Bought first Volvo. Major issues!

jononation · Post by **jononation** » 01 Mar 2020, 21:58

Hi all,
I really wanted a Volvo, so I bought one. Paid $350 for a 1999 S70 (no turbo) that had been sitting for a year. Was only able to test drive it in the parking lot. Changed plugs, topped up fluids and drove home. Couldn't get it above 70km/h and it accelerated very slow. Couldn't get out of 1st gear going up hills.

Been researching for 2 days on this site and know it's an ETM issue. I have taken off the throttle body and cleaned it. Still runs really rough, mis-fires, in limp home mode...

Here are the codes and meanings (to the best of my knowledge)

P1043 = accelerator pedal sensor fault
P1108 = it does suggest that there may an issue with the heating circuit on the O2 sensor
P1040 = ECM-9300 Clutch pedal sensor Faulty signal
P1020 = Throttle body communication
P1017 = Ecm internal fault.
P1054 = Secondary Air Injection Pipe Malfunction OR ABS related
P1019 = Throttle body communication
P1020 = Throttle body communication
P1021 = Throttle unit
P1040 = ECM-9300 Clutch pedal sensor Faulty signal
P1043 = accelerator pedal sensor fault

Is it possible to still have Volvo warranty the ETM? Or is it too late?

Is it worth trying to fix all this or should I re-sell? The body and interior are in great condition!

Thanks!

Post by **MoVolvos** » 01 Mar 2020, 23:44

Mileage? Have you removed the battery terminals and shorted the two cables to see if the codes go away after the cleaning?

Post by **abscate** » 02 Mar 2020, 01:27

Well past warranty repair window. If you have had a 20 year relationship,with your dealer you can get good will, but showing up with a new to you car would require golden tongue.

The value proposition is really on you. If you want to drive it the total cost of repairs will end up in the 1500-2000 range. There are no $10 fixes which will make it a good daily driver.

Volvo’s age very well cosmetically, many are lured by good looking cars that need 2k in work to be drivers. If that’s not in your plan, stop now.

The two tests for engine health are the compression test, to make sure all 5 cylinders and valves are pulling well, and, the glove test , which tells you how often the oil has been changed, and how clean/ worn the engine internals are.

Post by **smacknab** » 02 Mar 2020, 05:31

Ditto on abscate's value proposition point, there are definitely cheaper cars to fix up if you need something to drive around. Buying it for $350, it seems like you're looking for a project so I'll say that I've really enjoyed working on my 99 s70 and the community/videos for fixing these cars is fantastic.

Do you have the milage and service history?

jononation · Post by **jononation** » 02 Mar 2020, 08:29

Thanks guys. I don't have service history. But the mileage is 256,000km

Post by **Sveedy** » 02 Mar 2020, 08:52

Welcome to the island !
So here's my $ .02 - I believe that buying a car that has good interior, body & paint obviously makes more sense, from a DIY stand point. A car with a few mechanical issues is something you can chip away at little by little. And there are so many sources and help ( MVS ) for parts etc.for all of that work. I'm no expert, but it seems like a few of your DTC are related, so you might find a bunch of things cleared up by replacing one or two things. Maybe a trip to the junk yard is a good start. They are kind of like an automotive lab - take things apart and see how they go together without messing up your car. I would think that with a $ 100 worth of used parts you could make some real headway on figuring out what the car needs.
But when you start talking about upholstery, or body & paint, your in a whole different world. Not as much available, junk yard or otherwise, for the interior and paint is usually something that has to be farmed out and costs $$$$. Also kind of hard to do those a little at a time.

I tried getting a paint job out of the junk yard one day, but I scratched it getting it out the door...

Post by **scot850** » 02 Mar 2020, 09:29

Being a 2000, the first think I would do is have the battery checked. If you can open the cell tops (often covered by labels on the top) check with a hydrometer. Cheap to buy. I find testers don't always show a bad cell.

If all is well with the battery test, charge it for a couple of days, let it cool after charging and test voltage across the terminals.

A bad battery (the car has been sitting for a year so probably bad) causes many stupid issues with the 99-00 models as they don't like weak batteries with low voltage in them.

If the battery is new or tests good, you have zeroed all the faults mentioned above then we can move on from there and see what remaining issues are showing up as error codes.

