2001 Volvo XC70: engine stalls while driving

Filed Dec 5, 2008 · Acceleration · 89,000 miles · FL

Car engine surges without touching gas pedal and car accelerates without warning. Engine often stalls when trying to accelerate. Engine idle speed changes constantly. Dealership updated program twice and cleaned the throttle twice and car is ok for about 3 days and then all the same problems return. Dealership will not replace throttle under the warranty or even if I pay for it myself..

Filed Jun 8, 2006 · Acceleration · 61,900 miles · MD

The warning light on the message board of my 2001 volvo xc70 displayed "performance reduced" and "engine service system urgent". The car lacks appropriate acceleration and shakes as if it were going to stall. After taking it to be repaired, I was informed that the electronic throttle on my car was faulty.

Filed May 8, 2006 · Engine · 93,000 miles · CO

2001 volvo xc 93k miles [xxx] etm issues. Vehicle has problems with the electronic throttle module. After about 5 miles driving the vehicle does not idle and stalls at intersections or on highway when foot is taken off the throttle. Also goes into limp mode sometimes with reduced performance. Only sets temporary code not permanent. Safety hazard. *jb updated 07/16/2012 *js information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)

Filed Jan 18, 2006 · Acceleration · 91,910 miles · MD

I have had problems with this car stalling for over two years. I have had the throttle body replaced twice. In the month the car has been stalling at all speeds and surging when braking. This last stalling episode occurred while pulling out into a thoroughfare while I was accelerating to go slightly uphill. Since I had no power, I could not even steer the car off to the side of the road quickly. It was at night, therefore an extremely dangerous situation. These problems have been occurring over and over again, despite all of the service that I have had done on this car.

Filed Nov 27, 2005 · Acceleration · 78,000 miles · WA

Our 01 volvo v-70 xc had been acting a little off, kind of surging a little while at highway speeds, dealer couldn't find a problem.. So we tried to ignore it. One day a few months ago my wife (8 mo. Pregnant) took the car to the city. Along the way, she was going up a hill on a two-lane highway, when the car started loosing power and finally just quitting right there on the road....no shoulder...cars whizzing by. By the time I got there, the car started fine, so I switched her vehicle and she continued on. Upon calling the dealer, I was informed that I'd probably need to have the "etm throttle" replaced. Car stalled out two more times before we were able to get it to dealer. $900 later, the car works fine now. Upon looking into this problem, it sounds like it's happening to all the volvos like ours! This can be a very dangerous problem! What can the federal safety agency do about making volvo replace these faulty throttles with better ones?

Filed Nov 16, 2005 · Acceleration · 71,000 miles · MD

On september 10, 2004 volvo xc-70 (2001) stalled without warning while driving 55 MPH on 695 west in baltimore just before the exit for I-83. The car was almost hit by a semi trailer, and several other cars. The contact's car had to be towed, and the electronic throttle body was replaced. However, on december 1, 2004, the same problem occurred when car stalled at an intersection but was able to restart it. The electronic throttle was repaired again. *nm x-ref 10130923 2 replacements, smch.

Filed Oct 25, 2005 · Acceleration · 58,500 miles · MO

2001 volvo stalled without warning leaving my wife and 3 children stranded on the side of a very busy highway. When vehicle stalled a "reduced power" message was received on vehicle display. After letting vehicle sit for 10 minutes, vehicle restarted without error message. Drove for approx 15 minutes and vehicle stalled/cut-out again; again stranding my family on the side of the road. Had towed to dealership; volvo diagnosed a failed "electronic throttle module". The etm was replaced at a cost of $1016 to me. This incident occurred at approx 58,000 miles. Thank god nothing happened to my family as a result of this serious safety hazard.

Filed Sep 13, 2005 · Engine · 77,480 miles · VA

Suspect failure of electronic throttle control module. Vehicle stalls without warning and does not always restart until vehicle cools. A foreign car service technician looked at the problem and informed me that the current electronic throttle control was not functioning in his opinion. On 9/13/05 I called volvo service representative b.j. Alger at don beyer volvo, dulles, virginia who advised me to bring it n for repair immediately. Alger said the problem is under investigation by the federal safety agency and that volvo north america would reimburse my payment for the repair if the investigation resulted in a recall. Alger estimated the repair at $1,200.00.

Filed Sep 10, 2005 · Electrical · 51,000 miles · MD

Car stalled (power lost) several times even after driving for awhile. Stalled out at stop sign, red light, and while driving at low rate of speed. Took to martens volvo dealer. They charged us $400+ to clean the throttle and some part near the throttle.

Filed Sep 9, 2005 · Acceleration · 45,490 miles · OH

Dt: vehicle stalled/died, and lost power due to throttle body failure. *ak while driving the consumer noticed that the vehicle was not holding at a constant speed. This occurred whether the consumer used the cruise control or manually operated the accelerator pedal. The consumer contacted the dealer who determined that eh problem was the throttle body.

Filed Sep 7, 2005 · Acceleration · 60,700 miles · MD

1) in the 6 weeks prior to the failure we had noticed worsening symptoms of what we now know is the failure of the electronic throttle module (etm) in our 2001 volvo xc70. At highway speeds there would be intermittent surging that was not caused by the driver 2) on sept. 1, 2005, there were two separate instances where the vehicle suddenly lost speed and the motor began to violently shake as if about to stall; the dashboard indicator said "performance reduced." both times the motor was shut off briefly, then restarted and the car was drivable again. 3) the car was taken to a volvo-certified service facility where the on-board computer code was used to diagnose throttle failure. This occurred while on travel out of town and we had no choice but to authorize the replacement of the etm. The entire repair job was done at a cost to me of $1110.

Filed Sep 6, 2005 · Engine · 90,100 miles · MD

My car is a volvo 2001 awd xcv70 and it was stalling and loosing RPM while traveling at highway speeds, running very rough and accelerating without pressing on the accelerator, for example when at a stand still in traffic. The dealer said that the electronic throttle module (etm) needed to be replaced and that the part was $1,000 plus. They said that the cause was my failure to use premium gas. It was not until after I gave them the go ahead to fix it that I discovered all the other complaints. This morning I found out that they have already installed the new part and are road testing it to see if any of the other diagnostic failures have cleared up. The other kicker is that I had already taken the car to a non-volvo mechanic that diagnosed the problem as a mass air sensor, oxygen sensor and heat control sensor. Those repairs, totaling 650, did not correct the problem. I can not find too much fault with this mechanic since he was replacing parts that the diagnostic indicated were bad. Now I find out that the diagnostics are all controlled by the failure code for the etm and that those repairs were probably not necessary. More than a little frustrated. The car was unsafe to drive and now I am concerned about the failure of the replacement part.