96 Volvo 850 Turbo - Died on road and won't start

JasonJarrah · Post by **JasonJarrah** » 02 Jan 2014, 04:30

Here's the story:
I was driving down the road (my car is an automatic by the way), and suddenly the engine turns off. No sputtering, no chugging, no sounds like it were about to stall or stop, just stopped. All of the dash lights came on. So I roll off to the side of the road and go to start her up again. I turn the key and get a whizzing/whirring sound that sounds almost identical to when my Toyota pickup's starter wasn't secured on correctly/tightly. Tried tapping on the starter, no dice. Mind you about a half hour prior, I had stopped in front of a house (I'm a delivery driver), and when I had gotten back in my car and gone to start it, it wouldn't start at all, come to find that the clamp on the battery terminal was halfway off. So my first thought when the car died on the road later on, was to tighten up that screw and make sure it wasn't budging. That didn't do any good, and the whizzing sound still happens. Now if it were to be the starter, I would think that the car wouldn't have died in the middle of the road randomly. If it were the alternator, I would assume that there would be dimming lights and a slow crank, not a whizzing. If it were the battery, I'd think I'd have the slow crank and dimming lights as well. I just can't imagine that two completely separate problems decided to rise at the exact same moment. I didn't get a good look at the starter to see if there were any obvious signs because it was dark and right off the highway, but tomorrow morning I'll be able to check it out again.

Any ideas of where to start? I can't for the life of me figure out what could cause that same sound and for it to die in the middle of the road like that. It was pretty weird. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks guys.

Post by **abscate** » 02 Jan 2014, 05:29

Does sound like loose connections to battery or grounds.

Forget about the mode of failure and start at the beginning of no-start troubleshooting

Thanatos2489 · Post by **Thanatos2489** » 02 Jan 2014, 05:44

Could be the fuel pump relay that's not going or try disconnecting the maf and see if it starts had both fail on me giving the symptoms you describe

Have you a flash code reader to see if there's any codes

JasonJarrah · Post by **JasonJarrah** » 02 Jan 2014, 06:10

I'll have to try the battery again tomorrow, I'm hoping I don't end up needing to tow it anywhere and it'll be a fix that I can do where it's at. As far as the codes, the last time I went to AutoZone it did pull up two codes that (I hate to say it) I didn't get taken care of because I was too broke and just kinda forgot about it. First code was an Oxygen Sensor and I want to say the other was the Mass Airflow Sensor. When I asked him about it he said all that those meant was that I was getting about 5 miles less per gallon when I fill up at the gas station. Thinking on it now I feel like there's probably more to it than just fuel economy being affected, but like I said, I unfortunately did just brush it under the rug.

Post by **osman** » 02 Jan 2014, 08:25

First thing to determine is spark or fuel? Press the schrader valve or try cranking with starting fluid to determine which. Check timing belt, fuel pressure, fuel pump and injector relay.

Post by **rspi** » 02 Jan 2014, 09:05

Sounds like the timing belt broke to me.

Post by **rmmagow** » 02 Jan 2014, 09:30

yeah, if the starter is actually engaging the flywheel and the engine cranks smooth and fast, probably a snapped timing belt. pull the timing belt cover and look around. If the belt broke, the damage is done.
If it is just the starter not engaging the fly wheel then off/on, off/on a few times may get the Bendix to grab again. Hope it's your starter but stopping like that sounds more like a broken timing belt.

Post by **kcodyjr** » 02 Jan 2014, 10:17

If the timing belt snapped, there should have been a pretty impressive "bang" sound when the piston and valve came together for a smooch. I suppose it could have been lost in road noise, though.

<joke>
C'mon that can't be, they weren't Found On Road Dead until after 1998!
</joke>

-1 ignore the history entirely. just use it to pick which tests to do in what order - meaning, start with compression, since that's what a snapped TB would deprive you of.

If you have the Torx handy to remove the cover, go ahead and just look at the timing belt. You could also diagnose this the same way you would test for gross compression - take out a spark plug, stick a rag in the hole, and crank it. If the rag doesn't jump up, the belt is snapped.

+1 check the schrader valve on the fuel rail, since a fuel pump failure would cause a no-run in this way, and it's possible your starter is coincidentally on the blink at the same time, and it's an easy thing to check.

+1 try disconnecting the MAF. it's a way way long shot, but since you already have evidence of its failing, maybe it really did just fail all the way, and again it's an easy thing to check.

If those three tests indicate normal conditions, *then* start at line 1 of the no-start troubleshooting.

JasonJarrah · Post by **JasonJarrah** » 02 Jan 2014, 18:00

Just went and took the timing belt cover off, it was definitely snapped. Just had it towed home. Considering I'm no professional mechanic, this is a job for a legitimate mechanic correct? I don't feel like entirely screwing up my engine is a very good idea...

Post by **abscate** » 02 Jan 2014, 19:31

You are at a big fork in the road, depending on what happened to your motor when the TB snapped.

It's likely the pistons hit the valves and bent them, and you need to rework the cylinder head at about 2000 usd