Volvo V70 XC

mharwood, Apr 19, 4:37am
we have one and need to fix the throttle valve as we have a light on the dash
who can fix it in auckland not just replace it
thanks

msigg, Apr 19, 5:38am
Just take it to your local garage/auto electrician they should no how to fix it.
Nothing special in that.

mharwood, Apr 19, 10:20pm
thanks been there they just want to replace it at $2500 +volvohave 8 in stock
some time back some one here had the same problemand were told where to get it fixed for $400

thejazzpianoma, Apr 19, 11:46pm
The OP will mean the throttle body, The early fly by wire ones tended to wear out. A replacement is expensive from Volvo and needs calibrating to the car so not straight foward at all unfortunately.

thejazzpianoma, Apr 19, 11:57pm
Firstly how many km's on the Volvo!

Before replacing the throttle body its good to get it cleaned, as this is cheap/free and may solve the symptoms. This is actually something you can do yourself if you are a little bit handy. No special tools are required just a can of throttle body cleaner, a couple of cotton buds and a few drops of synthetic oil. It would be good to ask the Garage if they have already tried this.

If you want to try that let me know and I will tell you how.

Now assuming the clean doesn't help then the key thing is to avoid buying anything from Volvo NZ. They are just rip off artists plain and simple.

Do you have another car you can use for a week or so!

If so you could order the part yourself and take it down to someone with the appropriate software to have it fitted and calibrated. FCP Groton are a good place to order from but the parts could take up to a fortnight to arrive.

If you do order it yourself call FCP Groton on the phone and make sure that you definitely have the correct one ordered for your car as its particular to your year, model and engine. They are very helpful and professional though.

To give you an idea of what you should be paying here is one that may possibly be right for your car. Remember these are USD and you will need to add freight and GST but still you should hopefully be looking under $1000 NZD delivered.

http://www.fcpgroton.com/product-exec/product_id/15063/nm/Volvo+V70+Throttle+Body+Assembly+%281999-2000%29

So. if you are going down that route you really just need to locate a garage with the proper Volvo diagnostic machine, software and update susbscription. There should be some around, if in doubt ring the Volvo club but hopefully someone on here will help.

Also. be very wary of some of the genuine Volvo service agents. There is one down here that chose to blatantly ignore the consumer guarantees act and fair trading act and rip a customer off by charging over twice what was quoted and only completing half the agreed work.When it was pointed out politely by letter that they had broken the law their answer to the situation was to ring up and brow beat the older customer into submission.

thejazzpianoma, Apr 19, 11:57pm
Firstly how many km's on the Volvo!

Before replacing the throttle body its good to get it cleaned, as this is cheap/free and may solve the symptoms. This is actually something you can do yourself if you are a little bit handy. No special tools are required just a can of throttle body cleaner, a couple of cotton buds and a few drops of synthetic oil. It would be good to ask the Garage if they have already tried this. DO NOT attempt to clean it with any cleaner other than proper throttle body cleaner though, other cleaners can give off fumes that can damage your MAF sensor which will cause yet more hassle and expense.

If you want to try that let me know and I will tell you how.

Now assuming the clean doesn't help then the key thing is to avoid buying anything from Volvo NZ. They are just rip off artists plain and simple.

Do you have another car you can use for a week or so!

If so you could order the part yourself and take it down to someone with the appropriate software to have it fitted and calibrated. FCP Groton are a good place to order from but the parts could take up to a fortnight to arrive.

If you do order it yourself call FCP Groton on the phone and make sure that you definitely have the correct one ordered for your car as its particular to your year, model and engine. They are very helpful and professional and should be happy to walk you through this even if you are not a "car person".

To give you an idea of what you should be paying here is one that may possibly be right for your car. Remember these are USD and you will need to add freight and GST but still you should hopefully be looking under $1000 NZD delivered.

http://www.fcpgroton.com/product-exec/product_id/15063/nm/Volvo+V70+Throttle+Body+Assembly+%281999-2000%29

So. if you are going down that route you really just need to locate a garage with the proper Volvo diagnostic machine, software and update susbscription. There should be some around, if in doubt ring the Volvo club but hopefully someone on here will help.

Also. be very wary of some of the genuine Volvo service agents. There is one down here that chose to blatantly ignore the consumer guarantees act and fair trading act and rip a customer off by charging over twice what was quoted and only completing half the agreed work.When it was pointed out politely by letter that they had broken the law their answer to the situation was to ring up and brow beat the older customer into submission.

