I have a 00 S70 and today my wife was driveing it and she called me and saiud the car was acting funny. when I got home and drove it, it was acting like it was surging. Like it was maybe misfiring. I drove the car maybe 5 miles then I was going about 50 mph and the engine went to idle as I had the acelerator to the floor. It would not go at all. I limped home at 10 to 20 mph. Luckily I was only a mile or so from home. When it went to idle the ETS light came on and the check engine light. Ther was never a check engine light or ETS all day as it was surging. No warning what so ever. I turned the car off and cranked it up, it seems to running ok now except the ETS and check engine light is still on.
I understand from the other letters about the ETS going out that it is going to cost $ 1,100 or $ 1,200 to fix. Smoeone said a temporary fix may be to clean it, How do you do that? Also the car only has 56k miles on it. Is that normal.

Thanks
Dennis

00 S70 56K
98 S70 228K
85 740 GlE 125K

Dennis,

If you're in California, the dealership is supposed to repair it under warranty. Mine did at 68k mile. After 70k it would of been on my dime.

Funny you should be the top post as I signed on.

My ETS light came on this morning. Prices for the Electronic Throttle Body range from $485 to $620 on internet. The $485 is from FCP Groton, usually the lowest I can find for parts. Labor was quoted by my Volvo Dealer as $311.50, including download. The dealer also said he would sell me the part for $500, lower than all except FCP. They will also give me a 15% discount on the labor (I have a coupon).

Total is $311.50 - $46.73(15% discount) + $500 + $41.25(tax on part) = $806.02.

Volvo isn't cheap to maintain, but very little else drives anywhere near as well. Happy motoring!!

Sorry to hear about your ETS. Cleaning it may work but will have limited success. It should not have gone out this early, usually around 85K. Check around on the repair. I had mine replaced at the dealer for $800.00 including the software upgrade.

Can anyone explain why cleaning just solves the problem temporarily. Is the cleaning not good enough or is the main problem wear-out of some mechanical parts? If it is the latter I find it strange that cleaning helps at all...? Any thoughts?
My -00 V70 has done 60k miles now so I guess it is just a matter of time...

I was going to buy a '99 or '00 S70 and now I'm not...going to buy a '98 instead...reason is the ETM. This is such a common problem that there are those claiming that it's not "if" it will go, but "when." Volvo needs to own up to this problem and replace all of the failed throttle bodies for free (just my opinion). Anyway, both in California and Mass. it is under warranty due to some lawsuits. There is still a class action lawsuit going on in Calif. Search on this forum the ETM and you'll find detailed reasons for it going out. Cleaning won't help. The reason is that the failure is a mechanical one. There is actually a mylar or plastic film in the module that is covered with carbon (like on a cassette tape surface) that 4 small metal prongs make contact with and send a signal to the electronic unit which then sends a signal to the ECU. During every mile of driving the little metal prongs scrape over the surface of the plastic. Eventually grooves are dug into the carbon coating until there is no more of it left (you can see light through it). When all 4 prongs scrape through, there is no more electronic signal to send to the module-->ECU and that's when the throttle fails and you have to replace it. Anyway, this is the easy version of the very technical discussion on this board (http://www.brickboard.com/AWD/index.htm?id=884279), swedespeed and the VolvoXC forums (http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4875&page=5&pp=10&highlight=throttle). If anyone has had a ETM fail on this board, ask for the failed part when you have it replaced and contact Don Willson about what to do with it. He is who is heading up a major complaint to Volvo North America, and can use the input from your module as ammunition. You can contact him at Donwillson@comcast.net or call him at 970-266-9797. His efforts may eventually save you money or get you a refund if you've already paid for your repairs.

On a separate but related note, from 2002 the ETM was redesigned and the redesigned part can be retrofitted to the '99-'01 S and V70's. This one doesn't have the same issue as the earlier part, so if you are having to have your ETM replaced, you need to ask for the newer part, otherwise, in 40-50K miles you're going to have to go through the same thing again.
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Current owner of a '04 V70 2.5T. Previous owner of a '94 850 Turbo Wagon