97 volvo 850 wagon Error warning lights car idiling strange

latoshahogan · Post by **latoshahogan** » 05 Mar 2014, 13:20

97 Volvo 850 wagon a mechanic used a code reader to diagnose my car and I replaced a bad crank position sensor the part had wires coming out of it. Drove the car about 8 blocks and the check engine light came back on the mechanic read it again and said that the same code appeared which was bad crank position sensor drove the car engine is quite transmission shifting fine but their was strange idling and then several warning lights appeared check engine, abs, tracs off, abs, and coolant I was able to drive the car despite the idling that made me feel like the car wanted to stop. Please help single mom of two don't want to be taken by a crafty mechanic.

thanks for any ideas

Post by **rmmagow** » 05 Mar 2014, 13:29

Sounds more like a possible alternator/battery/bad battery cable issue. Got anyone you can trust to look at the car? An autozone type place might help with checking the battery and alternator. I say autozone or similar, not someplace that could actually fix the car, just to help with diagnostics.

Post by **jblackburn** » 05 Mar 2014, 14:02

Agree, sounds like a low voltage issue. Have the battery/alternator checked at an auto parts store - they will do it for you for free at Sears, Advance, Autozone, Pep Boys, etc.

Klausc · Post by **Klausc** » 05 Mar 2014, 14:14

Find a local autoparts store and have them read the error codes. Perhaps they can also find a loose wire. They will gladly check the alternator and battery in the hopes that you buy parts from them. Write down the voltage output from the alternator, it should be greater than 13.5V at idle (ideal is 14.5V).

The mechanic you went to did not fix the initial problem and might have created a few others. I don't know which state you live in, but you could Google 'state Volvo repair shop' and read some reviews. Or, you could post the error codes here and get some 'free' advice.

latoshahogan · Post by **latoshahogan** » 06 Mar 2014, 06:12

Thank you all for taking time to share your advice its funny that you would mention that it might be a low voltage issue as the previous owner did a few diy repairs to the car which included a new battery, tune-up and he thought that the car needed a fuel pump is there a certain type of battery that this car performs best with and are their wires and spark plugs that are recommended because he didn't strike me as one that would have purchased the good stuff.
Thanks again gentlemen I feel more at peace moving forward will head to auto-zone today.

Post by **rmmagow** » 06 Mar 2014, 07:24

I don't think the car is fussy about the battery so long as it is rated high enough to effectively crank the engine and run the electronics. Autozone et al can tell you if it's OK for your car. Tune up parts is a different story, Bosch for the rotor and cap, Bougicord (sp?) for the spark plug wires and VOLVO for the spark plugs will give you the best results. FCP, a vendor that sponsors this site has all of this.
An important thing is your timing belt. Do you know when it was last changed. Sometimes there's a sticker near the timing belt side of the motor (right side, passenger side). here's no way to determine when the belt was done or if there's more than say 70,000 miles been added since the last change you must have that serviced. A timing belt failure will destroy the engine, or not actually destroy, but lead to 1500~2000 worth of repairs.

Post by **osman** » 06 Mar 2014, 09:58

The symptoms you describe usually result from a bad connection of the secondary bundle of positive wires that connect to the main battery cable. check there first.

latoshahogan · Post by **latoshahogan** » 07 Mar 2014, 18:27

went to auto-zone codes read multiple miss fires and miss fire on plug 1,3,5 the car was still reading that the crank shaft sensor needed to be replaced

The car is now at the mechanic the guy I purchased the car from changed only the wires and spark plugs he did not change the Distributor Cap & Rotor in addition what ever he did has caused oil to splash out of the engine into the area where these items are located the mechanic also said that the wires were all crossed up the mechanic advised me to not take the car today as he wants to have time to figure out what is going on the car is extremely out of timing the mechanic said that he would not charge me an additional charge any ideas

Bluevanacd2005 · Post by **Bluevanacd2005** » 07 Mar 2014, 18:36

If the spark plug wires were out of order I don't think it would run at all. Look at the wires surrounding and attached to the battery... Are they clean?

Spenser

Klausc · Post by **Klausc** » 07 Mar 2014, 19:54

If your mechanic were a 'shade tree' type, I could forgive him. But he sounds like he has never seen an engine before. Changing a crank position sensor is a simple task and he should have started the engine and noticed anything amiss.

Oil on top of the engine? That can only come from the oil filler cap, that large black thing on top. Make sure it is screwed down tight. You could get enough oil pushed out to short out the spark plugs.

The wiring is crossed? You drove it there, right? The wires are fine. The spark plugs are OK. I wonder what kind of crank position sensor he put in...

BTW, could you put some periods and commas in your next post? It is quite difficult to read without punctuation.