2005 V50 2.4i

[CoastalKC]

**Truly grateful these for these forums and those who share their knowledge**

I bought my 17 y.o. daughter a 2005 V50 with 124k mi. as her first car in October, and unfortunately she hasn't had a chance to drive it. I found this V50 an hour away... test drive was smooth with no issues. Bought it from 2nd owner and drove it home with no issues at all. I changed the oil first thing myself after reading the manual for type and capacity, cleaned the heavily corroded battery terminals myself, detailed it myself. Then, as I was an hour into driving it to the nearest town to have all new tires put on it, the car jolted hard- I mean it felt like the engine fell right out of it. It lost all power and lots of thick black smoke poured from the engine bay. I guided it off the highway, check engine light now on, and had it towed home. I'm just a mom learning as I go, but my big brother used to be a mechanic by profession, now by hobby, and I call him with every auto issue I've ever had for as long as I've been an adult and he talks me through every detail as much as he possibly can. The car does start, every time, but it shakes violently right at startup then it kind of calms down a bit and starts ticking. Not so much a knocking like a rod would though, which I've recently experienced. The oil was a bit on the lower side and so was the coolant but not below the lines and no overheating and no CEL until the breakdown. I'm getting fault codes P0026 and P0305 with my Bluetooth code reader. After looking it over, with my brother on the phone, he's thinking it might be the timing belt has jumped but obviously can't say for sure. I was worried I somehow got my liter-to-quart conversion wrong and hadn't used the correct amount of oil on that last partial quart but he doesn't think that's likely with oil level not below the proper range. Friends, in your opinion, are there any other areas I should be looking at or at least be aware of before I pay to have it diagnosed by a mobile mechanic? I can't afford another tow + repair unless I hire the only mobile mechanic in my county, who told me he'll waive the diagnostic fee and tow it in if the consequent repair is quoted $500 or over. I've become I guess paranoid since my husband passed that I'm somehow being scammed or taken advantage of when I'm doing any kind of auto business and it keeps me up at night with stress and worry, which brings me here. If you're still reading, thank you and I'll try to check back in often in case more info is needed. -KC

[Richard99]

Hi,

It does sound like your symptoms could be that of a timing jump. I would check to see if your timing is on by manually cranking over the engine. To do this you would need to remove the plastic covers over the timing belt, and then remove the passenger side wheel. You can then take a 30mm socket not he crankshaft and crank over the engine, and see where the timing marks line up. There should be videos from the timing belt repair if you need help. If you haven't done any damage to your engine, the repair could be as little as replacing a belt only, which is cheap.

You may also want to check your engine mounts.

Here is a link for a timing belt replacement. Ignore the portions where seals are replaced, etc.

[matthew1]

Hi and welcome KC. Driving down the freeway and the jolt happened... on startup it shakes. I'm thinking out loud here... yea, timing like Eric mentioned.

I'd look for proper ground also. If ground is interrupted all spark will cease, and the car will be without power suddenly, then the raw fuel will be sent down the exhaust path probably causing the black smoke. It could be a cause of your scenario. Look over the battery and ground for weak connections, frayed wires, loose wires, etc.

[ggleavitt]

I'll try and encapsulate what I think I read above, please correct me in anything I leave out-
... as I was an hour into driving it…, the car jolted hard- I mean it felt like the engine fell right out of it. It lost all power and lots of thick black smoke poured from the engine bay.
The car does start, every time, but it shakes violently right at startup then it kind of calms down a bit and starts ticking.
The oil was a bit on the lower side and so was the coolant but not below the lines and no overheating and no CEL until the breakdown.
I'm getting fault codes P0026 and P0305 with my Bluetooth code reader.

* Using an OBD-Volvo code decoder list, I think this is what’s being reported: P0026- slow response intake VVT, P0305- misfire cylinder 5 *

I guess it’s timing as well but wondering if maybe this motor just didn’t get a lot of PCV love and/or good oil at shortish intervals and the PCV and oil pickup system needs a good service to include cleaning and/or replacing the intake VVT solenoid (maybe clean first then see if anything gets better?). I do recall a couple of instances where the error came from an electrical connection, can check that up front, connector is right on top of the solenoid. There’s a write-up or two about old oil sump seals not allowing full oil pressure and affecting the VVT swing. So it might be a few things individually or collectively. That the condition gets better as the engine runs (oil starts circulating at pressure?) could be a clue.

For the misfire it’s intuitive to suggest a marginal coil pack with cylinder5, you could replace them all along with a new set of plugs at this juncture if it were within budget and as a sort of insurance policy. Buy the Bosch packs if you replace, they're cheaper and they're the Volvo part. I don't know about the other off-market brands, someone else can chime in.

Anyway, this is all that comes to my mind as areas to check.

[WhatAmIDoing]

Here's my amateur mechanic spitball: Other's have mentioned timing, which it certainly could be. Were you accelerating, braking or cruising when the incident happened? A motor mount could have failed in spectacular fashion, causing a ground to fail and/or putting strain on various wiring harnesses. This could have also broken the exhaust causing the black smoke in the engine bay. A busted exhaust manifold could create a ticking sound, and would certainly cause poor running. So in short, a failed motor mount can cause a cascade of issues.

[jonesg]

Keep it simple. Before worrying about timing belts...

I would go with what the codes are telling me first, unplug the #5 coil connector and see if it starts and runs the same.

If it runs the same, swap it with number 1 coil and read the codes again, if the coil is bad you should get a P0301.
If yes, it confirms that coil is the culprit.

If so, buy a coil from NAPA, I bought one 2 years ago and it runs fine. It was around $60 and they had it in stock.

The ticking noise can be the motor mount because its not running smooth, mine did that too.
Once my engine ran smooth again , there was no more noise from the top mount so I left it alone.

[MDK]

That's really a tough diagnosis without being there. But, it sounds like you might have lost a coil or 2. I used to have a v50 T5 so I'm familiar with the engine. One day on the driver's side part of an engine mount broke. Black smoke under the hood? Hmm...That particular engine timing belt interval is 105,000 so with the mileage you gave I wonder if the belt and tensioners were replaced and done correctly.. you can get coils at a junkyard from a s40 with a 2.4 for about 10$ a piece.. that's what I pay for them.. the p0026 code is for the cam shaft solenoids, they're right behind the big pulleys on the passenger side of the engine bay. You'll need to crank the engine over and check the timing marks. I wish I could help more but I'm 2500 miles away. MDK

[MDK]

MDK here, I got up this morning and thought about this engine again. It may have jumped time, but the VVT hub might have gone bad or the solenoids that advance or retard the cams have gone bad. Either way, you really need to have a shop with a lift to look at it.

[jonesg]

nah, don't need a lift to do any of that. The mobile mechanic isn't gonna show up with a lift.


I wouldn't even consider the timing belt until simple trouble shooting eliminates the codes that point to the coils.
Keep it simple, be methodical.