Hey All. This is my first post here so thanks to anyone that can help.

I know relatively little about cars and even less about volvo's. At the advice of two family members I purchased a 2000 S80 T6 in late october. I have been driving it since without problems. The car ran great... good power....and comfortable....

We had a snow storm here and I was forced to shut off the DSTC to get unstuck on a hill... Ever since then the car was running a bit funky. Loss of power at high speeds and not as quick off the line.

Well....on the new years eve I was driving along about 120kmh and i just felt all of a sudden there was not power to the engine. I slowed to a stop and the car shut off. It starts up just fine but doesnt stay running for more than a couple seconds and then shuts off again.

If i hit I keep my foot on the accelerator while its running it stays on and will drive just fine....It speeds up and slows down fine... shifts well and keeps running....but as soon as i come to an idle it cuts out. I brought it to a mechanic that day and after several hours and hundreds of dollars they said they "think" its the Mass air flow sensor.


They ordered the part and are replacing it today. Does this make sense?" I asked them to check for leaks in the air intake system and to check the seals on the turbo because I thought that there was a pressure loss causing the cut out but they said they checked all the hoses and seals and it seems fine.


Has anyone seen this before?

Did your mechanic try to clean the MAF first or just got a code? These can be purchased online for far less than a mechanic will charge you and only take about ten minutes to install. I would do the cleaner first since it costs so little. Your wording they "think" does not sound so convincing. I would verify that all your service bulletins (recalls) for the ETM have been done first since those are free.

There was only one recall on the car and I had it done myself. I wasnt aware you could clean and MAFS or I would have had them do that. They didnt offer it. I did purchase the unit myself since they wanted to charge me about 75$ more than I was able to get the part for and they are installing it for me. Its still about $500 repair job so far because of the time they took to diagnose it.

They pulled the codes and said it was vague...something to do with the intake system but that it didnt mean much. The problem here is that the car broke down about 120 miles from my home and i had it towed to a local place because my AAA only covers the first 5 miles of towing.

The reason i said "think" is because thats what they said....they were "80% sure" that was the problem.

First thing is to upgrade your AAA coverage. MAF cleaner is cheap to have on hand. Just for perspective, a new MAF online is about 80-135 and is one plug and two screws to remove. This includes both the meter and the sensor. I understand being far away and at the mercy of the shop it was towed to, but 80% isn't that high. Codes being vague? Would you get a refund if that part did not fix the car? Normally electronic parts are non-refundable once installed. You would be about the same price if your car was at a dealership if this is the problem.

Just found out from Volvo that there is another recall on the car.... your stating prompted me to call in and ask. There is a recall for the ETM that requires a software change to fix the issue and if that doesnt fix it they replace the ETM. Im not sure if that is the problem but from reading about it online it seems to cause the same problems im having. I called the shop it was at and they hadnt done the work yet. I asked them not to and Im going there to get the car. Im going to drive it to the volvo dealer near them... Luckily its close by so as long as i keep my foot on the gas I should get there no problem(fingers crossed) I will update this post to let you all know what happens.. Thanks for your help

Ok so i got my car back from the dealer. The Recall had nothing to do with the problem. They had to replace the MAF sensor. It was about a $350 job at the dealer and they cleared the other codes I had which they said were "meaningless" and replaced a bulb in my tail lights that was out. All told the total was about $850 with the two mechanics.

upsetting..but at least its running again