127 replies to this topic

[starfish]

what cars is this ETM upgrade available for? Also, is there maybe like an official Volvo website that explains what is up with the ETM, and what they are changing?

They are changing the software to allow easier technician diagnosis of ETM fault code problems by having the system differentiate between real faults and electrical glitches. Don't confuse this with a performance upgrade that the driver will notice on a car that is not experiencing a problem. They did talk about this software reducing idle fluctuations due to a dirt build up on the throttle. Any other changes in operation of the car may be due to having the car's computers reset their adaptives after downloading. Still this is a worthwile update and is recommended. Volvo will notify their owners who are affected by this recall 155 by letter during the first and second quarter of 2006.

[AReed67]

Ok here are the results of my ETM upgrade. Dealership found it wasn't throwing error codes, so they only did the software upgrade. Service manager noted that the idle would increase, but otherwise there shouldn't be a big difference.

I'm not sure if it came with the new ETM software, or the fact that the ECU had to be reset to install it. . . but the car shifts completely differnetly now. MUCH smoother shifting. There is also a little more pull at mid/high rpms, which I was missing with the smaller turbo.

Biggest different is just how smooth it shifts, or less loss of speed when coasting. Before the upgrade, it's as if it had a rev limiter set too low -- you'd pass someone on the highway and as soon as you took your foot off the gas, you'd drop 10-15 mph as if you were hitting the brake.

I can definitely tell that the idle has increased. Unfortunately I didn't note what usually idled at before the service, however, there is a hill that I drive twice a day both ways to and from work/lunch. When stopped, letting off the brake would normally cause me to very slowly drift backwards. Now, the car slowly climbs forward.

And before somebody calls it -- this is a very noticeable difference with my car, not placebo effect -- I may have had other issues that other owners that were resolved by the ECU reset alone, but either way I'm extremely happy.

[Slater]

They are changing the software to allow easier technician diagnosis of ETM fault code problems by having the system differentiate between real faults and electrical glitches. Don't confuse this with a performance upgrade that the driver will notice on a car that is not experiencing a problem. They did talk about this software reducing idle fluctuations due to a dirt build up on the throttle. Any other changes in operation of the car may be due to having the car's computers reset their adaptives after downloading. Still this is a worthwile update and is recommended. Volvo will notify their owners who are affected by this recall 155 by letter during the first and second quarter of 2006.

Also while you are there it is HIGHLY recommended to have that stupid neutral control disabled (transmission shifts into N at a stop). What volvo won't tell you is that is hard on the transmission, causes lurching and rough takeoffs at every light that gets worse and worse and I don't need to tell you what eventually happens to the transmission. The neutral control was done strictly for emmissions purposes with no regard to the long term life of the transmission. What does Volvo care if the tranny decides to take a dump well after the warranty is up?

And if you are questioning where I got this info, it's from a master Volvo mech with 35+ years of experience. He said every single car that comes in that needs a SEM or REM or other software update he recognizes that the ntutral control be done at that time too. And he's not saying it because he gets a free toaster for every 20 neutral control updates he sells. He is recommending it because he sees the effects of what it does first hand on a daily basis.

Ok here are the results of my ETM upgrade. Dealership found it wasn't throwing error codes, so they only did the software upgrade. Service manager noted that the idle would increase, but otherwise there shouldn't be a big difference.

I'm not sure if it came with the new ETM software, or the fact that the ECU had to be reset to install it. . . but the car shifts completely differnetly now. MUCH smoother shifting. There is also a little more pull at mid/high rpms, which I was missing with the smaller turbo.

Biggest different is just how smooth it shifts, or less loss of speed when coasting. Before the upgrade, it's as if it had a rev limiter set too low -- you'd pass someone on the highway and as soon as you took your foot off the gas, you'd drop 10-15 mph as if you were hitting the brake.

I can definitely tell that the idle has increased. Unfortunately I didn't note what usually idled at before the service, however, there is a hill that I drive twice a day both ways to and from work/lunch. When stopped, letting off the brake would normally cause me to very slowly drift backwards. Now, the car slowly climbs forward.

And before somebody calls it -- this is a very noticeable difference with my car, not placebo effect -- I may have had other issues that other owners that were resolved by the ECU reset alone, but either way I'm extremely happy.

That, my friend, is the neutral control disable update.

The rolling backwards thing was because you were in neutral, which is gone now because that great "feature" has been disabled.

[AReed67]

That, my friend, is the neutral control disable update.

The rolling backwards thing was because you were in neutral, which is gone now because that great "feature" has been disabled.

