'01 s60 lost throttle

Yes, that is my though exactly. It's referred to "drive by wire", or electronic throttle control.

Electronics can be tricky to repair when there is an intermittent fault. It's easier to fix when it's completely broken.

Maybe it won't happen ever again!!

Read and weep

Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see: Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things)

void _-void-_ in the obvious place

He he. Yes, that was my thought as well. With a timing belt coming due, if finances allow I might be selling the car this year.

Thanks, p.

Thanks. That article says it all. I have big problems with supplying a $1000 critical device that is designed to last only

100K miles. To me, that's a violation of the implicit car buyer/car seller agreement. Or another way to put it, it's planned obsolescence on steroids.

Plus, it appears Volvo has been quite less than honest about this problem. I'm going to contact dealer service and see what the current state of affairs is. But now that I know hard starting is one of the manifestations of this problem, I think I have an explanation for some scattered occurrences of that which I've experienced.

This is not good, my friend, it terms of consumer confidence and loyalty. At all. I'm going to print this and show it to my mechanic.

Thanks, p.

OK, I contacted the dealership, and Volvo has extended the warrantee on the wire to 200K miles, so I'm covered. I feel a lot better about the deal now (a $1K repair at 100K miles would be a

1 cent/mile running cost, just for the throttle, by design).

I made an appointment for next Saturday. There's a $94 conditional diagnostic fee, waived if the problem turns out to be on warrantee. The woman said the problem also could be the "mass air ", which wouldn't be covered. The question I have is, would it be better to let the problem confirm itself further rather than diagnose it now? Seems to me an intermittent electronic problem could be hard to pinpoint this early in the game. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks, p.

Don't worry - the symptoms do not match Air Mass Meter (also known as Mass Air Flow sensor) well at all. With that, the engine would try to respond to the trottle but would run very poorly. What you describe is almost certainly the notorious throttle failure.

Mike

Thanks, Mike. Your reply contradicts what the service rep told me, but I think she was just trying to make the point that if something other than the throttle were the problem, the diagnostic fee would stand.

To zero in further, though, does anyone have any thoughts on whether I should let the problem worsen or have it diagnosed now? I'm concerned that an infrequent intermittent electronic problem could easily be missed, that the dealership won't want to do a $1000 warrantee job without substantial proof an eligible item is the cause.

OTOH I don't want to be caught on the road with a car that doesn't run. I was lucky this time, that the problem manifested in my driveway.

Thanks, p.

Thanks much. A wealth of info. I sent the author a thank you note.

It appears I had the worst "limp home" case - disabled throttle with engine speed fixed at 2K rpm. The question is whether error codes were written, and at this point I have to trust they were, or that my explanation of the problem will convince the dealership that sending this car out without a new ETM is not a good idea. I'm going to go ahead and have the diagnosis done.

Thanks again, p.

Here's the follow up on my drive by wire throttle problem.

Went up to Mid Hudson Volvo and they looked at it. I was hoping the one event I had would be enough to print an error code. Though my symptoms that time fit throttle failure to a tee, it was not to be.

So I guess I just keep driving and wait for the problem to resurface. It seems the temporary solution is simply to turn the car off then back on.

The good thing is that after I asked if the $104 diagnostic fee would be reimbursed if the throttle later proved to be defective (the way actual previous throttle work is), MH Volvo waived the fee altogether. They washed my car and handed it back to me, no charge. And they said any further problem, just come in, no appt. necessary.

They've got my business. And so far the throttle is giving no problems.

p.