Stalling without warning - 2004 V70 T5

elc32955 · Post by **elc32955** » 31 Dec 2011, 09:51

Howdy!

OK, this is a weird one.. I've recently purchased a 2004 V70 T5 with a 5-speed manual, 91,000 miles. When I first purchased the car last month, it was flagged for the fuel pump recall so I had the local dealer perform the service. Needless to say, I had to take the car back, twice, for smell of gas & leaking fuel since for some reason they couldn't get the seals correct. Anyway... After the recall service was performed, I'm driving down Interstate 95 at about 70-75 MPH, steady state driving for around 150 miles or so. Without warning, I notice suddenly that the car has lost power, no response on the throttle. Put the car in neutral, it dies. About 5 seconds after the car dies, every warning light on the right side of the DIM illuminates including the ABS and park brake light! The lights stay on for about 8-10 seconds, then I just go to a low oil pressure and CEL light. Car will not restart when it's in motion, so i coast to the side of the road and stop. No relight until I turn the key completely off, wait a few seconds, and then it restarts fine. No CEL stays on.

The car does this once or twice more since then, but always immediately restarts after stopping. I can't get into my indy until after the holiday to get it on Vida, so I"m forced to drive as-is. So, last night it stalled and would not restart. On I-95 again, holiday traffic, etc etc... I had the car towed home by AAA and when it was taken off the wrecker, it restarts fine. This is frustrating as heck.

I go to pull codes this morning with my scantool and find two instances of P0134, O2 sensor bank 1 sensor 1 no activity. No CEL is illuminated so these are stored codes. I know about the recall service on Recall 181, but my engine has the wrong code (53) and my VIN is not in the range for the recall. When I pulled the stored codes there were no codes for fuel pressure so at this point I'm up in the air on how to proceed. I can replace the fuel pressure regulator on the recall for $156 plus tax and see if this fixes the problem (since my car apparently uses the same part), or just have the car again towed to the service shop and start with Vida diagnostics and go from there. I had to pay dearly for a T5 manual and the wife is SERIOUSLY on my posterior (she left me a lemon on my keyboard this morning!!), so naturally I'm trying to figure the least expensive way for a fix. I just hate to easter egg something like this though....

Ideas, thoughts?

Thanks!
Eric

Post by **anodyne** » 01 Jan 2012, 08:16

Sorry, no help here, but interested in what you find. Please update when you can, I have a stall problem as well.

uncledave11 · Post by **uncledave11** » 01 Jan 2012, 11:23

Hi, I don't know if this will help at all 'cause I'm not familier with the V70 electrics. But.. my sons '95 850 turbo did the exact same thing & I finally traced it to the fuel pump relay. It's electronic related and the reason for failure was 2 Capacitors on the relay board itself were breaking down (leaking) at high operating temps. Once cooled briefly, they would again engage the relay and the car would start back up again. It was a crap shoot as to the next "shutdown" would occur. If you V70 uses an electronic fuel pump relay this is where I'd be looking first! Somewhere on the site is a great procedure for repairing that relay. If your handy with a soldering iron (or know someone that is) it's a pretty straightforward repair. Happy New Year

& Good luck! Volvo's are great cars with some funny quirks with their electrical systems. But if you learn how to "listen" to them... their a lot of fun to own & drive!

Dave
95 850 turbo

elc32955 · Post by **elc32955** » 01 Jan 2012, 19:30

Thanks Dave. I'm definitely suspecting something electric and computer related because of the way the lights on the DIC are behaving when the stalls occur. To me it looks just like the function test you get when you start the car. What I'm wondering is if the fuel pressure sensor going intermittent (the recall component for the other V70's) will generate these same symptoms when it malfunctions. Also, the dealer DID change the fuel pump with the recall service, I don't have an in-cabin fuel pressure gauge so I can't monitor the pressure on the rails. Also since I couldn't do a relight when the car is in motion, that stinks of computer to me.... Lot of variables here.

Like I said, weird. I've been a V40 owner for about 3 1/2 years now and I can honestly say, minus the rancid design of the climate controls it's been a good car and has never left me stranded. The one saving grace here is that AAA is letting me do a "continuation" for my tow so I'm only getting charged for one tow with two hook trips. The garages were all closed Friday night so I just had the car towed to the house.

Eric

Post by **JRL** » 01 Jan 2012, 21:19

Could be a simple as a loose battery cable somewhere
Get it on VIDA, you WILL have stored codes

elc32955 · Post by **elc32955** » 02 Jan 2012, 17:38

OK, preliminary from my Volvo shop is that it looks like a bad fuel pump. I had the car towed in to the Volvo shop that I use this morning, naturally it was running fine(!) coming off the rollback. The tech put a fuel pressure meter on the schrader valve at the fuel rail and saw constant 63 PSI.... for about 10 minutes. Then the pressure started dropping to between 20 and 60 PSI in swings and then finally it went to zero and the car died. With plenty of fuel still in the tank.

Tech strongly suspects the new fuel pump is not transferring fuel to the input side of the tank, since the local dealer just replaced the fuel pump under the recall service the new unit is probably the culprit. Car's being taken back to the Volvo dealer where another new pump will be installed (hopefully this time they'll get the seals right on the first try instead of leaking a trail of gas going down the road...).

At least I won't be out much money if it turns out to be a fuel pump as it's covered under Volvo's parts warranty. I wasn't aware that the tank was two sided and that fuel had to be pumped from one side of the tank to the other to get to the intake to go to the engine.

Keep you posted.

Thanks!
Eric