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C30 T5 'Reduced Engine Performance'

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Old Jan 16th, 2018, 16:18   #1
Kerb Scraper
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Default C30 T5 'Reduced Engine Performance'

Good afternoon all,

As per my intro in the Lounge section, I'm trying to help my sister (who knows absolutely nothing about cars but loves her T5) resolve a little issue that scared her witless last week. She is a very nervous driver.

After driving from West London to Oxford via motorway she experienced the 'reduced engine performance' message' on the dashboard towards the end of the wet and dark return journey but made it safely home.

I told her to try driving the car next day and (as expected) the fault message has cleared on the restart.

I've not had a chance to look at the car myself yet but I'm hoping I might be able to read any generic fault codes with my cheapo Bluetooth enabled Elm 327 clone linked up to the Torque App on my tablet.

Does anyone have experience of the same fault message and a likely explanation?

I should add that the car gets little use sadly and a low battery is quite likely. Could it be just a case of low volts causing the engine ECU to have a wobble?

Or something more sinister like a failing turbo?

Any good independent Volvo specialists in West London?

Thanks for any help you can offer.
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Old Jan 16th, 2018, 16:51   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kerb Scraper View Post
Good afternoon all,

As per my intro in the Lounge section, I'm trying to help my sister (who knows absolutely nothing about cars but loves her T5) resolve a little issue that scared her witless last week. She is a very nervous driver.

After driving from West London to Oxford via motorway she experienced the 'reduced engine performance' message' on the dashboard towards the end of the wet and dark return journey but made it safely home.

I told her to try driving the car next day and (as expected) the fault message has cleared on the restart.

I've not had a chance to look at the car myself yet but I'm hoping I might be able to read any generic fault codes with my cheapo Bluetooth enabled Elm 327 clone linked up to the Torque App on my tablet.

Does anyone have experience of the same fault message and a likely explanation?

I should add that the car gets little use sadly and a low battery is quite likely. Could it be just a case of low volts causing the engine ECU to have a wobble?

Or something more sinister like a failing turbo?

Any good independent Volvo specialists in West London?

Thanks for any help you can offer.
The best thing you can get for diagnostics is a VIDA DICE combo from eBay, the Torque app may throw something up, but it could be ambiguous, definitely worth trying though.

From what I understand, not a whole heap goes wrong on the T5's besides clogged PCV system, AT WORST - cracked block liners, would seriously doubt it's the turbo.

Very nervous driver + T5 sounds like a hilarious combination haha!!

All the best.
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Old Jan 16th, 2018, 17:17   #3
Kerb Scraper
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Thanks Yobbo,

It's reassuring to know that it is not a common problem on the T5. Just had a look in the online version of the owner's manual and 'reduced engine performance' isn't even listed as a possible message (could be specific to the T5?).

Agree about the hilarious combination of nervous driver and T5! It makes me smile every time I think about it still. The back story is that we viewed a couple of tired old boggers C30s that the local Volvo franchise were trying to sell her for about £23k. I looked on AT and found the only T5 for sale in the country; 18 months old, low miles, one lady owner, immaculate and every option all for £18k so it was a no brainer. Made the mistake of mentioning it to the Volvo dealer and they only tried to buy it before I got there!! What a dirty trick.

Anyway - I digress. In fact my sister has no difficulty in pootling around in the T5 and finds the extra oomph reassuring on the motorway. It's a testament to the design that the power delivery is so smooth and controllable. It does worry me a bit when she says 'sometimes I have to do 90 to keep up with the traffic on the M40'.

I'll update this thread with any developments.

Last edited by Kerb Scraper; Jan 16th, 2018 at 17:18. Reason: spelling
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Old Jan 16th, 2018, 17:55   #4
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Doubt it's anything serious, the T5's are brilliantly fault-free mostly.

There is a fuel pressure sensor (FPS) which can go bad but I'm not sure if it brings any warnings up, it probably would if its been receiving bad data for long enough.

Has it been serviced recently? the ONLY time I've had this message was following a Volvo Dealer service where they had left a hose loose and made an air leak.

Low battery won't help matters so that should be changed asap before it lets her down.
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Old Jan 16th, 2018, 18:14   #5
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So called "limp mode" can happen for various reasons, as mentioned above, and unless you get a fault code readout using either decent reader or Vida, its really a guessing game... Maybe one of the Vida users lives nearby and can lend you a hand?
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Old Jan 16th, 2018, 18:24   #6
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Mine had that message once, and the car went into limp mode, I pulled over, turned it off and on, and it was back to full power.

The underlying issue was the turbo control valve. The unit is like £30ish made by pierrburg. I did have a few other symptoms, like car not revving past 3k RPM, and stuff, and this was the common cause. I didnt have the car diagnosed, taking it to the garage was the step after replacing this (I figured, might aswell try this for £30, if that fails, then let the garage find/fix it).
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Old Jan 17th, 2018, 09:21   #7
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Have a look and get some sensor cleaner and look at he MAF. I have that problem when I was tinkering around and went to replace the MAF and the part I was given was incorrect. After popping it on the car spluttered and that sign came up on the dash .... ripped that thing right out of the engine.

Maybe a bit of water got in there or something but worth just giving the MAF a clean I recon

If the turbo was going wrong you would defenitly hear it.
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Old Jan 17th, 2018, 19:41   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Welton View Post
Doubt it's anything serious, the T5's are brilliantly fault-free mostly.

There is a fuel pressure sensor (FPS) which can go bad but I'm not sure if it brings any warnings up, it probably would if its been receiving bad data for long enough.

Has it been serviced recently? the ONLY time I've had this message was following a Volvo Dealer service where they had left a hose loose and made an air leak.

Low battery won't help matters so that should be changed asap before it lets her down.
My vote goes to changing the fuel pressure sensor, mainly as they do fail, its fairly cheap and dead easy to do. I think mine showed that message when it failed though a bit surprising on a young low-miles car. I found a relevant code with Torque by the way.
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Old Jan 17th, 2018, 22:13   #9
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Hopefully you get it sorted. You could try posting on the US forum "C30 Crew".
http://www.c30crew.com/mainsite/
The T5 was the only C30 Volvo sold in the US. So every member on there has a C30 T5. Knowledgeable folk. Very proud of their C30s, very rare there - they only sold 22,000. Drop in the ocean in US car terms.
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Old Jan 18th, 2018, 12:22   #10
Kerb Scraper
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Thanks for all the helpful replies chaps,

Through a friend we have been recommended to a local Volvo specialist and he's going to have a look at the T5 on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile Nervous Nelly is probably quite rightly, not going to undertake any long motorway journeys.

It is unfortunate that I'm quite a distance away so not as yet able to try scanning with my generic OBD scan tool or indeed charge the battery.

I'll see what this specialist has to say - I feel slightly happier with this than going to the franchised Volvo Dealer (they are not generally referred to as 'stealers' without good reason).

I'll update the thread with any more news.
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