I read recently of your inquiry into a stalling problem with certain volvo models. I had that problem with my 2000 volvo s80. For no apparent reason, the car started stalling without any warning. Sometimes it would restart immediately, sometimes not. I managed to figure out that, if I always kept the engine revs up (meaning I had to always have my right foot on the throttle and keep the revs above @1500 RPM), I could prevent the stalling most of the time. I called my volvo dealer, betten imports, who unfortunately is 120 miles away in grand rapids. I was able to drive the car there, but it was a long, nerve-wracking trip. They seemed to be familiar with the problem and replaced the throttle body under warranty. My concern, after reading several articles being reported in the online press, is that other people who have had this repair have experienced a re-occurrence of this problem. In recent days I've noticed an unusual "hesitation" under mild acceleration sometimes, but nothing worse - so far. Below, the "number of failures" is a best guess on my part. Also, the "incident date" I've used below is actually the day the dealer repaired the car, as I don't have a record of when the problem actually began. It had been going on for several weeks before I could get the car repaired, though.
2000 Volvo S80 acceleration complaints
Page 4 of 4: complaints 71 to 93 of 93, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Car cuts off unexpectedly while driving on freeway. Loses all power and shuts down. I have to put the car in park and start engine again. Car will also cut off when pulling into parking lots while trying to park. This has been going on since car was purchased in march of 2005.
In october 2001 while driving at night my lights went off. The following day while I was crossing the street my car stalled. Approximately ten minutes later I was able to start the car at the same time lights went on. Car was under warranty-repair throttle body & gasket. In june 2004 car stalled again. Replaced sway links and program download-$338.19. In dec 2004 car stall on the road again. It was towed to the repair shop- replaced:throttle body, mass air flow, mfi module- cost 2098.96. I do not take this car on any longer trip. Do to few stalls on the road and frequent loss of head lights and numerous other mechanical problems I believe this car is unsafe to be on the road.
I am the owner of a 2000 volvo s80. I purchased it under an extended warranty "certified" used car program from clayton volvo in knoxville tenn. In april 2001. Several months later, while the car was still under warranty, the car died in the middle on an intersection. After towing it to the dealer it was discovered the electronic throttle module was fouled up with carbon. That unit was replaced under warranty. A couple years later, the car again died. This time it happened in a parking lot. Thankfully, in both cases it happened in a "safe" situation. Again, the etm was determine to be the problem. But by this time, the warranty had expired. The dealer and the manufacturer refused to recognize that the problem was an on-going issue. This time I was forced to pay nearly $1000 in repairs. It is my understanding that you are collecting information on this problem, so I felt compelled to add my complaint. Although I don't have specific dates available to me here, I can check my records and provide them if necessary.
Dt: beginning last year, while driving in the neighborhood rpms would go way up and fall back down over and over for about 5 minutes. Then ,the engine cut off. The vehicle started right back up. Then, right away the problem would occur again. The car was taken to the dealership. The air intake valve was replaced. The problem stopped for a while. Then, the exact problem happened again on june 15 2005. The car would stop in traffic. The rmps would go up and down for about 5 minutes, and tthere was electrical power. There was no power steering or brakes when the car shut completely down.
My wife was driving on a busy 4 lane highway when the car stalled while in motion. She was unable to restart it when it was in neutral. She came very close to an accident as it was a very busy street. Had the car towed to volvo of fife and they could find nothing wrong with it. Said nothing registered on the computer. I told them this had happened to me once and seemed like a vapor lock. I was told that there was a part that has gone out on some of the early model s80's but it's $1,300.00 to replace and they didn't want to do that unless they knew for sure. The part hasn't been replaced and my wife is very concerned about what will happen if it stalls when she's doing 65 MPH down the freeway.
Dt: the vehicle cut off. When getting ready to park the vehicle lunged forward. Did the same thing when sitting at a light if let ting up from the brakes. The engine revved. When turning steering wheel to make a left or right hand turns its wa shard to get it to go back forward. This started back in 2000 but it became worse.
