis.

It NEVER misses a fault code on a Volvo.

If you want to find this problem either go to a Volvo dealer, find a garage that has one or invest in one yourself.