My 2001 S80 2.9 was surging at idle (rising and falling idle speed). So I took it to the local Volvo dealer where the service manager happily informed me that the "Electronic Throttle Module has to be cleaned and that will be three hundred dollars please". His remarkable diagnosis was done without even looking at my car. I said thanks but no thanks.

Then I noticed that my owners manual says the "PCV orifice nipple" should be cleaned periodically. I suspected this might be causing the surging because I had never cleaned it before.

The PCV orifice nipple is simply the little metal nipple in the intake manifold that the PCV vacumn line attaches to. But the problem is that it is located in a very hard to reach location...high up under the upper intake manifold and nearly impossible to see. To find it, start by looking directly behind the dipstick tube. There, you will see a rather large black box (the oil seperator, part of the PCV system) bolted to the engine. You will see a hose coming out of the top of the box. A few inches from that you will see where the smaller PCV vacumn line branches off that hose from a "T" fitting. Follow that small vacumn line about 6 inches to where it attaches to the intake manifold. That's the orifice nipple that needs to be cleaned.

You can pull the vacumn line off by reaching your hand up there (just barely) from the right side (starter side) of the manifold. But because it is so tight I wasn't able to stick something into the nipple to clean it out. So I got some thin metal wire, bent it into a large "C" shape, and carefully snaked it over the top of the intake manifold and into the nipple to clean it out. With a well positioned shop light I was able to see the nipple between the manifold webbing from above to help guide me.

After that, I also removed the vacumn line and T fitting and cleaned them thoroughly with carb cleaner, just for good measure.

The result? NO MORE SURGING IDLE. Total time for the repair...about 15 minutes. Total cost...zero.

Score one for the backyard mechanics.

Good luck.
G Squared


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2001 S80 2.9, 69K miles