940 Estate 1993 Bad starting

[Ian Turner]

I have a Volvo 940 estate, 2.3i petrol, registered 1993. I have had it from new, and it has covered around 80,000 miles. It has been serviced regularly, and has had very few problems.

Around 3-4 months ago, it developed a cold starting problem. The starter motor would turn well, but it took 4-5 lengthy turn overs before the car would reluctantly start. This was always the first start of the day, morning or afternoon, and it happened in good weather as well as bad. Once started, the car could be stopped and re-started during the day with no problem. The following day, however the same problem would arise. The first start of the day, be it morning or afternoon, would be extremely difficult.

After several days of this, I took the car to the local garage. They replaced the rotor arm and distributor cap, and felt that the problem was resolved as they could find no other faults. The problem was not resolved, so I went back to the garage. Since the annual service was due in a couple of months time, we agreed to have the service done early in the hope that that would cure the problem. The garage also advised that regular long runs would be beneficial.

For around 6 weeks, everything seemed to be alright. Around a fortnight ago, the problem started to reappear. I have tried red-ex additive in the petrol, and last week we took the car on runs from Manchester to Sheffield and back (around 150 miles) and Manchester to Nottingham and back (around 200 miles). The problem still remains. The local garage are at a loss to find any fault or to suggest any treatment.

Do you have any suggestions, please?

[billofdurham]

Welcome to Matthew's Volvo Site.

Liquid injector cleaners have a very limited capability. If you have an injector problem the best way to have them cleaned is by a specialist with ultra-sonic equipment which can be expensive.

Your car is fitted with an On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) unit in the engine compartment. Any major problems with the injectors would probably show up as a Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) in that unit. Have you or the garage cgecked for DTCs?

Other things to check are fuel pressure and the throttle switch and its connectors.

Bill.