1999 V70XC Won't Start With Cold Weather

[NickNeedsVolvoHelp]

Hi all, first time posting. I have a 99 V70XC with 230k miles. We just had a pretty significant freezing rain event leading into single digits (f) and now i cannot get the car to start. This has also happened in the past with sustained sub zero temps. Car has a new battery and a new starter put in about a year ago and I have tried starting it with a jump pack with the same result. The engine sounds like it wants to turn over but it is not getting proper spark/fuel air mix. I am relatively novice with diagnostic. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[scot850]

Do you have a block heater on your car? The 99- cars are very voltage sensitive. If your battery is low it may not get a start signal.

Having said that you mention you did try boosting the car which should help with this, but I would check your battery condition as cold weather often brings older batteries to their knees and they can crap out a cell.

If you can have the battery charged and then have it tested.

If you have not been used to these cold temperatures, these old turbo cars don't like the cold. They leak some oil into the turbo pipes which gets into the intercooler. This is like getting fat into your arteries! When it gets real cold, as the air in the pipework and intercooler cools it generated condensation. The combination of the oil and water can cut off or significantly reduce the flow of air to the motor to the point it can't get enough air to run and floods with gas.

If you can get the car to somewhere warm to thaw it out it will usually start and clear out, but next time it gets cold it may do the same. I have seen the lower intercooler feed pipe almost completely collapse as the engine tries to draw air in these conditions. Even if the car starts, it may not move as the engine cannot draw enough air to get the power to move. I have been known to place a piece of tie-wrapped cardboard behind the grille when temps are regularly below 0C here as the engine cannot warm up quickly enough. Remove the cardboard when above 0C (32F) and watch engine temp when running.

It is a pain, but when the weather gets warm it is worth having the intercooler removed and flushed clean. I had this done at a radiator repair shop.

Up here where it gets cold, Volvo suggested drilling an 1/8" hole in the lowest point in the intercooler to allow condensation to drain. Some of the intercoolers do have a small hole already but if not add one.

Another old favorite that likes to haunt us is the water temp sensor by the thermostat. With age these fail and can cause the engine to floor when cold. It is less noticeable when warm. Check the connector at the back of the power steering pump as the connector breaks down with age. There is a check for the ECT (engine coolant temp sensor) with resistance values for different outside temps. I think abscate posted this at one point for me.

Good Luck,

Neil.

[NickNeedsVolvoHelp]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try out a couple things when this afternoon and follow up.
-Nick

[abscate]

Welcome to the Volvo 1999 Club, the Prince of Volvos

You can search ECT resistance values to find that chart

[NickNeedsVolvoHelp]

Alright Update: I tried pulling and warming up to fuel pump relay and tried swapping it for a different one. No luck. I tried spraying ether into the intake but the vehicle would not catch. I have no way to warm the vehicle to check the condensation in the intercooler. Do you have any photos of where to drill into the intercooler to drain the condensation? Finally, i did not check the water temp sensor but i can do that after work.

[WhatAmIDoing]

Ether in intake + no start = no spark. Points to electrical fault.

[NickNeedsVolvoHelp]

I was leaning to a lack of spark as the problem. Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot where the fault might be?

[abscate]

Look for 12 volt at each coil. The 99 coil on plug system is at constant 12 v supply, the ECT fires each coil by grounding them through the ECU trigger signal

No firing at all is most likely either a 12 V supply problem or the car is immobilized. If it catches and runs for 1-2 seconds and then won’t catch again, that’s the immobilized

[NickNeedsVolvoHelp]

It seems like it catches and then won't catch again. What do you mean by immobilized?

[abscate]

It seems like it catches and then won't catch again. What do you mean by immobilized?

The key isn’t sending the right code to the security module. It will start once , run for two seconds, stall, and not start again for sometime