[Bruce Stanton]

There are dozens of stories floating around concerning potential ECU upgrades for the 2001 V70 T5. What I have discovered is:<P>1) ECU upgrades through VADIS at your dealerships are available. However, they are not all available for all cars. This post is only concerned with those available for the 2001 V70 T5. I have no idea if or when they will be available for the 2.4T or the XC.<P>2) Several ECU upgrades are now becoming available. To date I have heard of three specific ones:<P>Improved engine/turbo performance. Many T5 owners, myself included have been complaining about Camry like acceleration.<P>Clunky/erratic shifting when in auto under light loads.<P>Poor cold start and idle characteristics<P>3) I did not list the ECU upgrade numbers above because they seem to change daily. Jose in Portugal received FID 616, while Scott in Oregon got FID 525. Moderator Darell has been told his car needs FID 605, while my car is going in tomorrow for FID 540. There is no common sense way for the average person to figure it out. Your car needs to be plugged into the VADIS terminal at your dealership and the system will determine which, IF ANY, upgrades are available for your particular car based on it's VIN number. Also, it seems the dealerships won't just download all appropriate updates, just those that pertain to a particular complaint.<P>4) Therefore, don't go to your dealership requesting a specific upgrade like "I want my ECU upgraded with FID 616", because it just doesn't work that way. As I mentioned above, the code numbers change based on your VIN and your complaint.<P>5) Here's another caveat. My car is going in for FID 540, which is a combination of the engine performance improvement and the cold start improvement. However, the tech bulletin that accompanies the upgrade makes no reference to performance improvement, just cold starting. My Service Tech made several phone calls to determine that FID 540 actually includes the engine performance option, which is all I really want or need!<P>I hope that clears this up a little. I'll post back next week with the results of my upgrade. Wish me luck! <BR>

 

[darell]

Excellent post Bruce. That's the most cohesive and comprehensive explanation of the software updates yet!<P>We'll meet here again in a day or two to see how the new software works in our various cars.<P>Thanks!<BR>- Darell

 

[darell]

Well, the upgrades are done on my car. I came home with 540, 541 and 616 installed. After first telling me I needed 605, they later discovered that it was only for S80s. Now, how the heck do they make THAT mistake if this all depends on the VIN? Of course the dealer made it sound like my fault, even though the only numbers I went to them with were 616, 525 and 540. Go figure.<P>Anyway, I've only driven home from the dealer, then on two small errands so far, so I can't make my final judgement. I have noticed much smoother shifting overall, and substantially better cold transmission performance. There is better low-end power in the "power hole" between idle and 2500 RPM. However, the idle seems rougher, and there have been at least two worse-than-ever trans shifts at low speed.<P>One of the first things the dealer told me was that it takes 70 to 300 miles (they originally said it would take 700 miles!) for the software to "set it" - whatever the heck that could mean. So I'll wait before complaining too much more.<P>They fixed my steering click and replaced all my chipped trim.<P>- Darell<P>

 

[Bruce Stanton]

Well, its been almost two weeks since my car was 540'd, and to tell the honest truth, I can't tell the slightest difference. I am now pretty sure that my Service Technician, as competent as he seems to be, was misinformed when he was told that the 540 upgrade included the cold start improvements AND performance enhancements. If it did anything, it was the cold start improvement, and my car already started fine, warm or cold, before I had the upgrade. I'm going to give him a call next week and inquire about FID 525 or FID 616 again. I'm sure getting tired of this. Good luck to the rest of you!

 

[darell]

Well, I'm 600 miles into my software upgrades, so I should be reaping the full benefit now. Let's just say I'm not very impressed. The best drive I had was home from the dealer. Since then it's been pretty much down hill. My car now idles rougher and has many of the same shifting problems that it had before. There is some improvement in shift quality (it still shifts at the wrong times, but at least it's a bit smoother) and the torque hole between idle and 2000 RPM has been relieved a bit. Other than that, I'm still looking for Volvo to make this transmission better.<P>The head mechanic who now knows my car (too) well insists that it's purely a software problem. I keep bringing up that software can only do so much, and there still remains the chance that I have a (mechanically) bad transmission. The support I have for this idea comes from the fact that others, with earlier build dates (Bruce, Rob), don't have the trasmission problems that I have. If we all have the same software (or even when I have more current software) why is my car still acting this way? I have many questions that may never be answered...but it isn't gonna keep me from asking them.<P>

 

[Rob 101]

Happy New Year Guys! <P>Thanks for keeping us fellow T5'ers updated on the software fixes. It's too bad that my initial opinion of my Volvo Service Boys still seems to be sub-par <IMG SRC="http://www.swedespeed.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif"> Except for the scheduled services, I just as well keep it away from them as much as possible.<P>As a wise man once said... "with every new year, brings new hope, more power, & less turbo lag!" ... maybe even MEM MIRS!<P> <IMG SRC="http://www.geocities.com/rgwong/NukedV70T5.jpg"> <BR>7 months, 4600 miles... and it still makes my heart skip a beat when I look at it! I love this car.<P><BR><P>

 

[sondagsakare]

Thanks, posters. Our early-manufacture (Feb. 00) V70T5 received the FID 540 software upgrade, which eliminated rough cold start symptoms. The information you provided was crucial. Driving conditions in Potholeville (Chicago) prevent testing for possible other performance improvements at this time.