Defective throttles in 1999-2001 Volvos

Defective throttles in 1999-2001 Volvos have been failing at unusually high rates, causing cars to stall, raising air emissions and sticking owners with costly repairs.

File a complaint if you have this model car. If a recall is forced it may save you ~$1000

More info:

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5&did42
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Of course file a compaint with Volvo
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Assistant Manager of Volvo Customer Care is Susan CampbellThen NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
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Center for Auto Safety:
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Reply to
Cat
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---------news snip i came across------------------

Make : VOLVO Model : V70XC Year : 2001 Manufacturer : VOLVO CARS OF N.A. LLC. Crash : Yes Fire : No Number of Injuries: 1 ODI ID Number : 10134909 Number of Deaths: 1 Date of Failure: July 18, 2005 VIN : YV1SZ58D811... Component: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL Summary: MY DAUGHTER WAS KILLED WHILE DRIVING MY VOLVO WHEN IT MALFUNCTIONED AND SHE LOST CONTROL. PER THE ACCIDENT REPORT, SHE WAS CHANGING LANES FROM THE FAR RIGHT TO MIDDLE LANE WHEN SHE ACCELERATED INTO THE LEFTMOST LANE, HIT AND BOUNDED OFF THE LEFMOST GUARDRAIL, COLLIDED WITH A CAR IN THE CENTER LANE, PROCEEDED OVER THE RIGHTMOST GUARDRAIL OF A BRIDGE, THROUGH A TREETOP, DROPPED 30 FEET, LANDED UPSIDE DOWN, AND ROLLED REPEATEDLY, EVENTUALLY STOPPING IN A CONCRETE CREEKBANK. SHE WAS WEARING HER SEATBELT BUT KILLED INSTANTLY UPON IMPACT. IT APPEARS SHE WAS NOT SPEEDING SIGNIFICANTLY PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT BUT UNEXPECTEDLY BEGAN ACCELERATING AS SHE WAS CHANGING LANES AND LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. I HAVE HAD SIMILAR PROBLEMS WITH THE CAR PREVIOUSLY BUT BELIEVED THEY HAD BEEN CORRECTED BY VOLVO WHEN THEY REPLACED THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MODULE. THERE WERE NO OTHER CONTRIBUTING FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT -- WEATHER WAS CLEAR, VISIBILITY WAS GOOD, ROADS WERE DRY, TRAFFIC WAS MODERATE AND FLOWING WELL, AND IT WAS EARLY AFTERNOON AND MY DAUGHTER WAS FINE PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. I HAVE HAD AN ACCIDENT RECONSTRUCTION EXPERT LOOK AT THE ACCIDENT REPORT AND AVAILABLE EVIDENCE AND HE BELIEVES IT WAS CAUSED BY MECHANICAL FAILURE.

(also on Edmonds) I have had an accident reconstruction expert investigate the accident and he believes mechanical failure, most likely the ETM module, caused the crash. Unfortunately, since very few complaints have alleged acceleration due to ETM failure (either as a direct result of the failure or in overcompensation for reduced performance caused by the failure), this is a hard case to prove. However, we've been unable to come up with any other reasonable explanation, and the ETM had failed and been replaced on my car before.

Reply to
~^ beancounter ~^

A few thoughts on the subject-

I was working on my '69 VW (back in about '71) and dropped the generator(!) woodruff key into the heating ductwork on the motor. I borrowed my dad's '69 International Harvester Travelall which had the biggest gas motor they put in them at the time. I was on a (then) rural 4 lane roadway, driving with purpose as a pissed off teenager will. Accelerating down that road, foot hard on the gas, the throttle return spring broke and the pedal went to the floor. The car immediately downshifted. I tried to put my foot under the pedal but it was flat on the floor. I Shifted into N and turned off the key at the same time. By then I was doing well over 65 as I remember. Hauling that thing to the curb without power steering was a real chore! I was able to bend and reattach the spring and was fine after that.

The reason I tell the above story (and looking at the report below) I think that cars are so dependable now and so few people work on their own cars today (because they mostly can't be worked on) that a lot of kids today don't understand how cars work and don't know what to do in an emergency. That is also partly because cars are so dependable and don't break down. There is another factor- cars today handle like race cars. Body roll has all been eliminated and chassis are stiffer, rack and pinion and 4 wheel disc anti-lock brakes, incredible tires, and much more all combine to give drivers of the common sedan a sense of control and confidence that only race cars and sports cars gave two decades ago (generally speaking). Because of that, a lot of drivers (and particularly young drivers) don't know what to do in an emergency incident whether it is a "stuck" throttle or a car that breaks loose from the roads's surface. How many people today know how to power out of a slide in a corner or how to steer with a skid? Most would panic and either freeze up or slam the brakes.

I am not at all defending the throttle in this model of volvo nor defending Volvo, but I wanted to remind parents to teach their kids about these sorts of things, and if you don't know, maybe get you kid into a course where they can learn. Maybe even take them into an empty. pole-free parking lot on a rainy day and teach them what to do when a car skids or slides. Let them learn the limits of the brakes and steering.

Don't let them loose on the street to learn these things "by accident."

And think about getting some similar experience yourself. After some

20 years and 65,000+ miles of riding a motorcycle on the street I took the MSF Experienced Rider's Course and improved my riding quite a bit. When you think you are good enough or know enough, that is when you become dangerous.

