SOLVED - '96 850 no start

Teddy1975 · Post by **Teddy1975** » 25 Jan 2016, 09:56

So, the snow has finally withdrawn from my car, made me really happy as I can now do some more troubleshooting on the ABS. But low and and behold, now I have a car that won't start.

Turned key to pos II, let it be there for a few seconds to let the fuel pump build up the pressure. Fuel pump turns on (can hear the low hum of it). Turn to ignition, starter cranks, engine turns over, but doesn't start.

The battery is kind of old (from Feb 2011) and didn't last for long, maybe 20 seconds in total with starter running. It is however a Varta 70Ah so I'll try to see if I can't service it and get to run just a bit longer. I took a new working battery from my VW and tried to get the Volvo started. Starter works much better, really cranks that engine, just about to the point where it will fire and start up. It gives a puff and then blah.

So, now I know the battery is at least up to the task, I wanted to take a look at the plugs to see the condition of them as well as feel/smell if fuel was present in the cylinders.

I got a bit of a "oh no!" string of thoughts when I got the spark plug cover off. There's oil and not just a little bit on the top of the engine. At first I thought that it was the head gasket that was blown, but hang on... There's no gasket, no seams or anything all the way up on the top of the engine. Or, is there? A picture says more than a thousand words, so here's what I'm talking about, small pools of very thick black oil:

So if not a gasket, maybe a sloppy oil job with lots of spilling or worse scenario, shooting oil up from the oil filler cap? I'll do the rubber glove test once I get that engine going again.

Fortunately the holes where the plugs sit are all fairly clean... Order of pictures are #1 thru #5.

The plugs themselves are NGK BKR6ETUC 3 sprockets. I'm not good at judging plugs, I always think they are worse than they really are, so any thoughts are welcome, again plugs in order #1 thru #5 from left to right:

There is quite a bit of corrosion on them, but it's easy to remove with a small screwdriver. They were also moist with fuel, so my guess is that the fuel line is ok. Gap from electrode to sprockets is about 1.7mm (0.066"). Good enough or bad enough for a change?

Now that I look closer at that picture I took of the spark plugs, it looks as if oil has seeped onto the threads of plug #2 and #5 which could only have been coming from the cylinder as the threads are below the gasket on the plug??

I should quickly say that I tried to start the car a couple of days ago when it was 15F which is where it first failed to start. So I don't think it's due to moisture on the spark plug wiring/distributor, but will look at that too if need be.

So as always, hoping for anyone to speak their mind so I can get this beast back to life.
Thanks,
Teddy

Post by **abscate** » 25 Jan 2016, 10:16

You need a new set of plugs at least. You can use Volvo copper plugs gapped to 0.7mm

Dont worry about the oil on top - just mop up with some paper towels for now.

While you have the plugs out, measure the compression - then put some starter fluid in (quick shot), replace plugs with new, try it again with battery freshly charged.

harryhendo · Post by **harryhendo** » 25 Jan 2016, 10:27

Oil in those areas is pretty common. It comes from the PCV system (silver hose that runs from the top of the engine down to a flame/oil trap) or from a leaky oil cap. Nothing really to worrry about there. Change the gasket on the oil cap, and it will help.

The plugs look okay too, although a bit too black on 2 and 5, connoting too rich a mixture.

As abscate says, try a shot of starter fluid in each cylinder and fire it up.

Teddy1975 · Post by **Teddy1975** » 25 Jan 2016, 11:31

Thanks guys.

Starter fluid, would that be the starter spray that you would spray directly into the carburator on an older engine; something that contains Ether?
I think I know what it is, just want to make sure as this is my first DIY car with injection and I don't want to do something that could go wrong.

As I recall, Ether vaporizes fairly quick, so spraying into one cylinder and putting the plug in before moving on to the next cylinder is the way to go, right?

harryhendo · Post by **harryhendo** » 25 Jan 2016, 12:08

Right. Starter spray is highly volatile and vaporizes quickly, so do one cylinder at a time, removing a sparkplug, spraying, and replacing the sparkplug.

Teddy1975 · Post by **Teddy1975** » 25 Jan 2016, 13:12

Thank you Harry.

I will try that tomorrow.

Post by **abscate** » 25 Jan 2016, 22:52

Quick shot in each cylinder, like 1/3 of a second. No point in putting on tons, just enough to confirm ignition and timing.

Teddy1975 · Post by **Teddy1975** » 26 Jan 2016, 06:43

So today I tried starter spray, used a nozzle from a WD-40 can, the one with the long thin plastic tube so I could be sure the fluid went into the cylinders. Short shot into each cylinder and put the plug in immediately after the "injection".

It didn't change anything, however I nearly got it started with a prolonged use of the starter, like 10 seconds. Car "coughed" 3 times and then stalled.
What I didn't do is change the plugs. I will have to wait until Friday to do that as I've no money to buy stuff for until then.

Since I got some power on the battery I decided to see if I could pull any codes. Flashed out the motronics 4.3 and got the 1 1 1 sequence. Still can't get in touch with ABS module, so I'll pull that tomorrow and work with it on the bench some more. Instruments module in vol-fcr (combi?) returned two codes. I don't think they have anything to do with the no start, but I'll post them here anyway:
CI-113 Fuel level sensor signal too high
CI-121 Engine Coolant temp signal faulty

Unless the 113 means that the fuel level indicator shows 1/4 full when the tank is really empty, I don't think it's critical. But, just to make sure I'll get a jerry can and put some more gas in on Friday. I'll also change the air filter as only the PO knows when that was last done and he probably doesn't know either as the odometer isn't working.

Post by **RussB** » 26 Jan 2016, 09:59

Did you run a compression test while the plugs were out?

Post by **E Showell** » 26 Jan 2016, 10:14

Sounds like it could be a bad ECT (engine coolant temperature sensor). Replace that together with the thermostat and give it another go. Bad ECT will often cause a no-start by flooding the engine causing an overly rich mixture. If you have wet plugs on removal that could be another tip off. If you try cranking it again (and for me that would depend on battery health), make sure you keep the accelerator to the floor. It sounds counterintuitive, but a mechanic once told me the "gas" pedal is really the "air" pedal and over-rich means too little combustion air. If it starts with the accelerator to the floor, I would take that as confirmation of a bad ECT.