Login Register

1993 850 GLT Engine Stalls No CEL

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

Post Reply
CarterSelin01
Posts: 1
Joined: 17 June 2023
Year and Model: 1993 850 GLT
Location: Southern Ontario Canada

1993 850 GLT Engine Stalls No CEL

Post by CarterSelin01 »

Hello everyone :)

So this is my first post on this forum and my first post on a Volvo Forum period. Recently I bought myself a 1993 Volvo 850 GLT N/A car after a short break i took from volvo ownership. The Volvo world isn’t new to me and the pricey maintenance schedule isnt either having previously owned an e46 drift car that loved to break every weekend. My previous volvos were a 2000 s60r which i very much regret selling and a 2011 c30 rdesign in the sunburnt orange which again i wish i still had.

Okay, done with my self welcome now into the fun troubleshoot ive done on my 850.

The issue: Car idles perfectly fine for about 1 minute then it stalls. This happens every single time. I can drive the car but after 1 minute it will inevitably stall.

The car does not hunt idle when it stalls. Does not lean out or cut the fuel pump. I opened up the relay and the solder joints were bad, i swapped in my buddies known good relay and the issue still occurred, the car stalls. Having seen the bad solder joints in my relay i replaced it anyway. I though maybe my pump had gone bad so i opened up the gas tank and pulled the pump out to find that it was the original pump so i replaced that too along with the original fuel filter. Bench tested my injectors and they were all good and replaced the seals. Issue still occurs the car will stall. I changed my ignition/injector relay and the issue still occurs car stalls. This has me thinking that something is commanding the ECU to shut off the car. I did lots and lots of research and found a fantastic write up about the ECT sensor that can send signal to the ECU to shut the car off if the coolant temp is too hot or there is loss of signal.

So i replaced the ect sensor and now my fan wont shut off. Before i put coolant in it i wanted to just test this in key position 2 and the fan starts and doesnt shut off. However they turn off when i shut the key off.

When i purchased this car there was a thermostat dial switch wired into the #2(High) fan speed centre connector on the fan control relay. He had the Temp set to 65C on the dial switch to turn the fan on. The dial read temperature from a probe that was shoved in the upper rad hose port on the radiator side.
C49D55C8-059D-4BF6-A34F-601A9009C0BD.jpeg
C49D55C8-059D-4BF6-A34F-601A9009C0BD.jpeg (229.01 KiB) Viewed 191 times
I took this system out assuming that the relay had gone bad and replaced the relay with a new one.

My Questions: Does this car have a failsafe where if the coolant level sensor reads lows it runs the fan and thats why my fan wont shut off while it has no coolant in it?

What are the odds the new ect sensor i put in is sending the wrong resistance and is a bad sensor and thats why the fans run constant. (the Ect is from Uro parts (im pretty sure the quality if their parts is poor but wanted to give the cheap sensor a shot))

Are there any other failsafes in the ecu that command the engine to shut off?

Sorry for the ramble i promise to keep the rest of my posts short and sweet.

My dad is a tv repair man, I can fix every piece of this car.
Attachments
E6FBEA47-73D9-4477-8FA6-BD47EB0162FA.jpeg
E6FBEA47-73D9-4477-8FA6-BD47EB0162FA.jpeg (259.34 KiB) Viewed 191 times

scot850  
Posts: 14892
Joined: 5 April 2010
Year and Model: 2000 V70 R
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Has thanked: 1850 times
Been thanked: 1710 times

Post by scot850 »

In North America we have never recommended anything other than OE Volvo ECT. In Europe they can get the OE supplier which I think is Vernet. What has been found is aftermarket ECT units are either DOA or just don't seem to work correctly. You may be better off trying to pull a used one from a junkyard.

Neil.
2006 V70 2.5T AWD Polestar tune
2000 V70 R - still being an endless PITA
2006 XC70 - Our son now has this and still parked in our garage
2003 Toyota 4Runner V8 Limited
2015 Kia Sportage EX-L - Sold
1993 850 GLT -Sold
1998 V70 XC - Sold
1997 Volvo 850 SE NA - Went to niece in California - Sold
2000 V70 SE NA - Sold

User avatar
abscate
MVS Moderator
Posts: 35299
Joined: 17 February 2013
Year and Model: 99: V70s S70s,05 V70
Location: Port Jefferson Long Island NY
Has thanked: 1505 times
Been thanked: 3818 times

Post by abscate »

and found a fantastic write up about the ECT sensor that can send signal to the ECU to shut the car off if the coolant temp is too hot or there is loss of signal
It’s fantastic indeed, and also fantasy. If the ECT sensor is bad the ECU will run the fan at funny times.

Watch the fuel pressure when it stalls and start down the diagnostic path of fuel and ignition. How old are the coil , cap, plugs, rotor, spark plug wires?
Empty Nester
A Captain in a Sea of Estrogen
1999-V70-T5M56 2005-V70-M56 1999-S70 VW T4 XC90-in-Red
Link to Maintenance record thread

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post