1998 V70-XC Engine dies after 2 seconds

doehan · Post by **doehan** » 28 Jul 2015, 08:42

Yesterday I changed my timing belt and also the serpentine belt on my 98 XC AWD (155,000 mi, clogged pcv)

After that the car starts fine like as always, but stops with jerking (sudden decrease of rpm) after just one or two seconds.
(with stuttering + wobbling noise)

When I tried to push gas pedal, the rpm goes up but anyways it stops within two or three seconds.

I did so much things at once, PCV replacement, PTC cleaning, distributor, and spark plugs + wires.

Thus, I can't figure out what is the problem...

The only thing suspicious is: when I was changing the timing belt, I couldn't see the little notch on the crankshaft. So I just aligned the indicator at the valley of the shaft between two 'V' signs on the tooth of the crankshaft, but camshafts are aligned properly as indicated.

Does it cause the engine stop? or maybe it would be the fuel line (injectors) or vacuum line but I don't think that is the problem because the car starts good anyway..

Need your help urgently.. Please

Thanks.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 28 Jul 2015, 16:37

The way you describe the crankshaft marks you did it exactly right. There are two versions of the mark(s) on the harmonic balancer. The older version has a single V shaped notch in the valley of the sprocket and the later version has two V shaped notches on the peaks of the sprocket and the mark centers between them.

The timing being a tooth off won't cause the car to not run. I suspect that about 10% of them on the road have the belt off a tooth and people don't even know. They run better when the timing is correct but they don't run awful when they are a tooth off.

I suspect you have a fuel pressure problem. There is a Schrader valve on the end of the fuel rail and you need to check the fuel pressure at that valve. Ideally you would use a fuel pressure gauge but you can use a tire gauge. The tire gauge won't be terribly accurate and it generally destroys the gauge in the process but it is a quick and dirty check. Protect your eyes to avoid getting gasoline sprayed into them - I can tell you from experience that gasoline in he eyes is painful.

What you are looking for is about 43 PSI with the key in position II but a tire gauge likely won't read that high. What you do want to do is verify that there is pressure.

...Lee

mika · Post by **mika** » 29 Jul 2015, 07:33

maybe something is off in the plug wires, distributor or coil area? left unplugged? You did do a lot on maintenance, just work backwards and re check everything a few times. solution is starting right at you probably. sounds like you did timing right

superfeed · Post by **superfeed** » 29 Jul 2015, 10:40

Jumper out the fuel pump relay and see what happens.

doehan · Post by **doehan** » 03 Aug 2015, 20:30

Thanks all, I'll work backward and try to re-check all of them. I checked the MAF sensor and I've found when I pulled out the connector of the MAF, the car runs continuous (more than just two seconds) with huge backfires and misfires. Is it possible to have intake manifold leakage? Thanks again.

Post by **cn90** » 03 Aug 2015, 21:07

Check for any pending codes. Maybe the MAF is on the way out. If so, Bosch only, no other brand.

Scholz · Post by **Scholz** » 04 Aug 2015, 00:21

I feel as if the ECU should be robust enough to prevent a massive amount of backfiring. Are we sure we didn't muck up the firing order on the cap and wires? Other than that in my own experience the ECU retards the timing a large amount when it loses input voltage from the MAF which in a few hondas i've owned would do the same thing with the MAF disconnected and the timing off.

My money is still on timing whether its the distributor or something more nefarious.