S40: Slow Acceleration between 40-70mph (and other issues)

[Mennox]

Hi all - new here!

I bought a 2006 Volvo S40 1.6 petrol (126k miles) 11 months ago with full service history and must say it has been one of the nicest cars I have owned. However, other the last couple of months, I have had the error 'Reduced Engine Performance' appear which it goes into limp mode (although turning engine off/on clears it). Around the doors it drives spot on but when accelerating between 40-70mph, the speed slowly increases (which never used to be the case) and the rev counter goes from 3000-4000 slowly too, although the revs actually sound they should be higher! Once I am around 70mph, it again drives spot on and i have no issues increasing to 80/90mph - have done several 200 mile round trips with it going into limp mode once and MPG seems okish.

I took the car to my regular mechanics who tested it (i believe they drove around 20 miles based on my odometer reading) but the mechanic said that after 20 years of working in the industry, he couldnt find any issues (bar apparently some unrelated diagnostic codes which he cleared).....its annoying me as it feels like the engine is working harder between those speeds (revs seem higher than what the counter shows) and doesnt have the umph it used to have. I have also noticed that the steering will intermittently go heavier (generally after a few miles, sometimes after 30 miles) but then its fine the following day.

I am a bit reluctant to take to the garage again having to spend needlessly to try and identify the issue....has anyone come across something similar? Would purchasing a code reader (looking at the Autel MD802) help me to identify the issue and thus saving time and money?

As mentioned earlier, the car has full service history (had a full service 8k miles ago in March and MOT passed with flying colours).

Possibly separate issue, when accelerating and changing gear from 1st to 2nd, there is sometimes a loud CLUNK sound underneath the car (normally when revving higher than usual) - if I sometimes slightly miss putting it into 1st when pulling away, I would get a similar noise....at one point the sound was that loud I thought something fell off the car, but this is pretty rare. I did mention the clunking sound to the mechanic (when checking the above) and he says its just the cable catching the exhaust?? Mind, the exhaust on my Peugeot 206 used to hit the axle bar to the point it snapped but this was due to it missing a rubber mount to keep it in place!

Thanks in advance!

[ITSv40]

You need to post in the S40/V50 section as this one only deals with models up to 2004. Completely different cars. Good luck in sorting the issues.

[Mennox]

Thanks mate, have now done this - 3rd time lucky! My first post was on an US Volvo forum before posting here!!