Volvo S60 2.5T AWD 2003 - Check engine with codes ECM-130A and ECM-981A and Graphs Topic is solved

greffel · Post by **greffel** » 10 Jan 2020, 08:50

Hello fellow Volvo entusiasts
Have a problem with my car and need advise what to do.

I get a message in the display "reduced engine performance" way to often when i accelerate, it can be from stand still or just driving on the highway
Connecting Dice/Vida will give me this error codes ECM-130A and ECM-981A.

If I drive really careful so that I don't get the error message and do a readout I will only have a yellow ECM-130A and the car runs fine.

If I drive a little bit harder I will get the "reduced engine performance" and a readout looks like this

A working full throttle acceleration from standstill looks like this

This is what it look like when I accelerate quite normal and then flor it. the car in this case went straight to "reduced engine performance"

Post by **RickHaleParker** » 10 Jan 2020, 13:17

Forget ECM-130A for now, it is always in in combination with other DTCs.

ECM-981A is ECM internal fault and ECM-531D is ECM software checksum error. Find out what is going on with the ECM first.

Have you tired to tune the ECM or have you changed ECM?

greffel · Post by **greffel** » 10 Jan 2020, 13:24

Thanks for fast reply.
Yes the car is tuned with a 18T turbo from a "known" tuner.
The car has been working just fine for at least 10000 km without this error.

....or a least without any driving problems.

Post by **RickHaleParker** » 12 Jan 2020, 12:29

greffel wrote: ↑10 Jan 2020, 13:24 Thanks for fast reply.
Yes the car is tuned with a 18T turbo from a "known" tuner.
The car has been working just fine for at least 10000 km without this error.

The codes are saying something went wrong with the ECM hardware or the software. I would have the tuner reload the software.

greffel · Post by **greffel** » 13 Jan 2020, 05:21

Hey

According to VIDA the ECM-531D indicates that there is a checksum error in the software. This indicates that the car was tuned and the person did not correct the checksum calculation. Doesn't mean there is a problem ...?

Do you think I'm wasting my time if I focus on the intake leak? (will try to do a smoke/leak test this weekend)
Driving the car "normaly" I have a yellow ECM-130A readout from VIDA and no driving problems at all.
Driving the car "harder" I get reduced performance in the instrument cluster and a red ECM-130A and ECM-981A

Turning the car off and on works to get everything running again.

greffel · Post by **greffel** » 19 Jan 2020, 06:41

OK time for a update and maybe advice

Put together a DIY smoke tester and wow did it work like a charm.

With super low pressure from the compressor it started to fill the intake with smoke.
Couple of seconds later smoke started to blow out from the intercooler.

Part 1

Part2

So with no leakage visible in the hoses or connections to the intercooler I guess that I have to order a new intercooler en replace it ?
Impossible to see where the smoke is coming from but since the connections to the intercooler is fine the only possible leakage must come from the intecooler itself

Post by **RickHaleParker** » 19 Jan 2020, 08:10

You can try pulling the Intercooler. Smoke test it to find the leak(s). See if you can patch it with J.B. Weld. However with the 18T and the tune you might want to get a stronger Intercooler.

greffel · Post by **greffel** » 19 Jan 2020, 08:14

I got a good deal on a aftermarket intercooler. Will I get any problems fitting it ?

Original measurements: 688 x 421 x 30
Aftermarket: 690 x 427 x 42

So the aftermarket is 12 mm thicker.

Post by **RickHaleParker** » 19 Jan 2020, 08:19

greffel wrote: ↑19 Jan 2020, 08:14 I got a good deal on a aftermarket intercooler. Will I get any problems fitting it ?

You got to go in there any way. Pull it and find out if it will fit. If you need the car to get to work Monday. You can run a hose straight to the ETM, bypassing the Turbo and Intercooler then run it as a Naturally aspirated until you get all the parts together.

greffel · Post by **greffel** » 01 Feb 2020, 09:28

OK time for a update, the intercooler took a little bit longer to get delivered then expected.
So the job changing it was a good 3h job but pretty strait forward, and as you can see the old one was definitely leaking.

With new intecooler in place the car runs a lot smother and pulls a lot harder.
After a code reset in VIDA the error codes have not come back and the "reduced preformens" error has not jet shown up

....fingers crossed this was the right repair