As with a number of other postings on this site, I have a 2000 volvo s80 t6 and had a failure of the throttle body unit at about 72,000 miles on the car. I was traveling on the interstate in atlanta when I got the warning message that performance had been reduced. I called the volvo dealer, they stated to turn the car off and back on and the problem may correct itself. (they did say that I needed to bring the car in for them to look at.) the problem then was fixed for about 80 miles before I had failure again and had to have the car towed. They replaced the part and said it was not covered as a part of the "certified pre-owned" warranty.
My 2000 s80 volvo a few weeks ago had a sudden loss of speed on highway. Message screen said to shut off engine and restart. This was at 65 MPH. After pulling over and restarting car it would not go above 2k rpms. After 20 minutes it started and I brought it to dealer. They replaced the electronic throttle control module and also strongly recommended and I did upgrade software on another controller. I am very concerned after reading article today that the problem could happen again. I was lucky to be able to get to side of road.
Our volvo was serviced regularly by our dealer. We complained about the car hesitating and was told that the problem was corrected. We left nj for a thanksgiving holiday trip to myrtle beach sc. About 30 miles from our destination, the car began to decelerate from 65 MPH and would not go any faster than 20 MPH. We proceed to pull off the highway and let the car cool down. After approx. 30 minutes we tried to restart the car and it did start so we continued onto myrtle beach at no more than 30 MPH as that was as fast as the car would go. The next morning it was taken to the local volvo dealer approx. 5 miles away and it again refused to accelerate above 20-30 MPH. Beach volvo of myrtle beach, sc said the problem was the throttle control modular. A new throttle body was installed at a cost of $871.51. The car had 53,481 miles on it just over the 50,000 mileage warranty period. The car is a 2000 s80 VIN [xxx]. When told of the problem by the dealer he said when the part goes, it goes without warning and there isn't anything you can do but replace it. I am glad we broke down late at night when there was no traffic around us because we were in the high speed lane doing 65 MPH when it just quite and slowed to barely a crawl. If we had been on a busy corridor someone could have hit us from the rear and caused a terrible accident. Volvo should be held accountable for this defect in design. *nm updated 07/19/2012 *js information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)
Over the course of ownership of a 2000 volvo s80 (I.e., four years), I have the transmission overhauled at 67,000 miles;had the throttle replaced when my car choked ( luckily on a side street); had a bar on the sunroof drop off; engine mounts broken; wheel stops broken; and, most recently replaced an ABS panel. Not withstanding in any of these incidents is the cooling fan and ball joint replaced due to recall. Truly this car has been more expensive than any other known to be driven. Every trip to the dealership is easily $1000 plus. At the time of purchase, the research was scant in terms of problems. I have truly been dismayed by volvo's commitment to its product and is design flaws and/or defects. After, the transmission was corrected at the dealership, I went to trade the car in---to purchase another car. The dealership where I purchased the car basically would not give money on its trade. After several thousand dollars later in repairs, I am still fuming over a car that was purchased solely for the "historical" volvo standard and its commitment to safety.
Electronic throttle system the problem is not being handled responsibly and the dealers use intimidation and then bully their clients into paying for other services. They refuse to address this life threatening issue. They are withholding valuable information. I own both volvo s70 and s80 and they have shut down in highway traffic. *this is a direct quote I received from a master volvo mechanic when I posted a question concerning electronic throttle system. " your ets light is a little more severe then that this is a very common problem the manufacture knows this and will not stand behind problem . However the problem is the throttle unit, it has a malfunction and needs to be replaced the dealer will probably tell you it needs a download,that is unfortunately only going to fix problem for a short while.".
The consumer stated that the vehicle stalled. There was an issue with surging when the air was on. The on board computer display suggested that the performance was reduced. *jb the engine failure exhibited an engine surge or RPM bump when at idle. Normal idle way 700 RPM. The engine would rev up to about 1000 RPM, then drop back to 700 RPM. *sc the throttle unit was replaced.
