Hi all,

Friday morning, went to switch my car on and it was like it was running at 3 cylinders instead of 5.

Messages:
- Reduced engine performance
- Engine system service required

Being Easter period I had no chance and got stuck the whole weekend.
This morning I got it towed to the garage that usually takes care of my car, they are specialized on Volvo.
Got them on the phone today and they said that the engine is now running good so they could not see the problem but of course it can happen again, the error message points to the throttle body.

So tomorrow morning I have to take a decision whether to buy a new one or not.
They say that they could get one refurbished which will be cheaper (450$) but I am not sure on what to do because for sure there is the danger that the car leaves me on the street and on the other hand I wonder whether a throttle body needs to be replaced or why not cleaned?
Are there alternative places I can buy it in the US?

Hope you can help folks.

Cheers
Alex

There is an outfit in Canada that refurbishes throttle modules, but that requires you sending yours to them and then waiting for return shipping. www.xemodex.com

Ask the mechanic to reset the codes if he can. Did the car run fine for him after it was towed there, or, did he do something first.

Klaus
--
Always willing to listen, just not able to take direction.

OK, here's an update.

Went to the mechanic, I asked why not cleaning it and his reply was because he has done it a number of times in the past and that doesn't last long.

They buy from xemodex, but he won't have the part before three weeks time.

I got my car back, but before leaving the garage it did it again.

What to do now?

P/N is 30711554

Looking for it online.

Cheers
Alex

Alex,

I suggest you contact xemodex directly. Let them know what computer codes your mechanic found. From the xemodex write up, they will ship you a refurbished unit and after the 'new' one is installed, you send them the old one. Just make sure you let them know the car is in Italy! Shipping can be done by airmail. I am not sure if a manual transmission has a different part.

If you find a used one, beware that the 'new' one will have to be programmed to the car. Your mechanic may not be able to do this without the Volvo software.

Klaus

EDIT. I just saw this on the xemodex site:

Please note; XeMODeX does not sell the ETM in Europe (Except for U.K.)



--
Always willing to listen, just not able to take direction.

Hi,

well, I am not in Italy (if I was I did not have this issue, those parts are sold regularly anywhere), I am in Canada... but you made me remember to change my profile.

The bad news is that this morning I took my car back to the mechanic asking him to do the cleaning because I need to get it to go for 10gg, he said, I will do it but 99% you won't solve the problem.
I paid 70$ and when I went to pick it up this evening, it was exactly the same.
Now, I cannot say whether he did the job or not, but I paid an invoice.

I need to buy the part, I have no time myself to do the cleaning, I tend to trust my mechanic and he told me from day one that cleaning won't solve the issue, I still do not understand why because my culture leads me to fix everything and not to buy new parts.

I found a seller here:
http://www.fuelparts.com/Volvo%20electronic%20throttle%20bodies.htm

but unfortunately he has not my part available, he can only rebuilt mine, which would take long time to do due to the shipping time involved.

I keep on searching for my part, but it's difficult...

Thank you
Alex

The 'core' price is what you old part is worth. The company will charge the regular price + core when you buy the part, once they receive your old part they will send you the core price.

Problem: If you get a rebuilt throttle body from another car, your car will have to be reprogrammed to accept the new throttle body. Without the programming, your car will not even start.

That is one of the nice features with xemodex, you supply them with the VIN and they repair your part, reprogram it, and it will work as soon as you put it on the car. Because you are in CA, shipping should be cheaper and faster. You also can expedite the shipping for a small fee. The xemodex part should never fail, for life.

Klaus
--
Always willing to listen, just not able to take direction.

Hi,

well, apparently the problem was solved today by another mechanic.

Was the problem the throttle body as indicated by the code and confirmed by the Volvo specialist?
No, not at all, the mechanic was very clever and he could not understand how constantly and in any moment the problem was occurring at 1000 rpm.
Why did the problem come out of the blue? No sign before the morning of two weeks ago? My new mechanic was not convinced and he was right.

He disconnected the battery for two hours, re-connected it and... car is perfect, smooth and even the lights in the dashboard are much brighter.

