Hey all - new to forum and hoping someone would be kind enough to help me troubleshoot my sons S40. We have only owned this car 1 week.
Car was having a cooling issue: occasional high gauge and using some coolant. My plan was to replace the thermostat and coolant temp sensor and then monitor after that. While the parts were on order I decided to do some head gasket diagnosis. Changed oil and filter - oil was perfect used with no mud or brown. Ran car with reservoir open and did not see any back pressure. Did a compression test and all 4 cylinders were 140-ish. So my conclusion was head is tight and maybe I have a small leak at turbo, or the system was just low from previous owner. I should also mention that we also had what appeared to be the classic Fuel Pump Regulator(FPR) hard start issue, but only did this a couple times.
After these tests I started the car fine, parked it and left it for the night. Next morning the car won't start - this is now where I'm stuck. The car appears to flood easy, crank and almost start but won't.
I have tested for spark - all four good. I replaced the fuel filter - now new. I tested the fuel rail pressure - it was 40 PSI which I believe is good. Due to the previous cooling issues, I tested the coolant temp sensor resistance and its 2.2 ohms which I believe is good. I will be installing the new temp sensor anyway and thermostat tomorrow. When I look at plugs, they are wet and possibly fuel-fouled. It seems that after the innocent compression test I was only able to start the car once.
The previous owner was having starting issues and replaced the 2 coil packs, wires and FPR. I am avoiding replacing the FPR only because the previous owner said he recently did, and the vaccuum hose is not leaking fuel and the fuel rail pressure appears correct (40 psi). Is a possible fault of the FPR to allow too much fuel? I'm really stumped since I don't know much about the other sensors on this car that would prevent starting. We see exhaust during cranking so I don't believe there's an exhaust restriction - don't really know how to test for that properly. This is really frustrating me.
Please help if you could. Regards, Steve
2000 Volvo S40 Cranks - Won't start
Hello Steve,
I guess you can call me an s40 dad-n-law, been working on his car which also had a crank but not start problem. His '00 s40 with B4204T2 had jumped time and so the computer would not let it start, which saved the valves from damage, they just made marks in the carbon on top of the pistons.
I have learned on this engine it gets its air at an idle from the idle air control valve, which was later replaced with a stepping motor system on the throttle, the first uses a cable to control the intake butterfly valve and the later is total electrical with the stepping motor. So at start up the only way the engine can get air is with this valve working unless you open the throttle to allow air to pass. I would try removing the u-shaped air hose from the intake port, so you can see the throttle plate, and cranking with it open.
I would also recommend that get a trouble code reader, it will save you from the unknown. Many are available at about $100 plus or minus, get one from a well established tool company and it will be better supported. I have one by OTC.
MEL
I guess you can call me an s40 dad-n-law, been working on his car which also had a crank but not start problem. His '00 s40 with B4204T2 had jumped time and so the computer would not let it start, which saved the valves from damage, they just made marks in the carbon on top of the pistons.
I have learned on this engine it gets its air at an idle from the idle air control valve, which was later replaced with a stepping motor system on the throttle, the first uses a cable to control the intake butterfly valve and the later is total electrical with the stepping motor. So at start up the only way the engine can get air is with this valve working unless you open the throttle to allow air to pass. I would try removing the u-shaped air hose from the intake port, so you can see the throttle plate, and cranking with it open.
I would also recommend that get a trouble code reader, it will save you from the unknown. Many are available at about $100 plus or minus, get one from a well established tool company and it will be better supported. I have one by OTC.
MEL
Hey Mel - glad to see there's some life on this forum. My posts are not getting much traction elsewhere.
Well I did get the S40 started with a combination of new plugs (fuel fouled) and new Idle Air Controller ( the old one was gummed up beyond cleaning. Car runs great but I still get occasional hesitated start which generates startup misfire code, and also an engine temp issue. So far I have installed/renewed the following:
Fuel filter - new
thermostat - new
coolant temp sensor -new
fuel pressure regulator - new
idle air control valve - new
plugs - new
2 coils and wires - replaced by former owner just before selling to me. (maybe why it was sold!)
compression test - good at 145 each cylinder
fuel pressure test at fuel rail- good 45 psi at startup, 35 psi while running
Yet, I still get an occasional extended start - will eventually start and then may or may not generate cylinder misfire code. Also, car might run hot now and again - at least id did so when outside temps were about 90F. I'm going to try and bleed some air from the system in case there is air trapped. I've not done any injector testing/cleaning so maybe my startup issue is injector related.
I'm still a bit puzzled ...
Well I did get the S40 started with a combination of new plugs (fuel fouled) and new Idle Air Controller ( the old one was gummed up beyond cleaning. Car runs great but I still get occasional hesitated start which generates startup misfire code, and also an engine temp issue. So far I have installed/renewed the following:
Fuel filter - new
thermostat - new
coolant temp sensor -new
fuel pressure regulator - new
idle air control valve - new
plugs - new
2 coils and wires - replaced by former owner just before selling to me. (maybe why it was sold!)
compression test - good at 145 each cylinder
fuel pressure test at fuel rail- good 45 psi at startup, 35 psi while running
Yet, I still get an occasional extended start - will eventually start and then may or may not generate cylinder misfire code. Also, car might run hot now and again - at least id did so when outside temps were about 90F. I'm going to try and bleed some air from the system in case there is air trapped. I've not done any injector testing/cleaning so maybe my startup issue is injector related.
I'm still a bit puzzled ...
Hello Steve,
I don't know much beyond what you have done. Just remember problems are usually simple and we
tend to over complicate the solution. Thinking about the injectors, they normally work OK or create a miss in fuel injected engines. With the fuel rail with constant pressure of clean fuel if all were not working then I would suspect the controller or the sensor that times the injection. I do know the injector rail is easy to remove, two screws and pull straight back, then you could spin it over to see if you are getting fuel. Be careful make sure the engine is cold, do it outside with a water hose close by. With two people to test it should only take a couple turns to show fuel
Take Care,
MEL
I don't know much beyond what you have done. Just remember problems are usually simple and we
tend to over complicate the solution. Thinking about the injectors, they normally work OK or create a miss in fuel injected engines. With the fuel rail with constant pressure of clean fuel if all were not working then I would suspect the controller or the sensor that times the injection. I do know the injector rail is easy to remove, two screws and pull straight back, then you could spin it over to see if you are getting fuel. Be careful make sure the engine is cold, do it outside with a water hose close by. With two people to test it should only take a couple turns to show fuel
Take Care,
MEL
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