After my daughter-in-law had the throttle cleaned and finally the ETM replaced on her 1999 V70 XC, for big dollars I decided to investigate. I ran a failure analysis lab for many years to this is right down my alley.

Make a note of what the ETM is. It is an electronic connection between your foot and the fuel injection system You can no longer open the hood and reach in to the throttle body (or carburetor on older car) and move the throttle manually. A failure of this part is like the linkage dropping off of the throttle body. It is a safety issue if it leaves you or you wife and kids stranded on the side of the road on a dark and stormy night.

What I have found from this site and others is:
The symptons are (any one or several):
Rough idle,
failure to start,
failure to proceed,
cleaning the throttle body sometimes helps,
might be heat related
my only be able to go 20 mph
Also, there is some talk that the maker of this module (Marelli) is no longer in business.
It will eventually fail on most if not all 1999, 2000 and 2001 70 series cars.

The fix: Eventually is to replace the ETM as a cost of up to $1000. It is not a DIY job as the software has to be reinstalled for your car. Used parts are not an option as they will fail also.

The extended warranty list does not include the ETM in "what is covered".
Volvo has not responded to replace this out of warranty and in some cases saw the problem and ignored it until the car was out of warranty.

Some postings said to contact the BBB, Ford and the NHTSA. I checked the NHTSA site under "Defect Investigations" and found only one entry on this problem. I would suggest that all Volvo owners that have had this problem call, write or got to the web site (www.nhtsa.gov) and file a complaint. It would be well to have a copy of your service ticket from the dealer and you VIN number when you call.

Hopefully, we can bring this "safety" issue to the forefront.

I would like two items resolved:
First: I want to know if the problem is fixed and we can feel confident that the car is safe for my daughter-in-law to use with the kids in it (this year one will be learning to drive.)
Second: We want to be reimbursed for the repair of this part.
Donald Willson