Christmas Eve Breakdown/No-Start

[rspi]

Man, I doubt those upgrades caused any problems short of pulling a solider loose from removing relays or something. I'm from the school that if your car will drive 30 minutes it will drive 700 miles. It doesn't know how far it moves.

[RepairmanJack]

Nobody, but nobody had a freaking CPS in stock. All the parts stores said "we can have one tomorrow" Even NAPA, who wanted $240 for one and had one at the warehouse. Of the three Volvo dealers in town, two were open, and both parts departments were closed.

So, headed out to a local Pick-n-Pull - and ever single 850/70-series that would have had a CPS was missing the CPS. I also wrecked my T40 Torx bit trying to remove a plug from a similar looking engine in a 94 850...

By luck, I ran into a local guy who bought some wheels from me a couple weeks back.
He confirmed that one yard on my list has *zero* Volvos in the yard, so I buzzed over to the #3 yard on my list (in the next state).

Here I finally got lucky.

The first car had a CPS... but it was filled with a creamy brown mix of oil and water... The next had a CPS, but someone has ripped off the plug... The next had a CPS covered in oil, but had a good clean interior. And the last one.. had a pristine looking CPS. I grabbed the three complete sensors (plus some interior bits for my 940).

My wife and I hopped into the aforementioned 940 and we drove the 117 miles back to attempt to rescue the c70.

My stomach was in knots the whole way - not knowing if the car would even be there, or if the part would even fix it. We also had a tight timeline to get home and pick my daughter up from here day care.

So... arrived at the gas station. Found the car perfect and unmolested (Thanks QuickTrip!), I popped the hood. Unbolted the old CPS (using a combo of a T40 bit, socket and 3/8 to 1/4 reducer.

Then it started to rain on us.

I put a new CPS with just the top bolt (the bottom being almost inaccessible)... I crossed my fingers and gave the key a twist.

She started right up. It had a CEL on the computer. I pulled the code and it was "Bad Crank Position Sensor" I cleared the code out and she was back to her old speedy self.

We just got both cars home and it is now raining ice. Total Cost - $30 in parts (including the 900-series bits) and a tank of fuel for the 940 ($50).

I couldn't feel better than I do right now. We made it back in time to pick up the kiddo and we can watch the ice fall knowing both our cars are ready to take us to work tomorrow.

So, thanks to everyone who weighed in. This Christmas I learned to never take my code reader out of the car and to have a spare CPS in the trunk for all my high-mileage 70-series cars.

We live and learn. Happy Holidays.

[rmmagow]

Congrats!! Feels good doesn't it
Happy New year and smooth V70ing for 2012

[jblackburn]

I need to go to a junkyard at some point and just raid parts off an S70. Those are bound to fail at some point on all cars, and I've been fairly lucky with all my sensors.

Glad you were able to get it running again and had the ol' 940 there for you

[rspi]

Congrats on getting it fixed. I keep a fuel pump relay in my car. I never thought about a spare CPS, where would it end.

[RepairmanJack]

It's hard to be sure. You could drive around with a 110lbs of every conceivable spare, or try and ID the few bits that will absolutely strand you and are easy to replace - and are almost impossible to find in-stock at a parts store. I've learned that the CPS is one of those things.

I've got such a list for the 900-series and the 120-series...

I'm not sure what else fits that bill on the 870 cars. Probably a bit of emergency heater hose, maybe a serpentine belt...