Testimonials

Electronic Throttle Module (ETM) Rebuild Service

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Testimonials

Here is a short video showing the location of the ETM in an S60 T5. This was a DIY by Dr. John Becker.
YouTube - Installed Xemodex ETM in S60 T5

The following posts have been extracted mostly from http://matthewsvolvosite.com/. I have to give great praise to this site for giving me a forum "Don's ETM Room" for the discussion of the Volvo ETM failures and in the case the XeMODeX remanufactured successes. Since everyone was "chomping at the bit" to see how this would work, I became the guinea pig. Chris Golinski furnished me with two XeMODeX remanufactured ETMs. One has been installed on my daughter-in-law's car that showed no symptoms of failure. As of March 19 we are waiting for a car that has a failing ETM and is out of warranty to install the second ETM.

This is the incident that alerted me to the egregious design of the ETM. My daughter-in-law innocently asked me, "What is an electronic throttle module?"(She had just had one changed at 45,000 miles, a few weeks out of the new car warranty after 3 trips to the dealer and over $800 cost.) I did not know what an ETM was and just forgot about it. Then a few months later I was in Carl Duke Volvo Repair and saw something throttle like on the desk. He had already started opening it to see what the problem was. I asked if I could take it and do an in depth failure analysis. Within an hour I knew what was the problem. The rest is history and well detailed in http://VEXEDvolvo.org.

Don Willson (Webmaster for this site), Fort Collins, CO, January 7, 2009
I TESTED IT AND IT WORKS B-E-A-U-T-F-U-L-L-Y

Today, January 22, 2009, we installed a XeMODeX ETM in a 2000 XC70 turbo (transverse 5 cylinder) and it works. The car belongs to my daughter-in-law and for the most part she had all the maintenance work done on schedule by the local Volvo dealer. The car had had the software recall performed earlier.

The work was done by Carl Duke in Fort Collins, Colorado, an independent Volvo repair garage with his own Volvo salvage yard. Mark, the mechanic, had been with the shop for 14 years and had replaced a few ETMs.

Before we could test the installation the car need about $2000 in repairs, springs, brakes, timing belt and idler, serpentine belt and idler, and 90,000 mile maintenance.

I then made some initial tests, cold idle, warm idle, 0-60 and hot idle.

Then Mark replaced the existing yellow label ETM, that indicated that this is already a replacement. The first one had been replaced at 45,000 miles and 2 months out of warranty (though they did get the reimbursement for her out-of-warranty costs.)

It took him just an hour to make the replacement. The car started instantly. I hooked up my code reader/scanner and used it for digital RPM readings. We then took it for a test drive. The idle before surged from 855 to 925 RPM and after from 850 to 855 RPM. Three 0-60 full throttle runs were so close to being the same you would think we had used a 'calibrated' pencil. All about 12.5 to 12.8 seconds. The road was not level but it was the same road each time.

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Vehicle: V70 xc
Year: 1999
current Mileage: 162,500
In Service Date: 10/8/1998
ETM sticker color: yellow
ETM replaced? Yes
How Many times? i think once before
Mileage ETM installed? 161,000
ETM removed in less than 10 minutes, this is where the debate will come in (that's for another thread). I never remove the fan, i unbolt the intercooler pipe, all the connector plugs, and the 7mm bolt that holds the clamp for the charge pipe onto the ETM. 20 minute reinstall.

tools: 7mm, 12mm
time: in and out 30 minutes tops for me. ETM removed 4x's before.

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From RareHare, Connecticut, USA, March 5, 2009
Vehicle: V70 AWD
Year: 1999
Current Mileage: 158,010
In Service Date: 2/5/99
ETM sticker color: Yellow
ETM replaced? Yes
How Many times? Once prior to XeMODex
Mileage ETMs installed: 38,000 (1'st), 158,000 (XeMODeX)

No ETS light (it went on at 138k and dealer installed the ETM SW update and it went off). Car began recently running very unevenly between 1.5 and 2.0k RPM and started undershooting 850 when stopping. Checked the other likely suspects and concluded it was most likely the ETM. The behavior disappeared immediately after the new ETM was put in. Did the job myself. Was moderately challenging. Getting the fan out is a must, and that was a tight squeeze, to say the least. Could not get the charge tube back on the throttle with out warming that end up a bit first with a hair dryer to make it a little more flexible. Was a cold day. After that, was not so bad... Note: It may take you 4 days in some cases from start to finish instead of 3. Get a FedEx tracking # and watch it. If it says 'Clearance Delay', call FedEx customer service. They need more info from you to get it through return customs and you'll probably then get it the next day.

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Durham NC, Jan 30, 2009
Hi Folks,

I had the ETM from my 1999 V70R rebuilt by XeMODeX.
They replaced the swiper and contact strip with a non-contacting Digital Angle Sensor.
I have only good things to say about their product and customer service.
I installed the ETM yesterday, it works great!

My ETM had been replaced by the previous owner of the car when it had 65,000 miles.
It now has 120,000 miles, and from the looks of the strip, it was going to fail pretty soon.

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Des Moines, IA Jan 31, 2009
ON TOPIC: When spring cometh, XeMODeX will be getting my business. I only hope I'll make it that long. My car has now progressed from hunting idle to the herky-jerky now and then while cruising or accelerating.

Don,

As it turned out, based on my 2000 XC V70 Volvo's behavior (intermittent hesitating and stumbling) , and on the strength of the information you've posted on the web, I went ahead and had my mechanic remove the ETM and send it for rebuild. It was sent back promptly, my mechanic re-installed, and the car has been running perfectly ever since

You can add my name to the list of Volvo owners who think Volvo should inform its dealer network of this solution to a problem that Volvo itself caused and has never properly acknowledged. (And feel free to use this note in your ongoing effort to help Volvo owners deal with this problem.)

-thanks

-Chris Hanks

Milwaukee, WI