THANK YOU Volvo - ETM

[AWD*V70XC]

Well folks, I am home now & my wife wants to know how I am keeping my cool. Well it is very easy, I have done nothing wrong apart from being ripped off and people who rip me off always pay for it later.

First of all I would like to apologise for starting yet another ETM thread, but this one does relate to the 2001+ section and we must show that the problem is occurring on this board as well.

Secondly I find it easy to keep my cool but not my emotions, sometimes I get a little carried away and have to re-read and re-write what I have put down, but this is a story of my last 30 hours.

On Thursday morning (yesterday) I left the dealer about 10.30 and over £1900 lighter. The first thing I did notice was the car's suspension seemed tighter but that must have been down to the bushings that were replaced. About ten minutes into the journey to work I found myself on the open road and the first opportunity to open her up and see how the ETM would perform since it was cleaned. I got to 60 and it was OK and I thought it was cured for sometime to come. Then I got to 65 and I felt a splutter, 70mph and it was still there. I phoned the garage and told them to mark my file that I had called them to let them know I still had a problem. I took it easy home and by then it was too late to go to work (lost a days pay there Volvo, Thanks)

Went to work as usual this morning, still a bit of spluttering but no warning lights coming on etc, so things were looking up. Left work at 4.30 and boy was it a lovely day today, 35 degrees tops, the traffic was calm, tempers were calm and above all I was calm and contented, the car was handling very well and the sun was shining, the A/C was on and things were cool. 20 minutes into the journey my troubles started, NO don't read things into this that are not there, the car DID NOT break down, I ran into a nasty traffic jam well a 15 mile traffic jam to be precise, it took me over 90 minutes to do a section of road that normally takes 15 minutes. Boy was I glad I had the A/C on, the gauge was showing 33 outside and I had those knobs cranked down to the blue line and enjoying the coolness. Eventually I managed to hit the open road and I took the car up to a leisurely 70mph, sun in my eyes, A/C blowing and things were running fine UNTIL it started to splutter badly. Really badly, actually I lost all power, unlike other occasions I could not even keep it at 70 like I had done 7 days earlier, almost to the hour as well. With no power at all I pulled off the road, and when the revs hit 1000 the engine sounded really rough, almost to the point where it was trying to cut out, but I lifted it to 2-3000 and held it there. After a few minutes (and the thought of not seeing the kids tonight) I slammed it back into gear and drove on - at 40mph, and that was going downhill. I ran into another bottle neck and the thing conked out, I sat there trying to turn it over but it kept on cutting out. Then after five minutes and a break in the traffic I quickly rejoined the road, managed to get another mile and going up a slight incline I could not get above 25mph as I continued up the hill the power failed altogether, I just managed to get it off the road and there it sat with me, it was 6.49 and I had already been away from my house since 6 this morning so it was turning into a long day and now I was going nowhere. I rang Volvo Assist and was told they was extremely busy and i could expect recovery in 2-3 hours, SORRY.

2 to 3 hours, I had a busy day today and I missed lunch, that means I have only had a slice of toast and two coffees all day and now I have to wait for up to three hours for assistance, Thanks again Volvo.

I sat in the car looking around and reading the paper, then I read the 3 messages on the dash, Engine System Service Urgent, Engine System Service Required (you're joking, I only had it serviced yesterday) and Performance Reduced (well I know what that one means) Now let me see, 2 minus 3 equals, 8 from 3 is, blah from blah is........OMG that's a total on 192 miles since it was serviced, I would have thought that a cleaned ETM would last a little longer than 192 bloody miles. Ah well let's have a look for this unit that Don Wilson is going on about, it must be in here somewhere, now where do I look, Oh look that screw has not been tightened down properly, well. What's this thing here, and there is that nice new AUX belt they fitted, now as I have nothing else to do I will see if I can have a little competition and find all those things that they fitted for me yesterday. Ah yes here is my invoice, all three pages of it now what is this, oh yes that's my nice new £403 ABS module, doesn't it look nice and shinny and where is that £1.05 Hose Clamp they fitted to the power steering bottle, my oh my, they charged my £20.70 + VAT (@ 17.5%) to fit that baby. Now while I am here they told me that my Coolant Bottle had a 'slight leak' so I suppose that will have to be replaced next time, if the rad does not run dry in the meantime. Now that is strange, I never remember seeing anything about a new lid / cover on the invoice, WHY did they replace that I wonder , now I can't remember what is under here but there are a couple of clips on the side so lets have a look, Ah it's some sort of hard disk things, must be the management unit, but why the new cover and then they have not charged me for it, the old one was fine but this one had a new manufacture date on it, 11/04 that's only a few months old and there is no reason for this replacement. So I put it back and had a few problems re installing it. You see it is very very tight, in fact the Power Assist Steering bottle is almost on top of this other unit and the Coolant Bottle is behind that. Now all these units are very close together, in-fact when I try and put this lid back on I have to really push hard to move the other two bottles back to get this lid on. And then it dawned on me, the reason the Coolant Bottle is cracked is because there is not enough room for these three components to sit with ease and they must have broken the bottle when they tried to put the lid back on and broken the bottle and the lid but only replaced the lid and TOLD ME I WOULD HAVE TO REPLACE THE BOTTLE NEXT TIME AROUND- right on boys I know what you have done so don't even go there. Now where is this new £37 Tension Pulley and why did I need one?

An hour and a half since the breakdown company have spoken to me so I will just give them another call, Hello ....... Oh and by the way could the driver bring me something to eat and some cigarettes please, I ran out about an hour ago and there are no shops around here, in fact there is nothing around here (I said cheekily), No problem Sir, some food and some cigarettes on the way.

