What could be wrong with this 95 850?

[tjmartin317]

Well, if any of you need these parts I’ll sell them for just over the amount I paid (like $40? Idk, I’m bad with pricing things) plus shipping. Going to be better for other folks than they will to me.

I read the bastards thread (I own two late production and limited parts model cars, so I’m used to this annoyance). But I will say the main post I read up on was the “what not to leave at a junkyard” thread… whoops.

I don’t know what the Iowa potatoes joke is… but I’m sure it’s funny.

[erikv11]

Chicago? What is Chicago.

[abscate]

It’s an age old joke that people like me , from the coasts, usually cannot tell one State of the union from another in the Nations breadbasket. Iowa, Idaho, potato, potaato.

The real irony is my friend actually spends his life in deep pursuit of knowledge of how things in food work, in incredibly complex systems, while I stick to simple things like quantum states of matter.

Baked, mashed, fried, hash browns, fritters….I know all there is to know about the potato business….

[BlackBart]

We here in the big square states with a bumpy edge sometimes have difficulty remembering all those funny little states all mashed (!) together in New England and the seaboard. Wait...which one is Delaware again? Which one is Vermont and which one is New Hampshuh? I had a co-worker from NC and she would NOT let me screw up and forget which was NC and which was SC. She got mad.

We have driven through this place called Idaho and sure enough, in the south end / SE corner they have a lot of potatoes.

Also - they grow a lot of Potatoes in Maine (the big one on the very top right).

[abscate]

Baked russets from Idaho, Maine, PEI

Mmmmmmmm

[tjmartin317]

The saga continues and ends with good news!

To start with, I am a driver's education instructor. And towards the end of one of my routes there's a green S70 parked alongside a bunch of junk that surrounds a little hole-in-the-wall repair shop.

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Well, disheartened by the fact that I have three parts I can't use, I said fuck it and decided to inquire. No front office, the door leads right into the shop, and I'm immediately facing this grizzled mechanic... I inquire about the Volvo, and he explains that the owner died years ago and they are about ready to junk it. Whew, glad I went. Had to see what year it was though... and sure enough, it's a 99!

I ask if I can yank the part I need and promised to pay $20 cash on Friday, to which the mechanic said sure! Definitely a bigger unit:

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I know folks said all my old ones (probably) work, but is there a procedure or test I need do try to test this new one? I also promised to return with a better idea of what else I could snag off this steed... which is kind of where you all come in, specifically with the Electronic Throttle Module

I'm 99.9% sure this thing is on the fritz. ETM light, dies on warm starts, less and less power (it feels, though maybe it's just slow), worst fuel economy, and the fact that the car has 350,000 and the PO said it's original/has been begging for a new one for years. I took photos of the TPS off the green car:

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XeMODeX provides a service where, if you have a good unit, you can send the old bad unit and the old good unit together and, for half the price of a complete overhaul (like $275), they'll mash the two together and make it work. But I also know different unit numbers were made, and it's like a 1 in 5 chance of them being the same. Would this one be the same? And could any of those numbers be cross-referenced to check?

Just excited to have a MAF, especially for my little bastard...

[scot850]

Only way to test is to fit it. It is not too difficult to swap over.

Your pictures also show the ETM. They are prone to failure. While no guarantee, if you can remove your main ETM harness connector and fit it to the ETM, when you switch on your ignition, you should hear it whirr as the throttle plate zeros. If you hear nothing it is bad.

It is not a 100% guarantee it is good, but it has a strong chance of being good. Again fitting and running it is the only sure fire way of knowing.

Again, fairly easy to swap on an NA motor.

Good Luck!

Neil.

[tjmartin317]

Thanks Neil! Assuming this other one doesn't work and/or it's not the correct part/configuration of said part, will it do any more damage than the ETM I already have on the car that's got issues? I know I need to send mine out to be refurbished but if this one can be plugged in and work that'd be great... however, I don't think these things are exactly plug and play...

[abscate]

The latest version ETM is on eBay regularly for about $150. See the ETM room

[tjmartin317]

Gotcha. Because this part is going to be easy to grab/cheap to buy, I'm going to snag the spare ETM. But soon I'll be conducting the "6 second test" found on the ETM room to see if the throttle plate moves with the ignition to on (with the old ETM detached first), the turn off, turn on again and see what happens when the pedal is depressed. Then, plug the new one and repeat those tests. And if the new (or rather, the used) ETM is in better shape than the original, we'll fire up the car and see if the ETM light/idle issues disappear.

I will ask this though: in the event the module is wrong, am I going to do lasting damage if I install the wrong one, start the car, and realize it's the wrong one then. I think this method of testing is fairly comprehensive, but I'm known for mucking things up sometimes.

There's a good chance both are bad, but it's one of those "risk v reward" things, and if I can get the car running more reliably than it is now with a used MAF and ETM off of this green 99 S70 that would be incredible. Even if it only lasts a month (after all, I have two rallycross events in late march, one of which is in Michigain). Here's hoping no fancy programming will be necessary...