V70 Software Upgrade Impacts

buffalo100

I bought a used '01 V70 2 months ago from a used car dealer. Car ran very nice, gets great mileage (over 30mpg on highway) and was in good condition. When reviewing the service records I noticed the letter regarding the software recall. I contacted the local dealer and was told to bring it in. They completed the work free of charge.

Since having that done about 3 weeks ago the car runs much worse. It stutters when I accelerate from a stop and is starting to feel a little "lost" for lack of a better description when I am running at about 45mph. I have been keeping an eye on the rpm and not seeing any unusual fluctuation. Now that I have done some research on this topic I am pretty nervous about what I might be up against. when I bought the car I declined taking it to a third party for inspection. It really drove great and I test drove it for a combined 2 hours in a mix of conditions.

So given that the problems really started after the upgrade was done by the dealer, what are the chances that the new issues are a direct result of tat work? I want to contact the dealer but I would prefer to be better prepared to discuss. My greatest fear is of course that they will tell me my tranny is cooked, or soon to be cooked, and there is nothing they can do for me.

Can anyone offer any advice with regards to dealing with the dealer, and also opinions of the situation and what it might be symptomatic of?

jim314

I would take it back to the dealer. What octane gasoline are you using? Before you take it back I would be sure that you get this faulty operation with 91 octane AKI or above. The manual states that the engine can use 87 octane but that the engine is desiged to achieve optimal performance with 91 octane AKI or above.

I would state that the performance of the engine changed at the same time as the software upgrade and, while you understand that it could be a coincidence, you would like for them to check it out.

buffalo100

I did not try the higher octane but plan on it. It gets great mileage for an older car (over 30mgh on highway) so extra cost might be wort hit. I did end up going back to the dealer and they said the software upgrade they did was corrupt so they did a new software upgrade at no charge and it seems to have resolved the problem. The only bad thing is when they did the upgrade this time my stereo locked and I do not have the code. The dealer gave me a code to try but it did not work so now I have to take time and go back so they can pull the stereo to get the serial number and find the code. I wish they had tested it before I left the lot. anyone know of a quicker way to get the code?

jim314

I have not found any driveability problems with sub 91 octane AKI fuel in my 2004 V70 2.4L, but after a bit of early experimentation I habitually use 91 octane AKI or above. I just decided that given the slight extra cost in fuel it was not worth worrying about it. The manual states that the engine can run without damage on 87 octane AKI, but is designed to use 91 octane or above for optimum performance. I decided that I could possibly get slightly higher mpg with the premium, and it might result in less long term wear on the engine. I would not do it just to get the full 168 hp rather than 4 or 5 hp less.

My V70 is a base model 2.4L non-turbo without a trip computer, so I cannot easily determine the relative mpg with 91 compared to 89 or 87. From fuel pump data I get 30 mpg or over when lightly loaded, even at 70-75 mph.