Lack of power please help

kvnbrbkr · Post by **kvnbrbkr** » 03 Sep 2006, 10:57

Hello, I am new to this forum. I have a 1998 S70 non turbo. It has the 2.4 liter engine. IT has a 5 speed manual transmision. When I start out from a stop the rpms dip to 500. THe only way I can get my car to move decently fast to pull out into trafic is by reving the engine and letting the cluthch out later. Is this typical or is there something that can be done to increse the power.

P.S. I am driving the car in the colorado area and going up steep inclines is almost imposible. I have to put the car in 3rd gear even to make it up the mountain and the engine is reving at 4500 RPMs.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 03 Sep 2006, 11:38

You are loosing pressure somewhere...have you checked your fuel pressure? If you haven't already done it, change the fuel filter for one. Other things that come in mind are worn out spark plugs and possibly even spark plug wires. Even so, don't expect a non-turbo to have much power at all...but RPM's shouldn't dip on take-off.

jabber · Post by **jabber** » 04 Sep 2006, 14:11

Well my 1999 non-turbo s70 has plenty of power. It may have to drop down a gear to get it though. Even after the ETM recall which did seem to change things. As you have a 1998 you don't need to worry about the ETM. I would look at the fuel/air filters and test to be sure there is sufficient fuel pressure as MIJ suggests. If you rev the engine in neutral does it spin up freely or does is seem to be lagging? Is the behaviour different with/without the AC on?

Jordan. 1999 S70 Loaded!

Tsquared · Post by **Tsquared** » 04 Sep 2006, 14:59

I have to agree with Jabber. The NA 2.4 Liter 20-valve engine kicks out 168 HP compared to the 222 of the turbo 2.3. The NA engine does not have the turbo punch but it will turn a quarter mile at about 78 mph. The extra weight of a wagon will make a little difference but the 2.4 20-valve has enough power to jump into traffic or go up mountains fully loaded without too much effort.

I would change the fuel filter the go through the standard tune up items of air filter, plugs, wires, rotor, and cap. I would then clean the throttle body if the previous did not help. Things would go a bit more expensive by changing the o2 sensors next, providing it still had the OEM set.

Let us know the results,

T

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 04 Sep 2006, 15:33

Just in case, check your air hose inlet from the front of the car to the airbox. Someone on a different forum was having similar problems and found that where this hose connects to the airbox had collapsed onto itself and very little air was being sucked in. Lack of air, or air starvation can cause similar results as what's being discussed here.

kvnbrbkr · Post by **kvnbrbkr** » 04 Sep 2006, 22:02

Thank you all very much for the resonses. I just replaced the fuel filter and there was no difference. The previous owner replaced the catalytic converter, cap rotor, wires, plugs, and there still is lack of power. There is a code that comes on that says evap leak large. I had the evap system presure tested and there is no leak, jsut a bad sensor in the gas tank.

kvnbrbkr · Post by **kvnbrbkr** » 04 Sep 2006, 22:07

Oh, and by the way, the ac does not work, so i dont even run it. And when I rev the engine in neutral it seems to run a little rough and does hesitate to get up to full rpm when the throtle is mashed.

jabber · Post by **jabber** » 06 Sep 2006, 07:29

The "Gross EVAP system leak" code is generally bogus and is part of owning an S/V70 unfortunately. That code is the reason I bought an OBDII reader... Volvo knows about it and it seems they love to charge the $100 CDN it costs to reset the CEL when this is cause. I would look and see if the timing belt has slipped a tooth as this would cause poor performance. then you could look at MAF sensor to see if it's gummy. But I think there would be a code kicked out if it was going bad. Use an OBDII reader to see if there are any other codes present that haven't set off a sensor.

Jordan 1999 S70 Loaded.

cn2000 · Post by **cn2000** » 06 Sep 2006, 08:27

As MIJ suggeseted, new filter or not I think you should rule out fuel pressure before going any further. It only takes a second to screw on a guage, and its a good place to start. Then check the MAF.

kvnbrbkr · Post by **kvnbrbkr** » 07 Sep 2006, 15:19

The timing belt was just replaced 10,000 miles ago so i dont think it would have skiped a tooth. How would I check that anyway. And will a domestic fuel gauge that can be bought from autozone work on the fittings on the volvo. And does anyone know what the pressure is suposed to be at?