'98 V70XC --- Extremely Frustrated

Tes2fy · Post by **Tes2fy** » 13 Jul 2011, 09:10

A few weeks ago while in a town 75 miles away, it left me sitting. I had driven there with no indication of a problem at all. Pulled into the parking lot, everything was fine. Went in for appointment, returned to the car. It cranked and idled fine - no skipping or sputtering. When I went to press down on the accelerator, it died. There I sat for 14 hours, waiting for someone to come help me. (This is my family's ONLY vehicle.)

We got it home and I started researching the problem. I learned that someone here had a similar problem, so I read what he went through to remedy it. The last thing he tried did it - so, I replaced the fuel pump relay, and it did it (or so I thought!!!).

It ran perfectly well for the next several weeks - including taking a very long road trip from East Tennessee down to the Florida coast.

So, last Friday, I had to take oldest daughter to work. it ran beautifully that day - and I ended up driving a couple hundred miles as I had necessary things to attend to in 3 towns. On the last leg of the trip, I pulled over at a local fruit stand - exited car, leaving it idling. Re-entered the car, put into drive, stepped on accelerator, and it died again. Identical symptoms as the original problem from a few weeks ago - idled but died when accelerator was stepped on.

I replaced the fuel pump relay AGAIN, only this time, an OEM part was used (which, by the way, was substantially cheaper at the dealer than it was at either Auto Zone or Advanced Auto Parts!).

I could go outside right now and start it up. If you were standing nearby, you'd think it purred like a kitten. But, it just can't seem to take additional fuel when attempting to step on the gas pedal.

HELP??

zhenya · Post by **zhenya** » 13 Jul 2011, 09:18

I can't offer any help other than to suggest that you buy a AAA membership today. I wouldn't drive a car of any age without one, let alone a 13 year old one that was our only car hundreds and hundreds of miles from home. The top-level membership will get you 200 miles of free towing.

Tes2fy · Post by **Tes2fy** » 13 Jul 2011, 09:27

zhenya wrote:I can't offer any help other than to suggest that you buy a AAA membership today. I wouldn't drive a car of any age without one, let alone a 13 year old one that was our only car hundreds and hundreds of miles from home. The top-level membership will get you 200 miles of free towing.

We're a family of 9 and operate on a very ltd budget. If we could've afforded AAA, we would already have gotten it.

Post by **jblackburn** » 13 Jul 2011, 09:34

I can think of two possible scenarios for the bogging down. There are more possibilities, but these are the most likely ones that I can think of.

If it's still acting up at present, you can try these tests:

1) The EVAP purge valve is stuck open/malfunctioning. This allows extra fuel vapors straight into the intake (and should be shut at idle/low RPM).

Disconnect this hose highlighted in red from the intake manifold (at the white one-way valve will be just fine) and block it off. See if the car will run any better.

2) The mass airflow sensor is dying. This has happened to most of us with these cars by now, and usually at a pretty inconvenient time. Disconnect the plug on the airflow sensor (on the tube going down the the turbo just after the air filter box) and start the engine and see if it will run any better.

Post by **Red-Arrow** » 13 Jul 2011, 09:37

You know in the UK the AA will tow you from any place to any place. Even if you break down in Europe your fine. We are getting ripped off here in the US!

As for your problem can you pull the codes from the ECU. That will help eliminate a good deal of hoo hum.

Tes2fy · Post by **Tes2fy** » 13 Jul 2011, 10:04

There are a few things I neglected to mention in my earlier 2 posts -- apologies - in sheer frustration, I just forgot.

In reply to the fellow suggesting an AAA membership: While I do appreciate the suggestion, at this point, that's along the same lines of telling someone "You really should've had fire insurance" while standing there looking at the smoldering remains of their home - too little too late. Regardless, it's still a luxury that we just cannot afford right now.

Now, onto other things:

When I bought the Volvo for my wife after receiving this year's income tax refund, at the same time that I picked up this car, I bought an identical car that had a locked up engine so that I would have adequate parts on hand should something happen. (BEST $300 I'd ever spent!)

When the problem first rose its ugly head, I had my oldest son remove the evap urge valve from the donor vehicle and bring it along "just in case". We removed the valve from the "running" car and discovered that yes, the valve was indeed stuck in the open position. At that time, we very thoroughly cleaned the valve and lubricated it using the generic WD-40 and reinstalled it. I'm not saying that was or wasn't the problem, as we did a lot of things to it as a means of ruling out potential problems. Immediately after I click "submit" to this post, I will go back outside and remove it again and see if that isn't the problem. (I'm betting against it at this point, as I've lost all optimism.)

In response to the post directly above this one (assuming that nobody else has posted since I began this reply), we are totally stranded with zero way to go anywhere. My son's off at annual training with the National Guard, so his vehicle is with him. Thus, I have no way to plug in a code reader to discover what it would say -- I did go to an Advanced Auto Parts store to have them perform a code check, and the results were rather comical: "Misfire across all cylinders" (Okay, but which cylinder?)..... "Gas Cap installed improperly" (This one was the most comical of all... I had a good laugh at that one.)

I will apologize in advance if some of my responses come across as sarcastic. It's just very frustrating for me, and even moreso when coupled with the extreme outdoor heat and unbearable humidity. I have to stop every so often to towel off my eyes as a result of painful stinging when sweat gets into them......

Post by **jblackburn** » 13 Jul 2011, 10:55

We all understand that car problems can be frustrating. Mine's my only car as well, so it's definitely annoying when it breaks down.

Try the tests above, and if not, we can give you more ideas to try out. I just don't want to throw 37 things it COULD be at you all at once, and helping eliminate some things will help us narrow down the possibilities.

Post by **tjts1** » 13 Jul 2011, 11:01

zhenya wrote:I can't offer any help other than to suggest that you buy a AAA membership today. I wouldn't drive a car of any age without one, let alone a 13 year old one that was our only car hundreds and hundreds of miles from home. The top-level membership will get you 200 miles of free towing.

+1 on that
We do 1000 mile road trips in our 15 year old 850 which I would never consider without the AAA card in my pocket.

That said, it sounds like a failed TPS or MAF sensor.

Tes2fy · Post by **Tes2fy** » 13 Jul 2011, 11:54

Is there a way to troubleshoot/bypass the TPS to find out if that is the problem?

Post by **jblackburn** » 13 Jul 2011, 13:33

Unfortunately, not really. You'd have, in most cases, either a flashing transmission arrow or check engine light if the TPS was bad.

MAF sensors almost never throw codes when they go bad.