"~^ beancounter ~^" wrote:

__ __ Randy & \ \/ /alerie's \__/olvos '90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate "Shelby" & "Kate"

Reply to
Randy G.

good point (s) ......

Reply to
~^ beancounter ~^

I agree, good points. Hopefully Volvo will come to their senses and recall this part before anybody else is hurt/killed because they are unable to control their vehicle.

Reply to
Cat

A log of cars have elevtronic throttles these days, and I don't really trust them. Still, I should think there would be some safeguards in place, such as: shut down the engine if RPM increases for more than one xecond after brake application.

Also, I sometimes doubt the validithy of these accidents, since any stock vehicle's engine can be overcome by the brakes. Back when Audis were being accused of unintended acceleration, it was shown that the drivers were accidentlly stepping on the gas instead of the brake.

I did this once in a parking lot in a rented VW beetle (70's) Because I expected the car to slow, it felt like it was acclerating with tremendous speed. Fortunately, I was stopped by a guard rail befire it gathered any real speed.

-- Email reply: please remove one letter from each side of "@" Spammers are Scammers. Exterminate them.

Reply to
Doug Warner

A log of cars have elevtronic throttles these days, and I don't really trust them. Still, I should think there would be some safeguards in place, such as: shut down the engine if RPM increases for more than one xecond after brake application.

Also, I sometimes doubt the validithy of these accidents, since any stock vehicle's engine can be overcome by the brakes. Back when Audis were being accused of unintended acceleration, it was shown that the drivers were accidentlly stepping on the gas instead of the brake.

Definitely the #1 cause, especially since most of the reports claim the brakes failed to slow the car at all. I recall the driver of a 140 complaining how the car leaped from a parking lot into the side of the building in spite of the brakes. But there was an account here maybe a year ago by a fellow who didn't have an accident, just a brief series of incidents one night where the throttle opened full while he was idling at intersections. The car was dragged forward, with the ABS doing its thing and leaving broken skid marks. That one sounds real to me.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

My 240 has the accelerator quite close to the center area- the kick panel that covers the Heat/cooling conglomeration there has a slightly narrower area (more space/room at the gas pedal). If you have your foot slide off of the gas pedal to the right after depressing the pedal your shoe can 'hook' into that concave area, and when you lift your foot your shoe can get sort of wedged into that area.

If driving was easy, everyone could do it, and there would be any acciidents, and I wouldn't get to go to the Pick and Pull again this week to get more spare parts for the 240 on the cheap.

Speaking of which, is it just me (I don't think so), but getting to go into a well organized auto salvage yard and actually getting to bring my own tools and pick my own parts off cars is like a trip to Disneyland! "COOL! Another 017 AMM! WOW!"

__ __ Randy & \ \/ /alerie's \__/olvos '90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate "Shelby" & "Kate"

Reply to
Randy G.

i think the real liability will lie in the event it is proven volvo inc was aware of faulty/bad parts, installed @ their factories...and refuse to "make the parts right" for their customers...over a number of years...then touting themselvs as a "safety oriented" auto manufacturer.....we will see....i guess it is for a court to review all relevant information and come to a conclusion....

Reply to
~^ beancounter ~^

Agreed, I always find things I'd never have thought to ask for, U-pull yards where I can wander around and browse are the only type I'll go to.

Reply to
James Sweet

Now, THAT would really take some doing since the brake and gas pedals of the old V.W. beetles are at such greatly different levels. On the Audi's in question with the uncontrolled acceleration, the brake pedal was less than two inches than the gas pedal and at the exact same level making it very easy to step on the gas pedal at the same time as the brake particularly if the driver's foot was on the edge of the brake pedal and overlapping on to the gas.

Reply to
..............................

Actually, the ABS was NOT doing it's thing because with the vehicle stopped, you should be able to be in gear and floor the accelerator and not have the car move at all.

Reply to
..............................

What you have to remember is that Volvo is not the only car to use the faulty throttle unit it is made in Italy & used widly on most cars so this whould be a expensive thing not only for Volvo but for the rest that is why this is moving along very slowly

Reply to
Glenn Klein

I had a Ford Fairlane, yes I admit it .When coming over a very steep hill my cruise control stuck and I was full power down the hill with a few bends to come .This hill is very steep and often covered in black ice so imagine if a less experienced driver had this issue .By the way when I say steep, cars have slid after the car was parked ,when others had rolled over blocking the road .I had to turn off the motor to regain control but keep my foot on the brakes and try not to lock the steering all in a moment .I pulled the cruise control cable apart and it was sludged up with gunk .I washed it out put synthetic oil through it and isolated it from the rocker cover with a heavy rubber sheath .Turns out Ford knew about it but not every one got a recall .It was pure bad design and in the extreme cold the gunk in the cable did its worst .(1988 Ford Fairlane the car Ford tried to build .)

Reply to
John Robertson

AFAIK there is a class action suit ongoing in CA. The class has presented an internal document that expresses a complaint about the failure of the ETM modules being installed at the factory as being of inferior quality and prone to premature failure. In CA this constitutes a warranty fraud since some of the units were covered under a case by case basis and some were not. The ones that were not were generally given a wipe and clean. The warranty statute involved requires the mfr to provide the same service on every identical claim regardless of whether there is a written policy to do so. The remedy would be for every yellow dot ETM to be replaced FOC. If the consumer paid for replacement...there probably will be no satisfactory remedy, so mfr will suffer a fine.

Bob

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