1997 850 sedan running problem when wet...

Audis2vato · Post by **Audis2vato** » 11 Mar 2009, 08:22

Every time it rains heavily my wife's 850 will start, go a couple of blocks then start stumbling and die. It will start sometimes immediately & will get to go maybe a couple of feet then die again.
Trying to start it again is fruitless. It sounds as though it either has fuel starvation or a "No Spark" condition. Come back an hour and a half later & it starts and runs perfectly after that.

Anybody ever run into this problem? I'm ready to junk this thing and get another Audi like I have. Never happens with my German 4 ring car.

turbotim2 · Post by **turbotim2** » 11 Mar 2009, 08:51

Does the check engine light come on? You are probably getting water in the distributer cap or something simple like that if it only happens during heavy rain. Have you taken it to your mechanic?

Audis2vato · Post by **Audis2vato** » 11 Mar 2009, 09:12

Yes. He's an Audi specialist but has worked on Volvo's and he has said that the ignitions systems on Volvos are so screwed up that it would cost me a fortune to fix. I told him it has happened about 6 times since last July. All in wet weather. He claims Volvos are notorious for this problem and that is is hard to locate and target. It is a hit & miss since it does not happen all the time.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 11 Mar 2009, 09:45

Try jumpering the fuel pump relay and see how it behaves. The relays start to get intermittent when they begin to fail. To jumper the relay out of the system remove relay 103 from under the fuse box cover. On the bottom of relay 103, molded into the plastic next to the terminals, are numbers 31, 31b, 15, and 87. Put the jumper wire between the socket positions associated with pins 15 and 87.

If it starts and runs OK with the jumper wire in place either repair or replace the relay. Here is how to repair it.

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... php?t=9681

...Lee

Audis2vato · Post by **Audis2vato** » 11 Mar 2009, 09:50

Will let you kow how it turns out. But will also see if it is ignition too. Car runs great once it is running. It sure felt like the ignition was going to crap though.

turbotim2 · Post by **turbotim2** » 11 Mar 2009, 10:02

"Yes. He's an Audi specialist"

That explains his answer. I am sure he knows all about electrical problems working on Audi's! Ozark has you heading in the right direction.

jinglebuddy · Post by **jinglebuddy** » 11 Mar 2009, 13:23

Hello,
I had something similar to your symptom with my old 240. One way to find out if it's ignition related, I carefully sprayed a small amount of water on to the various points of spark plug/ignition wires to see if it makes any difference. I got zapped twice in the process. I don't even know if it was a right thing to do at all, but I noticed that it seems to somehow bog down when I sprayed on the ignition-to-distributer cable, so I changed that cable and coil, and that seemed to solved the problem.