See, I asked the Svc Mgr about this, and he said that I did not have that update but he would recommend it. I let him know that I did not want to spend the $115 to do it just yet, and he didn't mention it when I picked up the car. I'd be extremely surprised if they tossed in ANYTHING for free (they even try to skip the free carwash sometimes, saying it's backed up). BUT, having said that, it does make a lot of sense.

I wonder. . .

Edited by AReed67, 07 April 2006 - 10:12 PM.

[Slater]

See, I asked the Svc Mgr about this, and he said that I did not have that update but he would recommend it. I let him know that I did not want to spend the $115 to do it just yet, and he didn't mention it when I picked up the car. I'd be extremely surprised if they tossed in ANYTHING for free (they even try to skip the free carwash sometimes, saying it's backed up). BUT, having said that, it does make a lot of sense.

I wonder. . .

Yeam, they definitely won't do it for free. We can thanks VIDA for that. Anytime VIDA is hooked up and software is downloaded to your car from the server, the dealership ID and a whole bunch of other info is logged. The dealership automatically gets billed by Volvo each month for all of the software updates. The updates are only $32 I believe, but you have to pay labor too. Anyways, since the dealership gets charged no matter what, they aren't going to just give it away unless it's a warranty issue. Those days are gone

[SkyWriter]

my car is running fine. and i have the IPD ECU upgrade. since they charge per upgrade, i assume there is some selectin criteria and dependancy in the available upgrades for your car. i would get the cd changer, and/or the transmission upgrade.

[rcclass]

Not to hi-jack this, but...

I have noticed that when comming to a stop, the RPM's drop down to ~750 and then go back up to the normal ~900 (too high?). By no means does it feel like it wants to stall. Is this normal, or would the soeftware update help this?

The vehicle in question is a '99 V70R w/ 80K on the odo.

Thanks!

[ms007]

Also while you are there it is HIGHLY recommended to have that stupid neutral control disabled (transmission shifts into N at a stop). What volvo won't tell you is that is hard on the transmission, causes lurching and rough takeoffs at every light that gets worse and worse and I don't need to tell you what eventually happens to the transmission. The neutral control was done strictly for emmissions purposes with no regard to the long term life of the transmission. What does Volvo care if the tranny decides to take a dump well after the warranty is up?

And if you are questioning where I got this info, it's from a master Volvo mech with 35+ years of experience. He said every single car that comes in that needs a SEM or REM or other software update he recognizes that the ntutral control be done at that time too. And he's not saying it because he gets a free toaster for every 20 neutral control updates he sells. He is recommending it because he sees the effects of what it does first hand on a daily basis.





That, my friend, is the neutral control disable update.

The rolling backwards thing was because you were in neutral, which is gone now because that great "feature" has been disabled.

There is a tech net note on that Ill see if I can get the # It was a while ago..
Problem is worst with a driver that drives with both feet.. Every time you apply the breaks trans goes in N

[33eggharbor]

Also while you are there it is HIGHLY recommended to have that stupid neutral control disabled (transmission shifts into N at a stop). What volvo won't tell you is that is hard on the transmission, causes lurching and rough takeoffs at every light that gets worse and worse and I don't need to tell you what eventually happens to the transmission. The neutral control was done strictly for emmissions purposes with no regard to the long term life of the transmission. What does Volvo care if the tranny decides to take a dump well after the warranty is up?

And if you are questioning where I got this info, it's from a master Volvo mech with 35+ years of experience. He said every single car that comes in that needs a SEM or REM or other software update he recognizes that the ntutral control be done at that time too. And he's not saying it because he gets a free toaster for every 20 neutral control updates he sells. He is recommending it because he sees the effects of what it does first hand on a daily basis.
That, my friend, is the neutral control disable update.

The rolling backwards thing was because you were in neutral, which is gone now because that great "feature" has been disabled.

Also while you are there it is HIGHLY recommended to have that stupid neutral control disabled (transmission shifts into N at a stop). What volvo won't tell you is that is hard on the transmission, causes lurching and rough takeoffs at every light that gets worse and worse and I don't need to tell you what eventually happens to the transmission. The neutral control was done strictly for emmissions purposes with no regard to the long term life of the transmission. What does Volvo care if the tranny decides to take a dump well after the warranty is up?

And if you are questioning where I got this info, it's from a master Volvo mech with 35+ years of experience. He said every single car that comes in that needs a SEM or REM or other software update he recognizes that the ntutral control be done at that time too. And he's not saying it because he gets a free toaster for every 20 neutral control updates he sells. He is recommending it because he sees the effects of what it does first hand on a daily basis.
That, my friend, is the neutral control disable update.

The rolling backwards thing was because you were in neutral, which is gone now because that great "feature" has been disabled.

Only issue then is the shifting into 3rd sometimed lurches. Occasionaly when accelerating from 0-60 at about 40mph car will suddenly drop from 2nd into neutral hits about 3 k and then kick into 3rd.