It is the bloody electronics, same as when you have to disconnect your router from the mains in order to properly reset it if you want to get your cable TV signal back.

This may sound unbelievable, but I am curious should I have bought a new throttle body what the Volvo dealer would have said tome once the car did not work...but probably he knew what the real problem was ]
I saved a bunch of money and I am happy because I killed two birds with one stone.

I got rid of the problem without spending a fortune.
I found a good mechanic that instead of ripping off his customer tries to understand the problem, which is good for his business and for my wallet.


I hope my story will help anybody on this forum to think twice before accepting passively the easiest solution for the dealer's pockets.

Regards,
Alex

I am glad your car feels better, but unplugging the battery is not the solution. What happened is the memory has been erased and now the car has to re-learn everything. Codes will be set again and in a couple of weeks, the problem will come back again.

The only way to correct the error is to fix the parts. The only way to find the true error is with a dealer scanner. You will want the Volvo specific codes from all of the computers to make a good decision. Do not let a mechanic say that there is one code, there are always more that are stored. Not only that, the date of the error is stored with the code. Make sure you have all of the data in printed form before anything is done.

Klaus
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Always willing to listen, just not able to take direction.

Hi Klaus,

the mechanic got the same code as the Volvo specialist, pointing to the throttle body, he has 30 years experience and he looks very knowledgeable.
Now, can you explain me how the car can run without problems for two weeks if the throttle body has a problem?
I mean, if there is a problem at the throttle body, the car should not run regardless of what the electronics detects, please, clarify.

Thank you!
Alex

Here is a list I have for codes specific to the throttle body:

ECM-9200, ECM-9210, ECM-921C, ECM-921D, ECM-9220, ECM-922C, ECM-925C, ECM-925D, ECM-926C, ECM-926D, ECM-9270, ECM-9280, ECM-92B0, ECM-92CC, ECM-92CD, ECM-92D0

Any idea which one you have?

As to why resetting the battery clears it for now? If I understand it correctly, the throttle body expects a very accuracy from itself and if its slightly off it registers a fault. As the faults build it will set a code. Taking the battery off for a few hours will reset the computer and the counters, making it OK for the time being. I'm not going to put a time table on when (or if) the code will come back.

Also, most of the codes above have these three sources in common (and many have other possibilities): dirty throttle, bad connection, bad throttle body. If it was a bad connection and it got jiggled around then resetting will remove the code until conditions are just like it was before the code was set. The car runs tests on itself to figure out if there is still a problem. One pass does not shut off the codes, but it takes several, so you'd experience the problem until it decides everything is OK.
--
If you're not driving it "like its stolen," are you really driving?

Hi Klaus,

no, he did nothing, in fact I was upset because I tried every morning in my garage and the problem was there, then the car was towed to the mechanic this morning, they turned it on and was working fine.

Also, I described the problem, the error message points to the TB but of course you cannot be sure, so the risk is that you spend a fortune and then it may be something else.

He told me on the phone that the company he may get the part from is in Ontario.
Why cannot the TB be cleaned and it is preferable to change the part?
My car has got 170.000 Km

Alex

Your XC is '06? If so, I thought Volvo had the kinks worked out of the throttle body (I won't go into details, but the system isn't the same as the '99 that was such a problem). Give it a real good clean, make sure the wires aren't frayed nearby, and lube up moving parts. That should be all she needs.
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If you're not driving it "like its stolen," are you really driving?

Where could I find some instructions on to clean that on my own?

Alex

here's a little on cleaning it.

This might be pretty helpful, but its for an older s80 so some of the steps will be different

You should be able to use good throttle body cleaner instead of the stuff Volvo sells (much cheaper that way). If its been a while since you've changed your air filter, it might be a good time..


If it comes back, hopefully it'll set a code and be an easy fix.
--
If you're not driving it "like its stolen," are you really driving?

First link I attempted to post above


Link 2 from above
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If you're not driving it "like its stolen," are you really driving?

I love the Brit sense of humor!! I need to clean mine as soon as the garage warms up a bit.

Klaus
--
Always willing to listen, just not able to take direction.