Volvo S80 Stalling

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Tue 28 Feb 2006 12:47
Volvo S80 Stalling - Paul Robinson
My Volvo S80 (Jan 2002 2.4 10V 140 bhp)has sometimes been stalling at idle, usually after a couple of miles from cold in slow traffic. It was serviced before Christmas, I reported this fault and asked if it was an idle valve fault. When I collected the car they said that they had 'cleaned carbon from various parts' and the car was fine until a couple of weeks ago, when it started stalling again. It went back to the dealer and they said they'd cured the problem by fitting a new 'throttle control module' however it's still stalled a couple of time since.

It's going back to them again tomorrow - any advice please?
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Tue 28 Feb 2006 14:55
Volvo S80 Stalling - TheOilBurner
Firstly, all the 2.4s are 20v since around 1999.
The difference between a 140 and a 170 is simply the state of engine tune via the computer. They can be easily tuned up and it makes a big difference to driveability and performance.

Secondly, your symptoms are almost certainly caused by a failing ETM - Electronic Throttle Module. According to Volvo themselves, 94% of these will fail before 100,000 miles.

This covers all petrol Volvos in the series S60,V70,S80 and XC70 made between late 1998 and early 2002.

Check it out on www.vexedvolvo.org

If they had fitted a new throttle control module (they probably mean ETM), then you would have been looking at a bill of more than £600.

Cleaning the ETM is the first stage that Volvo use to deal with this problem, but it is only a short-term fix. ETM replacement is the only way out - and the new units can be worse.

For this reason, I recently sold my 2001 2.4 V70.

Sorry to bring you the bad news. You may have seen the report on BBC Watchdog recently too - this was concerning the ETM.
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Tue 28 Feb 2006 15:20
Volvo S80 Stalling - Paul Robinson
Thanks for that information. The car is under warranty so I didn't get an invoice to know the cost and precise details of what's been done.

I didn't see the Watchdog item, what have I missed?
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Tue 28 Feb 2006 15:28
Volvo S80 Stalling - TheOilBurner
Basically, Watchdog reported the highlights from the Vexed site.

If you want to know pretty much all there is to know on the subject, there are more threads on the Volvo Owners club site forums:

www.volvoclub.org.uk/forum/index.php

This thread in particular is very good:

www.volvoclub.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=94913#...3

With any luck, you've got a new ETM fitted and the software upgrade available in April should prevent unpredictable failure, should the replacement ETM give way, as they appear to do quite quickly.

HTH! :)
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Tue 28 Feb 2006 15:30
Volvo S80 Stalling - TheOilBurner
P.s. I would ask for an invoice if I were you. If/when the ETM fails again with 12 months (can happen), it will help in getting the remedial work done without charge to you, as I guess you already know.
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