1994 vovlo 850 t sportswagon wont run

[mlh1404]

So we were driving down a bumpy gravel road when all of the sudden the car started sputtering and I brought it to a stop. Car will not re-start. The spark plugs are sparking and the fuel pump is buzzing.

If you put a pop can over the air inlet and manually choke the car you can get it to sputter and run in a flooded state (barely). If you turn it over for about 20 sec. without chocking and check the plugs they are dry.

Any thoughts on how to troubleshoot from here?

Thank you much.

[Ozark Lee]

Have you tried to pull codes from port A-2? No start conditions often don't set a code but it is a good place to start..

Do you hear the idle air control valve buzz with the key in position II? If not then focus on the master fuel system relay that provides power to the fuel injectors.

...Lee

[mlh1404]

There is a loud buzzing coming from bellow the throttle, is this the idle air control? How does one pull codes from A-2? I know the local part store will loan out an OBDII but they have told me it won't work with my car? Check engine light is on. Service engine light is on.

also camshaft and crankshaft position sensors were replaced about 10,000 miles/1.5 years ago. Charcoal canister needs replaced (anyone know where to get one, my local junkyard is worthless unless you drive a pick-up or a subaru).

[Ozark Lee]

Actually, on a '94 turbo, many of them do have OBD-II ports. It is below the coin tray if you have one. Even if you don't have an OBD-II port you can read codes from the OBD-I port under the hood. Here is a link on how to read them:

http://volvospeed.com/volvo_repairs_how ... codes.html

We had a link in the repair database but the link is broken.


Jot down the code numbers and post them back.

The idle air control valve is indeed the cylindrical silver device just below the throttle body which sounds like what you described. You can verify that the fuel injectors are indeed firing just by touching them as the car is cranked. You can feel them pulse.

Although you can hear the fuel pump running you need to check the fuel pressure at the Schrader valve on the end of the fuel rail. The fuel pump can crap out mechanically where the motor still runs but the pump doesn't pump adequate pressure. It should be in the 43 PSI range.

...Lee

[mlh1404]

Thanks for the help....went out to start diagnosing today and it sputtered alive. Still doesn't run right. Kind of a wah.wah.wah.wah to the idle and poor throttle response (in garage did not take out). I am going to test fuel pressure tomorrow. As it came up to temp a valve tap also seemed to start.

My plan is to test the pump, replace the broken charcoal canister, oil change (just about due), Spark plugs, check timming and compression -just cause, and read the obdII (I do have the plug under the coin tray). Any thoughts on what else I should look at? Any known issues with the 850 t5s?

Also, Passenger side seat quite me. Anyone have a fix for these? Manual overide?

Thanks again for all of the help

[rspi]

There is a good chance that the fuel injector relay has gone bad. Good fuel pressure but no injector pulse.

[mlh1404]

Thanks for the help, pump running at 18 psi, starting at less than 10. New pump on order.

[abscate]

Before you replace that seat, give it a good "butt bump" while you are holding the power seat button forward. I find mine stick sometimes and then work fine.