Woody's Volvo V70 - (not-)Starting to frustrate

[Tetleysmooth]

Fuel pump or pump relay?

[Tamworthbay]

Second vote for fuel pump or relay.

[Steve79]

Do you live in Bristol? If so, let me know as I've got a Delphi ds150 clone that I could pop round and do a diagnostic.

[vaughant]

As these are generally robust maybe worth trying to bump start it? I'd also be inclined to check ALL the wiring connections from the battery, anything loose or broken, wobbly etc.

[Shirley Knott]

I'm assuming you've checked with a multimeter to see if the alternators doing it's job as a first port of call?

 

I'm not sure if the newer Volvos work this way but for the older ones (And lots of other stuff) a good indicator of an entirely borked CPS/RPM sensor is a lack of any movement on the RPM gauge on the dash, is the needle lifting as you turn the car over?

[Mrs6C]

^^^ also the immobiliser antenna ring around the ignition key hole...

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/archive/index.php/t-7642.html
http://www.volvoxc.com/forums/showthread.php?19105-Immobilizer-or-Antenna-Ring

Plugging in a fault code reader and seeing what fault codes are returned would be a good starting point, of course...

[w00dy]

Thanks for all the advice! Really appreciated

 

Steve I am in Bristol so if I can’t figure out anything tomorrow I’ll gladly take you up on that offer.

 

It turns over fine, but I’ll have a look at the gauge. I think I’ll check the relay and that fuel is getting to the rail first.

 

 

Sadly my obd reader is no use in my street I think due to a large number of WiFi networks.

 

 

Guess I just need to do the usual fuel and spark checks really, not used to all this modern stuff with wires and sensors everywhere.

 

Had a look at the ignition antenna earlier with no joy but it might be beyond contact cleaner.

[w00dy]

Guess who has a bad fuel pump relay... 

 

 

Thanks all for the help.

[Tamworthbay]

At least it’s an easy fix

[w00dy]

Yep, I'm happy with that result!

[Tetleysmooth]

Bullseye !!

[The Moog]

Excellent - easy fix then

[BeEP]

Glad to hear it's still going; but for taking that Clio in for MOT it would be frdige freezers by now!

[w00dy]

I'm glad you saved even though with it's new fuel relay it is now running unbelievably roughly. It was fine when I drove it onto the drive with the jump wire and then I fitted the new relay today and it will barely run and sounds awful at idle and barely runs, smooths out if you rev it, but I don't want to run it for long sounding like that.. Going back to the jump wire makes no difference so it's not the relay, but I'm lost as to what has happened with it sat there on the drive. 

 

 

I cleaned up the plugs, but they weren't too bad anyway (aside from some oil under the cover, I think some PCV investigation may be needed), but it's back in the bad books again.

[Rocket88]

I'm glad you saved even though with it's new fuel relay it is now running unbelievably roughly. It was fine when I drove it onto the drive with the jump wire and then I fitted the new relay today and it will barely run and sounds awful at idle and barely runs, smooths out if you rev it, but I don't want to run it for long sounding like that.. Going back to the jump wire makes no difference so it's not the relay, but I'm lost as to what has happened with it sat there on the drive. 

 

 

I cleaned up the plugs, but they weren't too bad anyway (aside from some oil under the cover, I think some PCV investigation may be needed), but it's back in the bad books again.

 

 

 

Alternator....?

[w00dy]

Ok, so it'll start happily if you leave it a couple of days and then it'll get very rich, run like crap and blacken the plugs very quickly. The Lambda light is now on too. I might have to admit defeat, but that'd involve a garage having to pick it up and that's money I could do without spending.

[bramz7]

Someone on a Volvo forum suggested MAF sensor faulty for very similar symptoms, although their main issue was terrible economy, but it also blackened the plugs and threw up a lambda warning.....

[Tetleysmooth]

You could try changing the MAF sensor.

I've just bought an aftermarket one for my 2.5t. About 23 quid on ebay.

Have you got an engine management light (EML) on?

[w00dy]

Autoshite diagnostics have served me well so far so I will look into a new MAF, but Steve79 should hopefully be able to get the codes read tomorrow (points for correctly guessing how many there are). No EML light.

[Tetleysmooth]

You can clean the MAF sensor, but only with the correct cleaner.

Brake and carb cleaner is too aggressive and will damage the sensor, and never touch the sensor with anything as the vanes will break.

[Tetleysmooth]

[Tetleysmooth]

Sorry to go on, but while you've got the MAF sensor removed, you - or your mate - may as well clean out the throttle body too. You'll need carb cleaner for that. Throttle body is exposed when you remove the MAF. 

Idle control valve may well need a clean too. Carb cleaner for that too.

[Tetleysmooth]

How's the T5 doing wOOdy?

[w00dy]

Well it hasn't yet managed to run, only stumble slightly on the starter. It did have a MAF code, but that went away, I've ordered a new one anyway. Steve79 was awesome and came over and ran the codes and lent me his battery charger since I'd exhausted all the juice previously. We then had a go at starting it only for a large cloud of smoke to pop out from the engine. It turned out this was all the petrol that was in the oil! Not good. So I replaced the oil using a Lidl "Ultimate Speed" electric pump (since it still lives on the street) which was anything but fast and now I'm waiting on the new MAF to see if that helps.

 

One thing slightly worrying is how the starter sounds a bit lumpy as if one of the cylinders isn't happy so I will pull the plugs again and see if anything comes out of any of them. After that I'm out of ideas so probably calling a mobile mechanic out is the best option.

[w00dy]

So today I was planning to fit the new MAF and take out the plugs again. I decided to try it first to see if it the starter sounded any better and it it fired instantly and sat idling beautifully so I decided to take it on a quick run.  It was running spot-on (albeit with the Lambda light still on), but on the way back from the short loop it got rougher and rougher until it died completely about 1/2mile from home. So I've ditched it and will fit the new MAF tomorrow and hope that sorts it (and likely have to clean the plugs again)

 

Still at least it seems like the engine is in good health.

[Tamworthbay]

Sounds fuel related, hopefully the MAF will sort it but every time I have had issues with the Maf they tend to be always there. Have you changed the fuel filter out of interest?

[w00dy]

Sounds fuel related, hopefully the MAF will sort it but every time I have had issues with the Maf they tend to be always there. Have you changed the fuel filter out of interest?

 

 

For the money it's definitely worth changing so I shall, although going by the service history it used to get a fresh one every year  (or more likely the garage has charged for that many). 

[Steve79]

Glad to hear its was running ok. That explosion was impressive when we tried to start it!

 

I'm around tomorrow if you need a hand and get read the codes again!

[w00dy]

Glad to hear its was running ok. That explosion was impressive when we tried to start it!

 

I'm around tomorrow if you need a hand and get read the codes again!

 

Must have missed this. Thanks Steve. If you're around and it's not too much trouble sometime this week let me know

 

 Now I've replaced the MAF with an eBay cheapo which was slightly larger in diameter than the original and therefore a pain in the arse to fit, but it's on and the car runs without a lambda warning light too. Unfortunately it runs like crap and definitely not on all 5 so it's one issue sorted and on to the next. Leads might be an issue since I've had the spark plugs in and out a lot I suppose. 

[Tetleysmooth]

Is it over-fuelling Woody?

 

I suppose the next item to tackle might be the coolant temperature sensor.