Was the car parked with the parking brake on? Jack the car up at the rear and see if the rear wheels are jammed on. 3 issues can happen with cars standing with the brakes:

1) Parking brake cables seize just forward of the rear wheels where they mount to the car.
2) Parking brake shoes can stick to the insides of the rear drums or delaminate and cause them to seize on.
3) Rear calipers rust and seize on. More likely on the rear rather than the front. Both will cause the rear hubs to get red hot with driving.

After that we can then look at where to go. All is not lost YET! But on here yo uwill find I am ususally the guy who says that there is no such thing as a cheap old Volvo. Car was laid up for a year for a reason, and not usually what the previous owner will honestly tell you.

Good Luck!

Neil.

Post by **xHeart** » 02 Mar 2020, 10:07

scot850 wrote: ↑02 Mar 2020, 09:29 Being a 2000, the first think I would do is have the battery checked. If you can open the cell tops (often covered by labels on the top) check with a hydrometer. Cheap to buy. I find testers don't always show a bad cell.

If all is well with the battery test, charge it for a couple of days, let it cool after charging and test voltage across the terminals.

A bad battery (the car has been sitting for a year so probably bad) causes many stupid issues with the 99-00 models as they don't like weak batteries with low voltage in them.

If the battery is new or tests good, you have zeroed all the faults mentioned above then we can move on from there and see what remaining issues are showing up as error codes.

Was the car parked with the parking brake on? Jack the car up at the rear and see if the rear wheels are jammed on. 3 issues can happen with cars standing with the brakes:

1) Parking brake cables seize just forward of the rear wheels where they mount to the car.
2) Parking brake shoes can stick to the insides of the rear drums or delaminate and cause them to seize on.
3) Rear calipers rust and seize on. More likely on the rear rather than the front. Both will cause the rear hubs to get red hot with driving.

After that we can then look at where to go. All is not lost YET! But on here you will find I am usually the guy who says that there is no such thing as a cheap old Volvo. Car was laid up for a year for a reason, and not usually what the previous owner will honestly tell you.

Good Luck!

Neil.

+1
Good news is that it started and ran. The DTCs in OP's post are electrical related.

Post by **abscate** » 02 Mar 2020, 11:31

Think about what you need from this car.

If you want to try flip for profit, stop now and run away.

If you want 5 years/50k more miles and are willing to wrench yourself, you can do it on that 2k budget.

There isnt a new car today that will get you 50k of transport cost for 2350 dollars

P1043 = accelerator pedal sensor fault
P1108 = it does suggest that there may an issue with the heating circuit on the O2 sensor
P1040 = ECM-9300 Clutch pedal sensor Faulty signal
P1020 = Throttle body communication
P1017 = Ecm internal fault.
P1054 = Secondary Air Injection Pipe Malfunction OR ABS related
P1019 = Throttle body communication
P1020 = Throttle body communication
P1021 = Throttle unit
P1040 = ECM-9300 Clutch pedal sensor Faulty signal
P1043 = accelerator pedal sensor fault

we got rid of three of your codes for free!!

jononation · Post by **jononation** » 02 Mar 2020, 17:24

abscate wrote: ↑02 Mar 2020, 11:31 Think about what you need from this car.

If you want to try flip for profit, stop now and run away.

If you want 5 years/50k more miles and are willing to wrench yourself, you can do it on that 2k budget.

There isnt a new car today that will get you 50k of transport cost for 2350 dollars

P1043 = accelerator pedal sensor fault
P1108 = it does suggest that there may an issue with the heating circuit on the O2 sensor
P1040 = ECM-9300 Clutch pedal sensor Faulty signal
P1020 = Throttle body communication
P1017 = Ecm internal fault.
P1054 = Secondary Air Injection Pipe Malfunction OR ABS related
P1019 = Throttle body communication
P1020 = Throttle body communication
P1021 = Throttle unit
P1040 = ECM-9300 Clutch pedal sensor Faulty signal
P1043 = accelerator pedal sensor fault
we got rid of three of your codes for free!!

Three less codes! Yay, I'm already ahead of the game now!
Thanks everyone. It's helpful to bounce this around between a few people in the know.