1996 850 R,dies while driving, won't restart

mguts0125 · Post by **mguts0125** » 26 Dec 2007, 20:38

I have a 1996 850R with about 135k on it. Recently my wife was driving home and the car just died. She'd pull over and tried to restart it, it would spit and sputter while turning over but would not restart. I arrive and first thing i check is the coil wire since on this same car about 3 years ago the coil wire was corroded on the plug wire going into the coil and caused the car to do a similar thing, yep it was green and corroded, i threw a new coil wire on it but it still would not start. I thought with all of the attempts to start the car by my wife before i arrived that the plugs must be full of fuel fouling it out... So i let the car sit over night and planned on pulling the plugs and cleaning/drying them but the next morning i first tried cranking it, it did start right up after a small sputter ( i figured the sputter was the remaining fuel burning off)....I let the car run a minute then i took it for a drive, it seemed to drive like it always did, i drove around the neighborhood about 5 or 10 minutes and then felt a little hesitation and off it went, the car died...I pulled off and tried to restart and it spit and sputter after a couple cranks and then just turned over . The car sat for 5 minutes tops and cranked up again and it drove as if no problems and then died again about 5 minutes later...again it spit and sputtered after a couple cranks and now it sits in my garage....... Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I've seen a few posts about faulty Fuel pump relays that sound similar but i thought i might try replacing the plugs and wires to start. It has not thrown any check engine code to this point. I'm a little hesitate to test drive it after i try something since it drives fine and seems to out of nowhere die , stranding me . Fun times! But i still love my R.

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 26 Dec 2007, 20:54

Did you determine that there are not check engine codes because the light on the dash has not come on yet? If so, go ahead and read the codes. These cars will store codes until they have sensed them a few times before lighting up the dash, so you might be able to get some information to head you in the right direction. I'm thinking fuel pump relay or even the MAF sensor. Let us know what you find.

farupp · Post by **farupp** » 26 Dec 2007, 21:28

My 850 did that and it was a bad fuel pump relay. We replaced it and it runs fine. Good luck.

jtchurch · Post by **jtchurch** » 27 Dec 2007, 10:46

Hopefully this is nothing serious. I have had similar symptoms with a previous (now dead) car -not a Volvo. Unfortunately in that case the intake manifold gasket was leaking. I was getting oil in my coolant, which in turn was super-heating the engine instead of cooling it

-and long story short the stalling was due to overheating. Bad news for me, but I'm sure this is not happening to you or you would've mentioned the hight temps, steam/smoke, etc.

mguts0125 · Post by **mguts0125** » 28 Dec 2007, 16:55

Since my last post I tried a new Fuel Pump Relay but that did not work...the car still only turns over and doesn't even attempt to fire at this point.
I'm going to pull the MAF off and clean it next as well as get a test set to look for any codes it maybe throwing.
Also something i haven't noticed before, but now when i try to start the car it just turns over, i turn the key off but then there is a buzzing noise coming from the engine compartment for what seems to be a good 30 to 60 seconds after the key is off.
I'm also going to put factory plugs and wires back on the car since the previous owner installed some aftermarket crap on it.

Anymore ideas are appreciated, I'll let you all know what happens.
Thanks!

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 28 Dec 2007, 16:57

You hear a buzzing reminded me- check your idle air control valve (under your throttle cable cover). If a hose to it is broken then this might be your problem. Do you get any trouble codes?

mguts0125 · Post by **mguts0125** » 28 Dec 2007, 17:15

I just checked the hoses and don't see anything broken....I'm working on pulling the codes now.

cbondsr · Post by **cbondsr** » 28 Dec 2007, 21:28

I have a 1994 850 turbo. I have had many similar problems that you are describing. The thing I am finding is that with my car it is not just one fix, it is many. First when my car would not fire, it would turn over but never fire, I finally got it to work by replacing the Cam Shaft Sensor. Now my 850T starts fine. Next I would be driving and the car would shut off. Sometimes it would lurch before it shut off, sometimes it would run fine and then just shut off, other times I would be sitting in idle and it would just shut off. It got to a point where it would shut off 6+ times a day. I replace the fuel filter and it stopped lurching before it shut off. I replaced the Mass Airflow Sensor and it greatly reduced the number of times it shut off in a day (it went from 6+ to 2 per day). I replaced the IAC valve and that helped, now it only shuts off about 1 time per day or every other day. I have still not completely solved the problem but it has become better. I hope some of this helps.

Svenska 850 Wagon · Post by **Svenska 850 Wagon** » 28 Dec 2007, 22:05

It almost sounds like a Fuel Pump. Mine did the same thing. Run sputter. Shut it off, wait then it was fine. It did this to my wife and then it brought her home only to die in our drive way. Good 855.

Give the Gas tank a good smack and try to start it?

mguts0125 · Post by **mguts0125** » 29 Dec 2007, 14:10

Thanks guys. Its looking like the fuel pump is culprit.

The car isn't giving any codes to this point. I did clean the MAF , then I checked for spark, got that, then we checked for fuel pressure at the fuel rail.....i have no fuel to the rail. We pulled the trunk guts out and got to the cap over the fuel pump, smacked directly on the cap a few times as the car was being turned over, it started for a few seconds then died....you could hear the pump come on and then go off....We also made sure it has continual power to the pump and it does so i'll now be searching around for a reasonable price on a pump.

MJG