Also, once you locate a competent 3rd party Volvo garage it would be advisable to get them to re-diagnose the fault before you order a new throttle body etc. This is because on several occasions I have seen cars presenting the throttle body fault symptoms and the cause has actually been an air flow sensor or VVT solenoid or other VVT fault, which again is cheaper and easier to fix.

Its one of those things, because throttle body failure is everyones fear with one of those it tends to be on their mind and often mechanics jump to conclusions.

It might be worth explaining a bit about what symptoms (other than the check engine light) the car has here so we can discuss.

Best of luck!

thejazzpianoma, Apr 20, 12:05am
Did a bit of a google. There seem to be several third party Volvo specialists in Auckland. It would be worth having a ring around. I would suggest asking for a price estimate based on the assumption that the throttle body does need replacing.

Also. ask if they have done any before and whether they have the actual Volvo software/hardware. This is important as any garage that hasn't done one may assume they can do it with one of their universal scanner units. This is generally not the case as the software usually needs to interface back to Volvo over the web to upgrade the vehicle's onboard software etc. This can only be done with a proper Volvo specific machine and a subscription to Volvo updates as far as I am aware.

mharwood, Apr 20, 1:34am
thanks the jazzpianomai knew some one would know
the car has done 155kms runs well, light came on after motor wash by grooming company .
will get my man to clean it first and see what happens
i havehad the light reset twice but will come on the next day

mlh19658, Apr 20, 1:35am
Welcome to the wonderful world of Volvo and mystery. Expensive mystery at that. They are a far from normal vehicle. Everything and anything to do with them costs heaps.
I've had three so call me a slow learner. Still got one and that's the problem. Easy car to get attached to.
Good luck with yours.

thejazzpianoma, Apr 20, 1:39am
O.K, well the light coming on after a motor wash would not necessarily indicate a throttle body problem. More likely water upsetting a sensor in my opinion.

There is absolutely no point in resetting the light until the problem has been found like you say.

Cleaning the throttle body is an excellent idea at those km's and I would expect some wear. However don't rush down the throttle body route as yet as I think its more likely something else.

Is there any rough running, stalling or actualy symptoms other than the light being on!

If not this would also suggest that its likely not to be a throttle body issue.

I think it would be a good idea to get someone to scan it and tell us the actual fault codes that the car is giving. This should not cost a lot and can be done on a good universal scanner so is not necessarily a Volvo issue. Also. a call to the garage that initially diagnosed it or a look on you invoice from them may tell you what the codes were. We would want specific code numbers to be of any help.

Also, what year and engine have you got!

thejazzpianoma, Apr 20, 1:39am
O.K, well the light coming on after a motor wash would not necessarily indicate a throttle body problem at all. More likely water upsetting a sensor or connection in my opinion.

There is absolutely no point in resetting the light until the problem has been found like you say.

Cleaning the throttle body is an excellent idea at those km's and I would expect some wear. However don't rush down the throttle body route as yet as I think its more likely something else.

Is there any rough running, stalling or actualy symptoms other than the light being on!

If not this would also suggest that its likely not to be a throttle body issue.

I think it would be a good idea to get someone to scan it and tell us the actual fault codes that the car is giving. This should not cost a lot and can be done on a good universal scanner so is not necessarily a Volvo garage thing. Also. a call to the garage that initially diagnosed it or a look on you invoice from them may tell you what the codes were and save you some money. We would want specific code numbers to be of any help. This is probably your most important next step as otherwise I suspect we are off on a wild goose chase.

Also, what year and engine have you got!

Just as an off topic aside. Have you been servicing your transmission! The transmission in those needs regular servicing to ensure it lasts the distance. The only catch is you MUST MUST MUST use the correct transmission fluid. The genuine Volvo fluid is made by Castrol from memory and can be bought cheaper through them. This is something to think about seriously while you are getting the car looked at etc. Just don't go to oil changers, Midas, Pitstop or any of those hacks, its a job for someone who knows Volvo's.

Don't be put off by the above, other than the throttle body and the transmission those are actually very good reliable cars. Both problems can mostly be avoided with maintenance too. BTW, the supposed high cost of maintenance is nothing to do with the car, there is nothing unusual or odd about the XC's construction. They are also good and straightfoward to work on. Its to do with the Volvo agents trying to charge silly money for things as they have a near monopoly in our small country. The good news though is you can work around these things easily enough.

When your husband cleans the throttle body (plenty of "how too's" on youtube etc and volvo sites) make sure he puts a couple of drops of synthetic oil on a Q tip and lubricates the pivot points for the butterfly valve. This part is not normally standard practice for many cars and may not be shown in general "how to's".

Regardless of what happens its good practice to clean the throttle body at least annually to help keep it in good order.

Best of luck.