Volvo newbie care help

Kwackson · Post by **Kwackson** » 12 Jan 2018, 14:37

Hello Volvo enthusiasts! This is my first time ever posting on this forum, but this forum has always been very useful and helpful to me.

I am the second owner of a base red Volvo 1997 850 Manuel wagon. The original owner is my mum and she has taken good care of the old thing and I intend to do the same. The car has benefited from yearly anti-rust proofing and yearly mechanic check ups under the old regime. Now, I'm student, and I can't afford such care, and therefore, other than rust-proofing (which I have continued yearly) I have decided to do all the work on it myself. The only time this wasn't the case was when my clutch crapped out on me during a trip to Montreal, and I had to visit a sketchy garage, which took a sketchy amount of time, to sketchily change the clutch and master/slave cylinder. This might be relevent later.

However, other then having a close friend who is a heavy diesel mechanic and all-round car enthusiast, I don't really have any mechanical background whatsoever. Thanks to YouTube and good old Robert (shout-out to Robert from YouTube, what a man), I have, with lots of swearing and despair, managed to: fit in a new starter, change the timing belt and water pump, install a new battery (woah!), change the sparkplugs, change the bougie cords, change the distributor cap and rotor, biannually change the oil(oil/air/cabin filters also), and change the gas filter. I still have two parts to fit in, a left front axle, and a powersteering pump; they have been waiting for me in my parents garage, I just haven't had the time or will to do it yet.

Now despite all this, and especially, despite changing most of the ignition process because of missfire on all cylinders electrical check light, whenever the car is in clutch, or not moving(in which case it has to be in clutch, I guess), the motor has trouble maintaining a stable rpm. It doesn't affect anything, as far as I can tell from driving, but since the repairs, the light has left and the 'shivers' as I call it, has remained. My buddy tells me this is a missfire, but I had thought this was taken care of! Unfortunately, due to my limited mechanical skill and knowledge, I simply cannot figured out what is causing this, and whether it might be having an adverse effect on my car.

I'd like to describe in better detail what is happening and what I mean by 'shivers'. When the car is stationary, the rpm dips from 0.5 to 1.5. It isn't drastic, and never happens in movement, but whenever I'm waiting at a light, the rpm might dip, the car feels like it wants to stall (but never does), and 'shivers'; shakes slightly, like a very light stall. Searching on the web has not brought me any satisfactory answers, so I've decided to stop lurking and join this fantastic community in search of help.

I hope you guys and galls can help me, and if not, I'd gladly enjoy an informative discussion on the awesomeness Volvos and the benefits of preventive maintenance.

Yours truly, Kwackson from Gatineau, Québec.

Post by **scot850** » 12 Jan 2018, 15:50

This may be one of the times to pay up for a diagnostic check at a Volvo dealer to see if any codes are being set. If you were getting a misfire, I would expect the engine check light to come on. Do you know if it works? When you switch the ignition to position II does the engine check light illuminate? If it doesn't them there may be codes being set that you are not seeing.

As you have a manual trans, and this issue only appears to have started after this work was done (is that correct or have you done work on the car since then), we can possibly assume this may have been the cause if the issue. What will be difficult to tell is what the root cause is. Paying a dealer for an hour or half hour to do the diagnostic check may be worth it to prevent chasing ghosts.

Neil.

Post by **wizechatmgr** » 12 Jan 2018, 15:55

Has the idle air control valve been checked? (I'm assuming it has one with it being that year...)

Also check and recheck the vac. lines. They tend to look good, until you manipulate them and find out they are really microscopic Swiss cheese.

Any idea which brands your buddy the diesel mechanic works on? If it's Volvo, he already has everything required to get dealer level scans accomplished on your car.

Post by **wizechatmgr** » 12 Jan 2018, 15:56

Oh, and welcome aboard!

Kwackson · Post by **Kwackson** » 12 Jan 2018, 16:10

Thank you very much for your input, I very much appreciate it. Let me clear up some of your queries. The 'shivers' were present before and after the ignition work. The reason I know about the misfire codes in my car is because I bought an ODB-II ECU reader on Amazon and using it with the Torque app, I've been able to check all the fault codes as they come up. There isn't a traditional Check Engine, like in most cars, it's a little Lambda icon, which in my manual, translate to fault in the engine electronic system. Is that it? After I fixed the distributor, I reran the codes to find to my great contentment that the misfires were gone. However, having spoken with my buddy, he confirmed to me that the shivers were probably misfires and the codes should come back. I haven't seen them yet, but for good measure, I'll go brave the rain right away to check. I fixed the ignition on wednesday, so by now I suppose the codes will have time to have crept back. I drove it a lot yesterday and on wednesday.

Kwackson · Post by **Kwackson** » 12 Jan 2018, 16:15

I will do some research as to how to check the idle air control and vac lines. Having nothing to go on really, it will be next in line for a thorough check up. My buddy has since left this line of work. He worked at a rather crappy garage in Montreal, sometimes outside in the winter, working for employers whose main thoughts were to get the trucks running at any cost or safety considerations. He had a hard time morally and physically, and couldn't see himself doing this in twenty years time. He decided to go back to school for some higher education.

Thank you for your warm welcome!

Kwackson · Post by **Kwackson** » 12 Jan 2018, 16:22

Update:
As of yet, the only code popping up on my dongle is the stupid secondary air system. Soon as I have some free time, it's getting deleted.

Post by **FLXC90** » 12 Jan 2018, 16:41

Welcome to the forum.

+1 on vacuum leaks, Best diagnosis is by smoke testing. Next best, judicious use of carb cleaner/your ear. A gross IAC check is to turn key to Pos II, listen for buzz from IAC motor. When you changed the distributor cap and rotor, was there oil under the cap? You didn't state PCV condition.

Your Lambda Light is the direct equivalent of a Check Engine Light. You may see it referred to as CEL/check engine Light, MIL/Malfunction Indicator Light, or Lambda light.

Kwackson · Post by **Kwackson** » 12 Jan 2018, 16:53

My lack of mechanical knowledge is gonna start to be pretty blatant. I have to admit not knowing what the idle air control or PCV is or their purpose. When I changed the cap, it was rather clean and oil free, same for under the spark plug cover. I don't have the necessary equipment for a smoke test (other than cigars) but I do believe one of my friends has one, so I'll ask him to borrow it soon as I can. As for the IAC buzz, I'll go have a look right now and report back what I hear. I just have to find out where it is first and what it looks like. One thing I can tell for sure as to the condition of the PCV, it is twenty one years old, and has suffered through harsh Québec winters and salt for most of its life.

Kwackson · Post by **Kwackson** » 12 Jan 2018, 17:01

Update:
Yes, I can definitely hear the IAC buzz when the key is on pos II