Electrics: ECM faults galore

[DonnieC]

After a rush of blood to the head - and the view of such a beautiful machine, I parted with 1600 for a 1999 s80 T6 geartronic... And she's gorgeous and the king/queen of the open road - perfect for my new job which will involve lots of motorways

This first bit is not about electrics, my apologies...

Its drives nice, but has the throttle module problem, which I can get fixed by cleaning the module (unfortunately the simple cleaning doesn't seem to work with turbos, eh?) The module is under the front of the main engine body from what I can work out.

Question 1 - Can I use one of those Carb cleaner sprays they sell (10k boost is one) to spray into the engine to clean the debris in the throttle module? It says to spray directly into the turbo inlet - where is this? I thought it was the bit on the top where the turbo tubes are, but they flow into the radiator after that and i didn't want to spray anything in there! - Any advice?

Part II

The electrics are all over the place - lights on etc etc ABS issue is the most concerning because it is wasting petrol at low revs cos (of the throttle thing) and also because of the car not knowing how fast the car is moving!

Had a chat with specialist (not dealer) and he said that after checking the ECM there were lot of fault codes and it may well be a deeper problem in there... he also found some rust in suspicious areas - maybe water is involved....

Question 2, therefore:

Do I a) Pay some decent money for analysis from the specialist - and see what he says and maybe end up paying up to 1000 for getting the car sorted... or at worst - paying the money and have various other issues...

or b) cut my losses - sell the car at a loss - spares or repairs - and get on with life?

To summarise - if I spend 1000-1500 on the car will it be worth it?
How much does a new-repaired ECM cost?

That's enough questions for now, if anyone has any comments, let me know...

Otherwise I sell at a loss, and buy something less beautiful and less Volvo-like... an option that doesn't appeal that much...

[jajrst]

The ETM (Electronic Throttle Module) can be replaced by a main dealer for between £200 -£300 and is probably a good place to start. It used to cost a lot more than that.

The ABS may be a cheap-ish fix too. There are some dry solder joints that, because of where the modules located is hot when the engines going and cools when parked, eventually give up and need to be re-soldered. There's lots of repair services, some are listed on ebay for example for around £100 (eg: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/volvo-abs-850-...3A1|240%3A1318 ) Please be aware I have NEVER used this service so can't comment on it persoanlly, just is an example. This does involve removing the module yourself unless you can find a garage willing to remove it, let you take it and then have them refit it. I doubt the ECM is gone? :S The errors are more than likely there but need repairing.

I would say have the work done and keep the car, You will love it! Just be aware, it won't be any Fiesta with repair bills.

[davew]

If you think you can get it sorted for that sort of money then I would say keep it.

The cost can stack up fairly quick. I had a problem with mine were it was surging under acceleration. I took it to the dealer and they plugged it into the machine. They then charged me 100 quid just for the read and said I needed 2 turbos.

I told them to go away.

It eventually turned out to be a turbo control valve, which cost 34 quid for the part and 500 for diagnostics at the end.

The moral I suppose is these cars are soo complicated that only specialist can touch them and even then half the time they dont have a clue whats wrong. However if you do get it all sorted, keep it maintained properly and only use quailty parts (for example halford bulbs last about a week and bosh last ages.) then it should be fine.

Oh MPG is pretty poor as well so I would by some shares in SHELL or BP.

[oilburner]

To be honest, once you've sorted the ABS unit and the ETM you've already fixed two of the biggest common problems with these cars. After that, you've not got a lot left to worry about, except maybe the twin-turbo arrangement which caused quite a lot of complaints on these early cars.

However, at £1600, even if you had to spend a few hundred to get these fixes done, it's still one hell of a car for the money, so I would be tempted to keep it and enjoy!

[DonnieC]

Lads (or ladies I suppose), that is superb, and I thank you for your time... Yeah, it's a real conundrum.

My local specialist is a lovely chap, and he says he can clean the throttle module for me, which is good start and should be cheap (was hoping to do the spray thing which would have been cheaper )...

My concern with the electrics is that there seems to be small amounts of rust in the footwell where a lot of the electics seem to be housed - the specialist said "do you know if this has been in a flood?" not a good sign.

Anyway, I am relieved that the ECM is not likely to be totally shot - I have been reading all about the ABS module issues, but believe it or not I got a new ABS module, then when it came to replacing it... we found that the power from the ignition wasn't attached to it.... bizarre. Specialist said he had never seen this before... and that power goes thru the ECM...

Ho Hum - bit scared of spending 500 on diagnostics...

We will see. I am in love with the car on the open road tho' - oh baby.