1998 V70XC Stalling (misfiring) while accelerating Topic is solved

undflyer · Post by **undflyer** » 27 Nov 2014, 12:40

Hi everyone. I realize this has been discussed numerous times but I have faith someone will be able to provide some expertise.

About a week ago I was driving down the freeway at approximately 50 mph and my 98 V70 XC began shuddering and lost all power (CEL, + oil, battery, annunciators). I coasted to the side of the road and was able to get it to start but only was able to advance the car 30 yards and it quit again. After that it would turn over but not fire. Got it towed to a nearby shop. The next day they began troubleshooting; compressions, checked wires, spark plugs, nothing was immediately obvious. Later they informed me that when they pulled the distributor they found an excessive amount of oil and water inside with obvious signs of arcing. They replaced distributor and rotor. I drove the vehicle home, let it sit and started it appx two hours. It fired on the second attempt. As I was in reverse, it sounded like it wanted to clunk out. I got it home with no other troubles.

The next day I was again on the freeway (normal operating temperature - seems to be a theme?) and it started intermittently losing power when any throttle was applied. (This was the first time I had ever experienced this problem). I drove it right back to the shop and they were willing to look at it again in a few days. I hopped on the forums and started doing some more troubleshooting. I found a fuel pump relay nearby, swapped it out, and the car ran fine for the rest of the day.

The next day after the car warmed up It started showing the same symptoms through all speed ranges.(I really gave it some gas because I wanted it to throw a code - got misfires codes on #2 and #4cylinders +random misfire. I nursed it to the shop that I use, pulled the MAF sensor and cleaned it with the appropriate spray. Car ran fine for the rest of the day. The next day symptoms again surfaced, pulled over, disconnected the MAF and symptoms went away, even at freeway speeds.

Last night symptoms are again showing with MAF disconnected. What should my next step be?

Thank you to everyone in advance....

Post by **FLXC90** » 27 Nov 2014, 13:02

Oil inside your distributor indicates leaking rear cam seals, easy $10-20 fix.
Water in the distr ? is the cap cracked? Try a Blok-chek test for blown head gasket.
If your distributor is oil fouling it will cause misfires. Have you checked the plugs? Is there oil under the spark plug cover?
No history given-when was last time PCV system was serviced? Clogged PCV causes oil seals to blow (like rear cam seals) And do a good survey of vacuum lines.
Also, are you mechanically inclined? You can do a lot of the maintenance on the car and save a lot of money at the shop with basic skills and tools; that's what this forum and database are all about!
Give us more info, and we can help you a lot more

Happy Thanksgiving

undflyer · Post by **undflyer** » 27 Nov 2014, 20:49

FLXC90 wrote:Oil inside your distributor indicates leaking rear cam seals, easy $10-20 fix.
Water in the distr ? is the cap cracked? Try a Blok-chek test for blown head gasket.
If your distributor is oil fouling it will cause misfires. Have you checked the plugs? Is there oil under the spark plug cover?
No history given-when was last time PCV system was serviced? Clogged PCV causes oil seals to blow (like rear cam seals) And do a good survey of vacuum lines.
Also, are you mechanically inclined? You can do a lot of the maintenance on the car and save a lot of money at the shop with basic skills and tools; that's what this forum and database are all about!
Give us more info, and we can help you a lot more

Happy Thanksgiving

Thank you for the response. With the exception of the distributor/rotor I have done all of the work on the wagon. I will definitely look into replacing the rear cam seals.

The distributor cap was replaced last week. The mechanic also did compression checks which were normal. I will check the plugs. I have replaced a couple vacuum hoses on an as needed basis. It does probably need a complete PCV system overhaul (dragging me feet).

I've read some posts regarding cam sensor wire being too close to the distributor cap, bad ignition coil, bad MAF sensor (not sure if I'm ruling this out at this point?). Also I read something about people having success with a software update.

Post by **cn90** » 27 Nov 2014, 21:55

For MAF, use Bosch only...

undflyer · Post by **undflyer** » 27 Nov 2014, 22:07

cn90 wrote:For MAF, use Bosch only...

Noted - could it be bad given it stumbles similarly with the MAF plugged in and disconnected?

Post by **abscate** » 28 Nov 2014, 05:27

Have you taken off the cap and checked cap and rotor again for contamination? Any oil in there will quickly cause the symptoms you note.

Post by **erikv11** » 28 Nov 2014, 11:53

undflyer wrote:... The next day they began troubleshooting; compressions, checked wires, spark plugs, nothing was immediately obvious. Later they informed me that when they pulled the distributor they found an excessive amount of oil and water inside with obvious signs of arcing. They replaced distributor and rotor. ...

This indicates the shop is a bit clueless. They should have instantly inspected for a blown cam seal. And yes you expect both water/moisture and oil to get in there. Since no one changed or re-seated the cam seals, if they are blown then it is guaranteed the issue will show up again. The usual pattern is for it to come and go.

Another thing you are faced with is potentially the shop put in junk cap and rotor parts, when they threw away your originals that may have been fine but simply needing cleaning. At any rate, if the cap looks like junk lightweight plastic with shiny aluminum contacts, then toss it and replace with a Bosch cap and rotor.

After you clear up the cam seals and the cap/rotor, then start thinking about stuff like the MAF and CPS wire. Those are down the list at this point.

undflyer · Post by **undflyer** » 28 Nov 2014, 13:47

erikv11 wrote:
undflyer wrote:... The next day they began troubleshooting; compressions, checked wires, spark plugs, nothing was immediately obvious. Later they informed me that when they pulled the distributor they found an excessive amount of oil and water inside with obvious signs of arcing. They replaced distributor and rotor. ...
This indicates the shop is a bit clueless. They should have instantly inspected for a blown cam seal. And yes you expect both water/moisture and oil to get in there. Since no one changed or re-seated the cam seals, if they are blown then it is guaranteed the issue will show up again. The usual pattern is for it to come and go.

Another thing you are faced with is potentially the shop put in junk cap and rotor parts, when they threw away your originals that may have been fine but simply needing cleaning. At any rate, if the cap looks like junk lightweight plastic with shiny aluminum contacts, then toss it and replace with a Bosch cap and rotor.

After you clear up the cam seals and the cap/rotor, then start thinking about stuff like the MAF and CPS wire. Those are down the list at this point.

Thank you everyone for your input. As Erikv correctly stated, the shop really did drop the ball on this as I discovered today that the cam seal was in fact blown out (as others have accurately guessed). Why would they not question where the water/oil was coming from?

This morning I pulled the distributor and found a great deal of water in there. I followed the DIY guide and found the blown seal and replaced with new. Car is behaving normally.

Next order of business is the PCV system, as I believe to be the underlying problem.

Post by **erikv11** » 28 Nov 2014, 14:23

Nice work. Good call on the PCV, you are on your way to having this cleared up for good.

In the meantime you can leave the dipstick just the smallest bit ajar to allow crankcase fumes to escape there instead of pushing on the cam seals. If you pull it too far you will get oil all over the engine, I would avoid that.

undflyer · Post by **undflyer** » 28 Nov 2014, 15:04

erikv11 wrote:Nice work. Good call on the PCV, you are on your way to having this cleared up for good.

In the meantime you can leave the dipstick just the smallest bit ajar to allow crankcase fumes to escape there instead of pushing on the cam seals. If you pull it too far you will get oil all over the engine, I would avoid that.

Thanks. I believe there is a PCV kit from FCP. I have access to a lift and know my way around the car pretty well, do you think I could handle the job?