V70 ETM questions
 

I wonder if someone can explain the ETM situation very simply, please. The kind of things I'd like to know are:
- how many serious accidents have there been because the car goes into limp mode suddenly in traffic?
-does the car go into limp more out of the blue or do they run badly for a while first?
- what does the software upgrade do? Does it prevent the car going into limp mode? Does it suppress some of the error messages? Is it worth doing?

What I want to do is get it all into perspective. Hubby says to think of it as an extra servicing issue, just get the ETM cleaned as soon as it starts to run a bit rough.

Thanks for your help

Fuchsia

I'll try, but I'm sure others will put me right!

"- how many serious accidents have there been because the car goes into limp mode suddenly in traffic?"
Dont know that stat, sorry.

"-does the car go into limp more out of the blue or do they run badly for a while first?"

Some go into limp mode out of the blue and some start to run badly over some time. The first symptoms of mine were like it required a good service but it still drove ok.

"- what does the software upgrade do?
The software slightly lessens (un noticeably) the throttle demand to stop the yo-yo affect of the revs at idle.

"Does it suppress some of the error messages?"

Dont think so.

"Does it prevent the car going into limp mode?"
For a while! This software and clean of the ETM is a temporary fix. I had mine done probably six months ago and it finally failed two days ago. Different people have different experiences.

"Is it worth doing?"

Some cant drive with out it. Its now provided free at the dealers as volvo Uk are paying for the upgrade and clean. Some say if it aint broke (yet), dont fix it! Some others will hopefully chip in on this post.

"Hubby says to think of it as an extra servicing issue, just get the ETM cleaned as soon as it starts to run a bit rough."

Sounds like a good attitude to me.

Not all cars loose power doing 70mph in the fast lane of the motorway, I know some have and it is a very, very serious issue that Volvo UK have not been taking seriously enough. But when mine finally failed it had bouncing revs and ran like a three legged dog but my life was not in danger.

The above information is based on personal experience, is based on my understanding of the subject and may not be 100% right! Have a good trawl through this ETM section of the forum and see what else you find.

Tim