9 o'clock the tow truck arrived and the driver got out clutching a sandwich and a packet of cigarettes, 'Sorry Mate, I could only get chicken salad, hope that is alright and here is your cigarettes' What a life saver (Thank You Volvo). Got the car up and away we went. Another hour we were home with one useless car, 192 miles and £1900 later and I can't use my car. Thank you again Volvo.

I have phoned my Boss and told him I might not be in on Tuesday (Monday is a Bank Holiday) and if they do not have the part in stock I might not be in until Wednesday (looks like another two days of no pay coming up, did I say Thank You Volvo before?)

Now my wife tells me we are going to visit some friends on Sunday and back on Monday, it will give the kids a break. I said we WERE going to stay with them, that car is going nowhere. So now my family would also like to say a BIG Thank You to Volvo as well.

Volvo - your cars and your dealers .?.?.?.?.?.?. suck.?.?.?.?. the only thing I have to say to you is Thank you Volvo, for £1900 you have really screwed one families weekend up good and proper. THANKS.


I tried not to get too emotional, but it is hard considering the service I have just received, but the worst thing is I still love that car and would I would love to buy another one but now the Missus is upset with Volvo and that bloody, she wants out and like now, who knows the way things are going I could be divorced by Tuesday and then I would really have something to Thank Volvo for.

[Bluegrass-XC]

They brought you a sandwhich and smokes? WOW!! You'd have been laughed at if you made that request here!

BTW - I'm really sorry you had all that trouble. I can certainly relate. The worst breakdown I had with mine cost me (besides the repair costs) a motel room and rental car - and it wasn't even the ETM!

[Big]

Originally Posted by AWD*V70XC

...who knows the way things are going I could be divorced by Tuesday and then I would really have something to Thank Volvo for.

That's really sad. Guess the dealer was closed by then and could not help, assuming you wanted them near the car! The evidence is piling up against this dealer.

Things are sure different in my little city. I had a major breakdown (blown valve) on a V70XC and, although I didn't get any food, the dealer gave me an S60 loaner on short notice for 2 weeks while the repair was going through the corporate hoops. That sort of treatment encouraged me to buy another car from them. If I had your recent experience I would have beaten a path to another dealer--and not a Volvo dealer since there is only one in a hundred miles.

Good luck with this and sorry for the needless aggravation. At least it's just a car and not, say, your marriage.

[XC70Geo]

I'm sorry to hear all your troubles. It's incredible.

And look, every old friend on this forum start to get troubles with Volvo and with the dealers. That's really strange. Take a look. The names, who was the backbone of this forum, and gave many-many help for the others are getting hit one by one.
And - despite, I had no problem at all - I'm loosing my satisfaction. Volvo, it's time to change.

[gary]

AWD,

Very sorry to hear about your troubles (and on what was one of the nicest days and forecasted weekends we've had this year). For £1900 pounds and a vehicle crapping out within 24 hours of the repairs being done, you should get more than a sandwich and a pack of cigarettes! In my mind, Volvo Assist should have brought out a loaner for you - I'd certainly be demanding one as soon as possible. Regardless of what caused this latest malfunction, the dealership should (and must) eat ths cost of fixing your vehicle - I'd demand that too. At some point...enough is enough and I think you are fast approaching that limit with Volvo. No one could blame you for switching to another manufacturer. Just out of curiousity, have you spoken with anyone associated with Volvo outside of the dealership? I'm sure you have, but if it not, it's time to do that. Best of luck and knowing how much I know you love the XC70, I know this is really, really eating at your insides. But try to remember, it is just a vehicle and at the end of the day, if the problems persist, it's not worth the aggravation and stress to your life. It just might be time to look for another vehicle.

[AWD*V70XC]

Hi folks, thanks for the support, and I am motoring again.

Got up this morning and none of the warning lights were showing, what a result but the underlying problems must still be there.

Anyway, I went to a different dealer and had a chat with them and we assumed that the ETM must be the problem??? Just as my luck has been going they did not carry any spares but would order one for me on Tuesday and they could fit it on Wednesday.

I was chatting to the salesman inside when the parts guy came in and said that part number was no longer available and it had been upgraded AND they had one in stock, they have now fitted it and given me the old one so I can take some photos of it to show everyone what this looks like.

Gave it a quick run up the road and there appears to be no problems with the car at present. I also got a beefy engine mount installed at the same time (Volvo are restocking the older model so the beefy unit is not a new replacement so beware if you get yours changed).

Oh and the bill, another £700 including software updates, fitting etc, that's £2600 in three days for a MOT & service.

[Desertxc]

Ah Volvo and our V70XC. Just like that gorgeous busty blond we all knew in college. We knew going in she was going to be high maintenance but we just could'nt help ourselves and we got involved. After we were broke and emotionaly drained we had to give her up just knowing it was'nt going to work and it was time to move on. It was great while it lasted, and we now look back on her with fond memorys but glad we don't have the cost.

[DonWillson]

Originally Posted by AWD*V70XC

I was chatting to the salesman inside when the parts guy came in and said that part number was no longer available and it had been upgraded AND they had one in stock, they have now fitted it and given me the old one so I can take some photos of it to show everyone what this looks like.

Glad you got it fixed. What is the part number of the new unit, it ought to be on your service ticket. Or you can see it from the front of the car, back of the radiator and under the intake manifold.

If you want to look at the potentiometer here are the instructions.
http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showpo...84&postcount=1

Don Willson
VEXEDvolvo@comcast.net