Volvo '97 850R Cranks but won't start - well maintained 170K

rdcsa1 · Post by **rdcsa1** » 06 Feb 2010, 21:42

I'm having a similar problem and am exasperated. I traveled to Tennessee from Charleston in my girlfriend's 1997 850. I parked to unload luggage for the holidays. When I tried cranking the engine it wouldn't start. I bought a scanner and the code was 0340, camshaft position sensor. I inspected the wiring to find the plug had melted. I rewired and the car ran for three weeks. Last week the same thing happened. I replaced the camshaft position sensor and the car still won't start. I tried pushing the pedal to the floor while turning the ignition, almost started but stalled out. Now i think the starter is fried. Car will no longer turn over. Perhaps my rewiring was insufficient since I had to cut the waterproof plug and used quick connectors. Initially it threw the 0340 trouble code again. Now I get no code. Please help. The distributor cap has a slight crack and the engine leaks oil, which may have fouled the cmp sensor/plug and distributor cap. Please help.

Ron

Ky Maverick51 · Post by **Ky Maverick51** » 07 Feb 2010, 08:38

Well, I'm still down, but determined. My work week is long, so limited on time. Still no spark at the plugs, ...focused on coil yesterday, ...have 11.5 volts at each power stage connection with the ignition on, ...I talked to a mechanic, ...he suggested I use a 12 volt test light, probe the blue wire (negative side) of the power stage connection and crank the engine, the light will flash, it did not, so I replaced the coil assembly, ..but neither does it. I checked for voltage from the coil using a multi-meter, I get 12 volts on each side of the power stage connections at the coil, but only about 9.5 volts out of the coil. I get the same value at the distributor side of the coil wire. What I have replaced thus far: Plugs, Rotor button, Cam & Crank sensors, coil, ..the engine will crank just fine, but No spark. ...I'm looking for ground wires today, ...what about a Relay problem?, ....I noticed my horn isn't working as normal, only produces a fragmented sound. Is this an indicator of a wiring ground problem. Thanks everyone, ..determined but wavering ???

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 07 Feb 2010, 11:20

The way the ignition system works is that it gets its signal from the cam position sensor into the ECU and then the ECU issues the signal to the coil to fire. It sounds like you have changed both ends of the system, the camshaft position sensor and the coil and what is missing is what is in between which is the ECU or the wiring to or from the ECU.

From here I would pull the ECU and clean the contacts on both the ECU module itself and socket that it plugs into. Corrosion isn't a huge frequent problem but we have had members that have had such issues. Cleaning up the connections is cheap and easy and it can't hurt anything even if that isn't ultimately the problem.

...Lee

Ky Maverick51 · Post by **Ky Maverick51** » 12 Feb 2010, 09:42

...all is well ...the Volvo is back on the road again. It was a defective new Camshaft Sensor that I purchased at Autozone, not to bad mouth Autozone, they are good Guys to work with,...but after 3 week ends of trial and error, I had it towed to a garage that had done some work for me previously, who had the expensive test equipment, and in 15 minutes, he said it was the Cam Sensor. He replaced the Autozone with an OEM sensor, and it fired up on the first try. The Autozone Guys gave me a full refund. Thanks to all to offered advice to help resolve my problem.

Post by **jblackburn** » 12 Feb 2010, 10:56

Now you know exactly how picky Volvos are about their electronics!

Thanks for following up with your solution

regrie203 · Post by **regrie203** » 01 Oct 2012, 19:10

Just wanted to say THANKS! After reading all the problems you went through really helped me. I had almost the exact problems. I was able to go directly to the problem which was the camshaft position sensor. I used a voltmeter to measure the voltage at terminal 3, 2, and 1 of the camshaft position sensor. I followed the instructions from my Chilton Volvo Manual (which is OK)
It did help me with the readings. I ordered a new one and installed it. Now, my car starts up and so far it's doing fine. It's back to normal. Thanks for your posting.

Reg

Post by **boosted5cyl** » 02 Oct 2012, 12:00

sgreen82 · Post by **sgreen82** » 18 Feb 2013, 15:56

Kudos to jblackburn......take my word for it.....PUTTING OIL in the cylinders DOES WORK...i was having a heck of a time figuring out how to solve the CRANK but NO START problem....reading the post"s under "cranks but won't start" subject line i just could'nt figure out what was going on 1) bought a new coolant temp, sensor $41.00 with shipping FCP Groupon and then yesterday testing the resistance(ohms) reading on the crankshaft sensor had a reading of .247..... ok that was higher than the 0- .120 that had been specified in one of the posts which said anything over the .120 was gravy......2) the car one morning when i unhooked the temp sensor fired a couple of times so i figured whatever the problem was it could'nt be to BIG. 3) re-reading the post this morning i noticed the jblackburn post always seem to be dead-on..........i figured what the heck......i'm gonna try this darn OIL thing in the cylinders....if it does'nt work i'll unhook the cam sensor and test it's resistance and tonight since i have the cover off the cylinders head i'll test for spark at the plugs......wha-la put put bang,bang,bang.vroom,vroom ran it just like it says in the post until the smoke cleared up(OIL burning off in cylinder basically)......until it idled nicely.....shes still running......many many thanks to jblackburn who i could not have completed this job successfully without his help......I am quite honestly amazed and starstruck........oh yeah and thanks to Matthew's Volvo Site for all ur help and don't worry u will have a nice donation on payday u just saved me at the least $200-$250 dollars...thanks so much...........