Engine 850: B5234T/2.3/20v/T5: ECU problem, non starter, can anyone help ???

First of all I would just like to say hi to everyone (as I have just registered) especially bob for his warm welcome.

I have a 1999 S70 T5 (auto) ex-police and had it superchipped approx 3 years ago. It has been a dream to drive until earlier this year when it just started cutting out and the engine management light kept coming on.
Took it to Volvo Hildenboro and they said the ETM needed cleaning out and all the pipework around it as it was all cogged up with oil.They also said it was possible that it was on its way out and would need replacing soon. Cost £290.00 and was fine for 2 days. Then the same thing kept happening and kept braking down, so AA towed me to the dealer and I reluctantly had a brand new ETM fitted. Cost £668.00.

I drove the car 2 miles down the road and the engine management light came on and cut out again. After letting the engine cool for a while was able to drive back to the dealer (in get me home mode) and find out what had happened.

After a week of them keeping the car and not really 100% finding the fault through the fault codes being logged (as a different code was being logged each time they tested ) they finally agreed that it was the ECU faulty and needed a new one. Quoted cost £698.00.

After just paying £668.00 for the ETM, I was not pleased to say the least that I needed to fork out another £698.00 for the ECU and was not prepared to. I had the ECU tested and it was found to be beyond economical repair.

Now I managed to pick up a reconditioned ECU (same part number etc.) for a fraction of the price of a new one (with a 3 month guarantee) took it to the dealer and it just did not work.

The company I bought the ECU from says you just have to "plug and play" i.e take the old one out put the new one in and bob's your uncle (not the Bob who has just welcomed me) but the dealer says you have to download new software for it to work which they did and it accepted but still did not work.
It is now a non starter.

The car has been at the dealers for 2 months now and I miss her dearly.
Can anyone please, please help me out and shed a bit of light on the subject.
Any good advice/help would be most appreciative.

Thanks everyone

[Chris_Rogers]

This may be an immobilizer issue, but I would have expected the dealer to have dealt with that.

In the later cars the engine ECU is matched to the car's VIN, so before you can swap an ECU from one car to another you have to erase the original VIN from the ECU using VADIS while it's still in the original car.

Thanks for the reply.

I was trying to save myself a few £££ by getting a re-conditioned one but it looks like it is not that straight forward.

It is only that the dealer said that once they fit their ECU onto the car I will still have to pay for it whether it works or not, which doesn't seem fair at all as they cannot guarantee it will solve the problem.

[Dean]

similar problem to my dads v70 classic 2000, in the past he had probems with the car not starting for varying amounts of time and with no pattern, he seemed to get the car started by turning the key around the other way - but anyway it was traced to the immobilizer receiver ring in the steering column,however the only difference he didn`t cut out whilst driving.



dean 850r

It looks like I am faced with the option of gambling on losing the best part of £700 with no guarantees it will be fixed or the sad reality of selling the car for spares or repair.

I must admit I thought the dealer would be more helpful than this and try to work out a positive solution as I have spent thousands of £££ over the years there.

Anyway thanks for your kind help and advice.

[Chris_Rogers]

Before you do that I suggest you give Stuart at SW Autos a ring

01580 291588

He may be able to help you.

I will give them a try and see what he suggests.
Will keep you updated to see what happens.
Thankyou.