What did you do to your Volvo today? Topic is solved

[454cid]

Scraped a wheel weight off on a curb buried in snow, and scraped up both rims on that side. I bought this car for winter, but it still bugs me, since the rims were previously unmarred. All this for a bacon cheese burger on a snowing blowing night.

But the real question... was it a good burger?

For a fast food burger it was good... it was from Checkers.

Today the car died once when initially started and idled weird. It's single digits (F) today. No problems after getting it on the road, Though. It's actually sunny out, which probably explains the low temps.... no cloud cover to keep the warmth in.

[scot850]

If it is a turbo, the intercoolers can freeze. This makes the engine struggle for air until they warm up. If the coolant temp sensor is acting up it could also cause a cold temp start up.

We have had temps below -40F the last 3 days with the wind chill. Being retired it means we can avoid going out in the cars. The side streets are awful as they are hard polished snow. We are not allowed studded tires in the city due to road damage. Makes driving even more 'fun'. Toyota 4Runner likes to step the rear out on that stuff.

Neil.

[454cid]

If it is a turbo, the intercoolers can freeze. This makes the engine struggle for air until they warm up. If the coolant temp sensor is acting up it could also cause a cold temp start up.

We have had temps below -40F the last 3 days with the wind chill. Being retired it means we can avoid going out in the cars. The side streets are awful as they are hard polished snow. We are not allowed studded tires in the city due to road damage. Makes driving even more 'fun'. Toyota 4Runner likes to step the rear out on that stuff.

Neil.

Intercoolers freeze how? Internally or externally? I did drive through very very slushy snow on my way to work the other day. The grill was almost all blocked and my headlights were covered. I was just out again and the engine was chugging on a warm restart.

[abscate]

Cold humid weather is perfect for inter cooling freezing. Add getting caught in 25-40 mph traffic and you aren’t boosting enough to make heat , and intercooler/TB freezing is common

[scot850]

Abscate kind of covers it. Adding to that, as turbo's wear, oil passes into the intercooler. Although there drain hole in the intercooler, it is there for condensation, and not really oil. Oil gets clogged into the bottoms of the fins. and it is like fat clogging your arteries. Condensation at cold temperatures from the top of the intercooler can't drain down and it freezes. It only un-freezes when the engine warms up if it will run. I have seen the upper intercooler pipe sucked flat. If we are going to drive in those conditions, I put cardboard with zip-ties behind the grille so only air from the undertray comes in cold. This is only same to about +10C or you can overheat the engine. I know in Sweden, they had these neat plastic nose trays that went over the grille for the P80's.

This is also why having the reverse intercooler pipes in cold climates is not a good idea. The oil comes into the top and blocks further down!!

When it is bad like that all you can do is, if the engine runs at all, then let it idle until it warms and then usually it will melt. Otherwise an oil heater under the car plugged in. We use block heaters here and some add battery heater blankets as well as oil pan stick on heaters to warm the oil and block.

Neil.

[bmdubya1198]

I would also recommend checking the coolant temperature values on cold start, and in general. The sensor could be on its way out.

[RedBrickCollector]

Did a Gibbons flush and it was all-in-all painless. Hardest part was actually figuring out the dipstick, the whole process and I don't know if this is universal but one side would read properly while the other would end up with wiped on ATF way up the stick.

While I was down there I did notice it seems my transmission is sitting a little low, and I have another unkown leak. It isn't bad enough to be staining my garage but I can't tell if it's engine oil or ATF. Anyone know any tricks for distinguishing? For the way it sits, does it seem off and which mount is most likely if ever?

Also it was the premiere of a friend's auto vlog, with the 850 as a little guest. It's mostly not in English (and I'm shy) so I won't post the link but feel free to message if you're curious.

[bmdubya1198]

Did a Gibbons flush and it was all-in-all painless. Hardest part was actually figuring out the dipstick, the whole process and I don't know if this is universal but one side would read properly while the other would end up with wiped on ATF way up the stick.

While I was down there I did notice it seems my transmission is sitting a little low, and I have another unkown leak. It isn't bad enough to be staining my garage but I can't tell if it's engine oil or ATF. Anyone know any tricks for distinguishing? For the way it sits, does it seem off and which mount is most likely if ever?

Also it was the premiere of a friend's auto vlog, with the 850 as a little guest. It's mostly not in English (and I'm shy) so I won't post the link but feel free to message if you're curious.

The transmission is definitely sitting a little low. That's probably due to the main two engine mounts being compressed, one in front and one in the rear that sits on the rack and pinion. I would replace both of those, as well as the right side mount under the crank pulley if you haven't done that yet.

[454cid]

I would also recommend checking the coolant temperature values on cold start, and in general. The sensor could be on its way out.

I'm using the 850 OBD2 app to check values. I'm having issues with it connecting. What ECU system does my 99 use? If I use standard OBD2, I can read some values, but I'd rather use the manufacturer specific protocols.

Intake air seemed ok, but where is the sensor? I thought it was the one on the left hand side under the bumper, but it got warmer than I'd expect for that location. Coolant seemed fine. It was in the 160s after a short drive. Something definitely seems to be heat sensitive, as when it's really warmed up, it behaves fine. If it's just warm form a short run, it doesn't run well.

It did stall on my today on first startup, and I had the door open, and could tell it was running rich. It reminded me of starting a small engine, like a snowblower.

[Chuck W]

Your '99 is ME7, not M4.4. The app will not work.