Ouch!!

[tonic110]

Been having a couple of problems with the s60 just lately, Drivers door lock and intermittent engine fault. SO, like a good chap I took it to Harratts in Leeds for a check-up. Took it in last Saturday, and phoned them for a diagnosis today. The door lock is faulty £217 and the Electronic Throttle needs replacing £614. Ah well !! I suppose thats (volvo) life.

[Wobbly Dave]

Would you not be better off sourcing a 2nd hand door lock from a breakers e.g. Salvo?

Is the etm covered under any warranty you have on the car?

Just had mine done (shortly after purchase) and was able to get a donation for my work.

[tonic110]

Hello Dave
No warranty on anything, so its dig deep time LOL

[Wobbly Dave]

In that case - lighten the load (on your wallet) and get 2nd hand door lock.

ETM is too much hassle 2nd hand - as you need a throttle reflash etc.

Make sure that they replace the pedal switch too.

[tonic110]

Already given Harratts the go ahead to do the work. Mind you she will now hopefully rev over 4k

[mhon72]

How old is your car?
I believe Volvo will cover half of the replacement cost for the door locks if the car is under 4 years old.
In the UK there will be a recall regarding the ETM failures. Spoke to Volvo last week who said they'll be contacting owners as and when they have a plan of action.
Hope you can get a refund for this ETM work like owners in the US have.
See:
http://www.vexedvolvo.org/

[adriancole]

Just had my ETM done and have been in contact with VOSA and discovered they are very knowledgable about the ETM problem and are pressuring Volvo in the UK .....watch this space i guess....

I guess...and only a guess we will all get the monies paid back on this judging by the VOSA email

More the merrier too, email VOSA about your failure...

[dreadly]

My father has a 1999 V70 T5 and has no problem at all with the ETM - How can you tell if it's one of the dodgy one's ?

[Wobbly Dave]

Classic symptoms of a faulty etm are intermittent rough idle, no power, car goes into limp home mode. It can bring on the Engine Management and/or ETS light, but sometimes does not. Will sometimes correct itself after cycling the ignition, but re-occurs soon.

I was able to keep mine going for about a fortnight by stop/starting the engine - but eventually is was rubbish all the time.

[adriancole]

Hm, well the throttle body on mine has a Magnetti Marrelli Yelllow sticker on it if you look down on it from an angle standing in front of the radiator, think the original sticker was the same in white with the same words.

Yours may be a 1999 registered V70 though may have been made earlier, i believe the problems are from cars made 1999-2002.

All models with the ETM will eventually have problems according to the US Volvo boards on the subject. Not all Cars have the ETM, only the ones made in those years i believe.

Adrian

[Wobbly Dave]

This is the baby...

On the T5 it is slung underneath the inlet manifold in the middle. I have dismantled a faulty one (to see if they can be refurbed) and I can bore you all to death with the reason they fail - if you like?

[adriancole]

Hey Wobbly you have a great selection of images i must say....are they all from your dismantled cars?

Go on bore me with potentiometers......all i know is that apparently 94% will fail before 100,000 miles....my cars on its third......how do they fail...?? does something just wear through?

adrian

[Wobbly Dave]

That's a bit close to the bone lol. And yes I did sell my ETM from my crashed/dismantled C70.

Potentiometers aka variable resistors is indeed the key. Looking at the picture above you'll see a butterfly valve, which is spring loaded to close the valve. In one end of the ETM IIRC there is a stepper motor that can rotate the valve through 90 degrees into the wide-open throttle (WOT) position. At each end of the box you'll see black plastic ends. Molded into these are the potentiometers (pots) which tell the ECU how far open the valve is. The pots are constructed of two main parts - a rake which is attached to the end of the central valve shaft (running the width of the box) i.e. the bit that the valve rotates around. The other part - the contact surface is circular in shape. There are 6 little fingers on the rake that make contact with the contact surface. Trouble is - the rake fingers are too sharp & overtime, wear away the surface down to the substrate - which is not conductive. The ECU then no longer knows what angle the pot/valve is at and cuts power to the stepper motor and the valve springs shut (default position). This is why the transistion from OK to limp home can be quite sudden.

The pots are not well designed. You can desolder the pins that attach the pot at each end. Trouble is they are molded and designed to fit into a specific shape. You'd have to source the same pots that Marelli are using.

[adriancole]

Ah, thanks for the explanation, thats a lot clearer to me than the garage going you just need a new one mate......

Sorry if that was close to the bone, didnt realise thats a sore point re the, i take it, old and deceased car

[Wobbly Dave]

Dont worry I expect that you didnt know and for those that havent read it (and therefore will understand any future flying reference made about me)

http://www.vpcuk.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5941

[adriancole]

Yes, had no idea and an impressive accident, though a great one to walk away from.

And great knowledge gleaned from its dismantle !!

Look forward to more great posts

adrian