V50 Engine 2.0D : Engine System Service Required

[meanchris]

Yesterday, when setting off from some red traffic lights, there was a little engine hesitation and this message appeared.

The car seemed to drive OK and I got home no problem.

Once the engine was stopped and restarted the fault message went away.

Today, the same thing has happened again, on the 25 mile journey to work and on the one back again, both time when setting off from traffic lights.

I took my ELM327 reader (from ebay, with the purple and orange label type) with me and had a look on Torque on my phone to see if there were any fault codes, but there weren't any.

On the way home today, after the fault came up, it seemed like the accelerator pedal needed more input to get the same response, but the car would still kick down and rev over 3000rpm, so probably not in limp mode.

Does anyone have any ideas what might cause this, could it be the EGR valve or throttle flap?

Cheers.

[meanchris]

Not that anyone cares, apparently ;-) but car has been to an indy today to have the fault codes read. It came back with a throttle position sensor fault.
They suggested that this is common with the EGR/Throttle flap being gummed up.

Half an hour's job and it seems OK so far.

Thought this might assist someone.

[SonyVaio]

Hi Chris had I seen this post before now I would have suggested taking off the Throttle Body (TB) and giving it a good clean. You have to e careful that the jubilee clip is not done up too tight round the TB as this can cause slight distortion and thus cause the flap or flaps inside the TB to stick and foul on the inside of the TB itself.

if a good clean works then great but often it is only a temp measure and inevitable some time in the future you will possible need a new one. Approx £150 part from Volvo for a new one. Can be fitted by yourself with basic tools in next to no time.

[meanchris]

Hi SV and thanks, I did suspect this after reading previous forum posts on the subject, but I had a week's guarantee left on the car from the dealer and decided to let him sort it, just in case it turned out to be something expensive like a turbo failing.
One benefit of doing it this way is that I got the fault codes read and cleared, so that I'm confident that the correct fault has been addressed.

TBH, as I use it for business, 150 squids for a new throttle body isn't too much out of order if it happens again.

(The "nobody cares" was tongue in cheek BTW )

[meanchris]

I got the ESSR message again today, after pulling in between two parked cars to let someone through, then setting off again.
When I pressed the accelerator the car hesitated for about a second before picking up again, and the message flashed up straight away.

When I stopped and restarted the engine the fault cleared.

Before this happened today I noticed that the car feels much smoother than at any time since I bought it, the powershift gear changes also seem to be smoother and when/where they should be, and I can tickle the car along at 5mph in traffic without any jerkiness whereas before it just didn't feel right.

So, the cleaning of the throttle body must have had some effect, but I'm wondering whether I should get a new one as per SV's recommendation that it will need changing sometime soon.