2000 volvo s80 suffered from a faulty throttle control module. *mr there was a pending lawsuit in california regarding these modules and their premature failure rates. *sc
I own a 2000 volvo s-80. The electronic throttle module failed suddenly resulting in the inability to operate the vehicle at normal speed. This resulted in immediate uncontrolled deceleration and limited vehicle control. The vehicle was repaired by an authorized volvo dealer. Volvo is aware of the problem with this part (reference the center for auto safety, see www.autosafety.org/article.php?scid=119&did817) and is involved in a pending lawsuit in california, in addition to state and federal agencies being involved.
While driving the vehicle goes into "limp" mode and a error message saying "safely pull over and restart vehicle" goes on. The vehicle wouldn't exceed 5 MPH with traffic behind me. It is a potentially dangerous situation, which has happened several times. But I've finally brought the car to the dealership and apparently the electronic throttle body module, and the anti-lock brake module both have to be replaced. Then after checking several forums this seems to be an epidemic for the volvo s80.
Consumer was driving at approximately 60 MPH and vehicle slowed down. The dashboard indicated to stop safely and restart. Another message came on stating engine service required. Consumer drove the vehicle to the dealership to have it serviced. Dealer replaced the throttle unit, and down loaded software.*ak..........
Electronic throttle module (etm) failed while vehicle traveling in traffic approximately 40 MPH; caution lights and service engine urgent message displayed; unable to accelerate above 20 MPH to get out of traffic; then fault cleared and vehicle ran ok; attempted to return home and etm failed again; then fault cleared again. No warning lights; vehicle drives ok, suspected loose gas cap; tightened and drove again; ran ok, then experienced same problem later in the day, this time left car to be towed. Failure of etm and warnings misleading true severity of failure. Volvo should change warning to "do not drive" is vehicle failure makes driving unsafe. Etm failure makes vehicle unsafe to drive in any conditions. Reported incident to volvo customer care.
As the consumer parked the vehicle, it placed itself in reverse, the engine revved and accelerated across a median, and then had come to rest against two other vehicles and an abutment. *ak
Nar 1/15/2003. The consumer was charged 185.61 for a possible defect of the throttle body. When the consumer took the vehicle to the dealer, the vehicle was not exhibiting any symptoms so the claim was denied, however there consumer located a technical service bulletin which stated how claims could be submitted for reimbursement.
The consumer states that routine maintenance and servicing are the owners responsibility, and that it is not unusual for the throttle plate on the vehicle to require cleaning, and/or adjustment overtime. The manufacturer confirmed that sticking is a potential problem and that this attributed residue from the gasoline building up in the vehicle, and seems that the sticking throttle poses a substantial risk to vehicle occupants and others on the highway. The accelerator would become difficult or impossible to push down or/become stuck in the depressed position. The consumer did not see an instruction in the owner's manual that the throttle body requires routine maintenance. Possible related defect, due to necessity of cleaning the throttle body.
Volvo USA involved over 18 months without result. Car extremely dangerous. Will sometimes refuse to accelerate on turns. Wife pregnant.
Engine revs up (100-300 RPM) when coming to a stop. You have to step on the brakes really hard so that it will not move. I have brought it to the shop 4 times and complaint about it but was told that they know that the car revs up but the RPM will not make it run. It does and I even called volvo customer service to get help but got nowhere.the dealership knows about the problem but was told that they cannot change the sensor because the compute does not lod a code and they will not be reimburse by volvo.please help... I know the car is defective but nobody is helping me to correct this problem. I even complained about the suspension being bad at the same time that I brought the car for the jerking problem but was told it was fine. Brought it 4 times and complained about the suspension but nothing. Last month volvo had a recall on the balljoints and that tells me that I was right complaining about the suspension. The car is getting worst. At times it just moves in a jerking motion when you put it in reverse or drive. Need your help and I don't know if you have received complaints from this. I would sincerely appreciate help since I have the car used by my kids. Right now I have not used it for a month bec. Of the problem. I got into an accident in ny when I nudge a pedestrian during a stop since the car jerks and I was not able to step on the brakes really to stop it from moving..the person was really mad and all I had to do is apologize.
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