[nervegrind3r]

got my software upgrade for my 02 s60 about 2 weeks ago. Car drives exactly the same as it did before, there are no noticeable differences. Upon receiving the car and driving, I said wow, this feels different. I realized very soon that this was a complete placebo. Car drives beautifully at highway speeds, but has random crap outs in stop and go type of traffic on local roads. 80k miles as of yesterday.

sigh

[cRRRRazy]

just performed the upgrade. the ETM/ECM update.

I noticed that the car shift significantly smoother and perhaps because of this it felt like it had more power. it just seemed to maintain the power band and give this impression. it makes it feel more nimble.

I inquired about the neutral control and was told after inquiry that it did not apply to my car? cool!

in any case even after being skeptical about maybe losing some power, I was pleased to find that no such thing had occured and noticed the shifting to be brisk and smooth. I also noticed like someone stated earlier, that it doesn't rev down so quick when off the throttle and thus requiring you to rely more on the brakes( more brake force) if that makes any sense.

[va850guy]

[/quote]

See, I asked the Svc Mgr about this, and he said that I did not have that update but he would recommend it. I let him know that I did not want to spend the $115 to do it just yet, and he didn't mention it when I picked up the car. I'd be extremely surprised if they tossed in ANYTHING for free (they even try to skip the free carwash sometimes, saying it's backed up). BUT, having said that, it does make a lot of sense.

I wonder. . .

Yeam, they definitely won't do it for free. We can thanks VIDA for that. Anytime VIDA is hooked up and software is downloaded to your car from the server, the dealership ID and a whole bunch of other info is logged. The dealership automatically gets billed by Volvo each month for all of the software updates. The updates are only $32 I believe, but you have to pay labor too. Anyways, since the dealership gets charged no matter what, they aren't going to just give it away unless it's a warranty issue. Those days are gone

Had mine done yesterday.

When I first read about the ETM update it was on Monday morning. I was sitting in the waiting room of the local Upsolute dealer...I went running into the service bay screaming "STOOOOP!!!" just as the guy was pulling out my ECU to do the upgrade *whew*

I called a nearby stealership and service advisor wasn't very helpful. He said the update was coming and that if/when I received a letter from Volvo I could call them back.

So I called my regular dealership (actually the same dealership, different location) and asked about the update, even told them I hadn't received a letter but had heard about it on the boards. The service advisor said the upgrade was highly recommended even though the car was running fine (major tune up a week ago, no error codes) and set me up with the appointment. Whole thing took about an hour and didn't cost me a cent.

I'm amazed at the difference in the car. As mentioned by previous posters, the car shifts much more smoothly and feels more responsive. Almost feels like a new car. I guess software is software and like Windows PCs even ECUs benefit from an occasional reboot

Edited by va850guy, 13 April 2006 - 10:34 PM.

[Piglet]

Just had this done on an '01 V70 and it's much better. Throttle response is more instant but there's still some lag present. I've also gotten better gas mileage, I went 350 miles on one tank of gas. I'm impressed with this update so far

[ms007]

There is a tech net note on that Ill see if I can get the # It was a while ago..
Problem is worst with a driver that drives with both feet.. Every time you apply the breaks trans goes in N

Upgrade for trans SW# 30677036

[SagaPer]

Did somebody here get a letter from Volvo stating a recall for software upgrade? If so, could you please scan the letter and publish it here?

I'm living in Norway and haven't got a letter from Volvo, but my Volvo-dealer told me (in February) that there would be an upgrade in April 2006.

Should the software upgrade be a free service?

Edited by SagaPer, 16 April 2006 - 10:15 AM.

[nervegrind3r]

Did somebody here get a letter from Volvo stating a recall for software upgrade? If so, could you please scan the letter and publish it here?

I'm living in Norway and haven't got a letter from Volvo, but my Volvo-dealer told me (in February) that there would be an upgrade in April 2006.

Should the software upgrade be a free service?

you dont need a letter from volvo. I didnt receive one either since I wasn't the original owner. Call customer service and ask about the free software upgrade regarding your car. They'll ask you for the Vin # to verify it applies to you. If it does, call your local dealer and schedule an appointment; they'll know what your talking about.

[turbomolar]

That was me in the last post. (I forgot to log in.)

[BearC70R]

I had this software update done along with the physical cleaning of the ETM. After all this work, my car was back to slow stock boost. I had to send ecu back to iPd to reflash. Thus, it seems as though this update in software is pretty much useless from the dealer if you plan on keeping your aftermarket ecu upgrades.

IPD told me that they haven't worked a remap of the ECU. Told me to call them back in 2 weeks. I'd make sure they didn't wipe the ETM upgrade you just did.