Just this morning - seemed to be missing then BAD vibrations

ronanfeely · Post by **ronanfeely** » 16 Jan 2009, 10:49

Hi All,

We had a few weeks of really nasty weather here in Oregon and I was rightly proud of my 95,000 miles, 2000 Volvo S70 GLT Turbo for getting through it all.

Last night it fell back down to about 30 degrees and we had a damp fog. This morning I heard the wife start the car so she could get hers out of the garage at 7.30. It sounded fine.

When I got in 30 mins later I immediately noticed the car was missing and pulsing at idle and a slight vibration in the steering wheel.

When I got it on the highway things got worse. It was fine at idle (going down a hill say), but really nasty at acceleration.It alternated between surging (just the once) and missing and vibrating - especially in the steering wheel. I drove 20 miles to the Volvo garage near work who were too busy to get it in today. 18 miles into the trip the check engine light came on.

When I left the garage I started it up again and the vibration was worse than ever. You could feel it vibrate lightly at idle but when I accelerated it seemed like the whole car was going to shake to pieces. The check engine light is still on.

Well, I'm here in work 20 miles from home. Do I drive it home tonight and bring it back Monday?

I'm really afraid that this is the timing belt away.

I had to EAD put in 6,000 miles ago and new alternator 3,000 miles ago. Also, the last time I was at the garage the mechanic said their was some coolant contamination going on. Twice in the last 3000 miles I've had to top the coolant up, the most recent being last Wednesday.

It's due it's 90,000 service and according to the mechanic 6,000 miles ago it will need sparks done.

So, any recommendations you can give would be great.

R

timmyc · Post by **timmyc** » 16 Jan 2009, 12:05

Have you checked your plugs? How do they look? As for the coolant loss, are you seeing it on the ground? Has the coolant showed up on your oil dipstick? Man, not good. And if you lost the timing belt, your not going anywhere.

ronanfeely · Post by **ronanfeely** » 16 Jan 2009, 12:18

No sign of any leaks at all ... none. Ground clean all around parking spot. Oil seems clean too. Haven't checked the plugs - can't even see 'em and I am a complete novice. If the T Belt was gone would it still run?

Craigd2599 · Post by **Craigd2599** » 16 Jan 2009, 12:19

I've had two of these with the same syptoms...cracked spark plug wire boot. They are very long boots and there is a casting seam and they burn through right there and arc against the head. basically shorting out one cylinder. Try that

ronanfeely · Post by **ronanfeely** » 16 Jan 2009, 12:28

Thanks Craig - I'll give that a check when I get home tonight. Or should I say IF I get home tonight. I'll post the results.

BTW, will patching it do until Monday when I bring it in to the dealership or will I be able to get a replacement over the counter in a dealership on a Saturday?

Craigd2599 · Post by **Craigd2599** » 16 Jan 2009, 18:47

I once had it go out and I got some really heavy guage electrical tape and it ran fine until I got new wires. Autozone now sells replacement wire sets for the 850 / S70 engines. They are OEM equals and run about $30 less than dealer parts

ronanfeely · Post by **ronanfeely** » 17 Jan 2009, 12:29

FYI, there's a farting noise when you rev it up ... still running rough, tried the Mass Air Intake hint here but it just ran worse.

ronanfeely · Post by **ronanfeely** » 18 Jan 2009, 21:45

OK, a few more updates.

I thought it might be the head gasket was gone but I'm not so sure. Or maybe I'm just being optimistic as:

There's no white gunk around the oil cap but the oil does smell kinda gassy.

The coollant is still green but the bottle itself is quite brown. the coolant hasn't leaked any in the last few days - still at the same level after I filled it up.

But there's still a roughness - and a vibration - that is lesser in Neutral rather than park and drive. The vibration is very noticeable - shakes the car so hard the air bag cover on the steering wheel makes a shaky noise.

The fumes are very smelly of gas - strong gassy smell. I can't tell if there is white smoke as it's cold out and it looks white anyway but there was no overly white smoke when the car had warmed up at any time. There's also a Putt-Putt-Putt sound from the exhaust.

I'm bringing it into Volvo tomorrow. All will be seen then but if anyone has any thoughts please let me know.

Thanks.

Ronan

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 19 Jan 2009, 01:18

Buy a fuel pressure gauge ($30.00) and check fuel pressure at key in position II and then again at key off. It should hold decent pressure at key off. If the fuel pressure drops quickly all of your problems could go back to an bad fuel pressure regulator.

...Lee

ronanfeely · Post by **ronanfeely** » 19 Jan 2009, 13:21

Thanks Lee. Well I dropped it in this morning to Volvo in Corvallis Oregon and I'll post the outcome here. I wouldn't have a clue how to check the pressure - I really am a doosh bag that way. Years ago I had a Ford in Ireland and could do anything to it - now it's all codes etc and I don't know where to begin. But thanks for the all the input folks.