2000 Volvo S70: jerking or lurching

Filed Apr 24, 2006 · Acceleration, Electrical · 115,000 miles · FL

Car began to lose acceleration on 10-15-05 and would take a full 2 min to reach 55 MPH with only minimal throttle depression (any more than only the least would cause the drive train to jerk and refuse to propel the car at all). If the car was pulled over and restarted the problem would correct itself for a while (sometimes the gap in between malfunctions would be several hours initially) but would always return. Ran trouble codes and the oxygen sensor was initially faulty. Replaced then the engine would idle erratically upon startup, but after a period of time (5-15 minutes) it would all of a sudden correct itself - racing the engine seemed to shorten the time period, but you would have to depress and quickly release the gas pedal in order to get the RPM's significantly high enough to facilitate the smooth operation. Once the engine ran fine, it would operate well as long as the car was never shut off (it was ran on a journey of 1,000 miles and operated perfectly normal). The moment it was shut down, even for the briefest of spans, it would act in the same manner with the idle fluctuating wildly, but seemed to be prone to stalling when the engine was warm/hot. Volvo was contacted and recommended dealer diagnosis to determine the scope of the problem. When the car was brought in for service, I was assured that it "could not possibly be the computer(etm)". However there was a software update installed (hmmmmm.....couldn't possibly, but lets adjust it....hmmmmmm ) which corrected the rough idle initially. Only problem is now the car will not reach or exceed 4,000 RPM even with the car in park (not under load) and will stall jerk and refuse to accelerate under hard pedal pressure and will not drive above about 70 MPH on the highway without protestation, loss of acceleration or jerking. All of the diagnostic trouble codes still indicate that the cylinders are wilding misfiring and I'm getting sick of trying to fix volvo's engineering problem.

Filed Oct 26, 2005 · Acceleration · 87,000 miles · FL

Dt: the contact owns a 2000 volvo s70. While driving at speed of 25-40 MPH vehicle would cut out while idling or slowing down. Then it would lurch forward. The contact would put vehicle in neutral to try and keep this from happening. The vehicle is currently dealer for repairs. This has been going on since august 2005 and has been getting progressively worse. The problem was diagnosed as fluctuating idle due to electronic throttle module failure. *ak

Filed Oct 24, 2005 · Acceleration · 75,054 miles · WA

My car was jerking and stalling without any notice. My wife use to tell me all the time that it was doing that. This went on for a few months or maybe even longer. I decided to drive the car and it never happened with me until I was driving on vacation to n.c. And it just cut off while I was with my family. I had to push the car of the road. I continued to attempt to restart the vehicle. It restarted, and I went to the nearest volvo dealer and had to have the electronic throttle module (etm) replaced. $1014 worth of repairs, from one of the best cars known for safety and reliability in the world and I felt helpless. I know that this is a defect and recall issue and would like to be reimbursed or given credit at a volvo dealership to make up for my loss and just make this matter right. I still have the invoice service receipt with all the information on it. The volvo dealership where the repairs were made was crown volvo in greensboro n.c. Thank you for allowing me to make a complaint. Hopefully enough people with the same problem can make some key personnel think about the safety issues and reliability concerns of these vehicles.

Filed Oct 12, 2005 · Fuel system · 63,100 miles · CO

Driving to denver on sunday 10/8/2005 and my car started to miss and jerk severely. There was a lot of traffic behind me going well over 60 MPH and no place to pull over. I almost got rear ended. I don't have the money to fix the car as I was told the cost is over $1000. It now does this intermittently so I can drive it part time anyway.

Filed Oct 11, 2005 · Engine · 91,800 miles · WA

While teaching my son to drive our 2000 volvo s70, our car started jerking as he was coming to a stop. At the stop light,the car continued to have a jerking motion. The ets light came on so I looked this problem up in our manual. It says, 'if the light remains on, the system should be inspected by an authorized volvo retailer'. The light went out so we didn't think that this was going to be an ongoing problem. We continued to drive the car and it worked fine. On some occasions the light would come on and we would simply bring the car to a stop and turn the car off. The light would go off. I became concerned about this only after the light came on and I couldn't bring the car to an immediate stop. I was gearingup to a merge where cars are weaving and out of each other at rush hour to position themselves to get onto or off the highway,respectively. The light came on and I couldn't stop. The car's accelerator began to behave erratically like it was losing pressure but I wasn't in a location where I could stop;I barely avoided a major accident. When I brought the car to a stop and turned the engine off the light went off again as if nothing was wrong. I came straight home and got online to get insight. I read that volvo owners in cal had brought a class action lawsuit over this safety issue. Ironically, we had just had our 90k service performed 3 mos before this problem occurred. We thought that we were maintaining our vehicle to its highest safety standards. Now we have to bring the car back in for a $1k fix. I am adding my voice to other volvo owners who've had this problem and believe that it's volvos duty to correct it before there are significant deaths attributed to it. If nothing else, the manual should say, 'bring your car in immediately to be fixed because the problem will worsen and eventually lead to complete engine failure and potentially your death and the death of innocent people in the cars around you who hit you unsuspecting because your car's engine fails'.

Filed Sep 28, 2005 · Acceleration · 68,191 miles · WA

Car was stalling, slowing down and stopping. Running rough and lurching forward after it had been stalled for a few seconds. The check engine light was on and the etm failed on my 2000 s70. The etm was replaced twice on this vehicle but it required 4 trips to the dealer both times before they would replace the etm. Each time they tried to fix it with out incurring any costs to them and the car would fail within less that week until they changed the etm.

Filed Sep 28, 2005 · Acceleration · 62,431 miles · WA

Car was stalling, slowing down and stopping. It was lurching forward when I stepped on the throttle almost causing an accident. The etm has been replaced once on this vehicle.

Filed Aug 2, 2005 · Electrical, Engine · 77,000 miles · CA

We purchased the volvo 2000 s70 vehicle in 9/01 with 25,000 miles. A 30,000 mile check-up was performed by santa monica volvo on 12/26/01. Steven and I began a 14-month road trip around the us and had the vehicle maintained at volvo dealers throughout the country (the check engine light periodically came on and we would ask the dealers about it. We were told not to worry about the light.) the road trip accounts for the accrued miles put on the vehicle in such a short period of time. Returned to california 3/04. Brought the vehicle into santa monica volvo to have the 75,000 mile check-up. They did the check-up and we drove away. The ets and check engine light came on within one mile, car began to jerk, called the dealer and immediately returned the vehicle. Sm volvo did the diagnostics but did not know why the ets light came on as we drove away. These things happen, they said. Sm volvo explained that certain codes came up, they would reset the computer (code ezm#91a7 on the throttle unit) and download a new program. They would be able to repair it by doing additional work and did not guarantee the computer reset. We asked if the repair would be guaranteed or could we drive off again and get the same results. They could not guarantee that it would resolve the issue. This LED us to believe that everytime we approved them to repair the problem, it would continue to occur. Not guaranteeing that they can resolve the problem made us consider more research and/or a second opinion. We decided to leave the dealer without repair. We have driven the vehicle locally since then, but with many failures. Alot of jerking, sometimes the engine shuts off and I have to sit for 5 minutes before the engine will turn on again. The vehicle currently has 82,000 miles. We have only driven 5,000 in 16 months. We are only using the vehicle for errands and work. We do not want to give the dealer free reign over charges and repairs that they cannot justify or guarantee.