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Volvo 850: I had the MAF checked, position sensor, and fuel

 
Edward Clayton's Avatar
  • Answered by:Edward Clayton
  • ASE Certified Technician
  • Positive Feedback: 98.5 %
  • Accepted Answers: 1141
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Excellent specific knowledge of the model and vehicle. Pleasure to work with.
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Very helpful Thanks very much!
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Edward seems to be very knowledgeable and helpful.I will not hessitate to...
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Thanks for the help
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If this is not the problem, I assume the pumps are bad; can they be replaced...
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pretty much on point.
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Thanks for the logic behind your thinking and some extra points to follow up on.
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thank you I will have to follow up with my mechanic. It has been difficult to...
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Customer Question

I had the MAF checked, position sensor, and fuel pump. The car is does not have any engine codes. When the garage check it, all was fine. they didnt find anythign wrong. when I started it it drove fine but when I stopped and wanted to go again. as soon as i put my foot onthe gas it ran really rough and almost died. i took my foot of the gas and it ideled fine. then i hit the gas and it was very very rough. again i took my foot of the gas and it ideled fine. I turned it off and it would not turn back on. had to towed to garage and they checked it a few days later. noted that nothing was wrong. I am at a loss at what to do. problem is intermitant. car also seems to lack power now. checked all spark plugs and they were fine. car had spark and good fuel pressure.

 

Country: United States
Make: Volvo
Model: 850
Year: 1996
Engine: non turbo

Already Tried:
IBID

Submitted: 279 days and 5 hours ago.
Category: Volvo
Value: CA$18
Status: CLOSED
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Expert:  Michelle-Mod replied 278 days and 20 hours ago.


Hi, I’m a moderator for this topic and I wonder whether you’re still waiting for an answer. If you are, please let me know and I will do my best to find a Professional to assist you right away. If not, feel free to let me know and I will cancel this question for you. Thank you!


Customer replied 278 days and 17 hours ago.

Hello. I had not had anyone follow up on this questions. Thank you.

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Expert:  Edward Clayton replied 278 days and 1 hours ago.

Hello, I will try to help. Is the check engine light on or off now? thanks.

Customer replied 277 days and 9 hours ago.

check engine light is off. I have scanned it with an OBD2 reader and now codes are present or pending. car has been running fine now for a few weeks but I have not taken it back and forth to work, just around town because I have been worried that the intermitant problem will return.

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Expert:  Edward Clayton replied 277 days and 2 hours ago.

OK, I understand, and these intermittant problems can sometimes be difficult to solve to say the least. Now, If the vehicle ISN"T setting any OBD codes, then in my opinion all of the engines sensors and actuators that are electronically controlled are working normally. Usually these cars will throw a code if something is out of range (not always but usually). The first thing I would do, Is install a fuel pressure gauge on the fuel rail, and duct tape it to the windshield. You have to start narrowing down what it could be. If the fuel pressure is 35 psi or so when the problem occurs, you can know that the fuel pump circuit and pump are operating normally. A fuel pressure issue won't usually throw a code. So that's why I'm leaning towards it.

Customer replied 277 days and 1 hours ago.

Okay. In my opinion, it felt like a fuel issue or throtal problem. The only think Io can think of is that I had not put premium gas in the tank the day that is happend because the gas station was out. so perhaps bad gas as well? when I check fuel pressue it was fine but if it was intermitant it could have been fine when i checked it but bad at the time the problems accured. I will try again. is there any way a throtal cable or something could cause this strange problem?


 


it was the weirest problem I had experiences. just the way the engine sounded, shuttered, shook, and stalled out, i now roars to like and when the egnition is turned off, shuts down (dies) so quickly.

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Expert:  Edward Clayton replied 276 days and 4 hours ago.

I doubt it's the throttle cable. If it was, it would do it all the time in my opinion. Has this problem occured on more than 1 tank of gas?

Customer replied 273 days and 7 hours ago.

Problem seems to be gone. has not happened in a while now. I put in gas treatment and injector cleaner and problem has disapeared. But now I have a big puff of white smoke when I start the car and it smells like it is burning oil, running a little rough. I added oil conditioner to soften the seals and it has not helped the problem. When I pull the dip stick to check oil, it is still clean and the levels are okay but it smokes out of the dip stick hole, white smoke. I always use synthetic oil 5W30 for older engines. this might be a seperate problem cause the stalling with very rough idle has stopped. this seems to be a new problem but started directly after the problems with dirving and starting. until than, it ran perfect and never missed a beat and had no smoke. burned clean. no it is stinky.

Accepted Answer

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Expert:  Edward Clayton replied 273 days and 2 hours ago.

OK, It is very possible that you had some water in the tank, that is why I was leaning that way. If the first problem hasn't occured again lately, it's highly likely that was the cause, now with the smoking issue, If it is smoking white, It could either be one of a couple of things, rings, or headgasket, or cracked head. (highly unlikely on the cracked head or block). The first thing I would do, Is take a compression reading on all the cylinders. Pull all the spark plugs out, and take a look at them. If they all look the same and like they are firing well, then most likely the headgasket is fine. If the compression readings are all within 15 lbs of each other, then I would check the overflow jug for the presence of fuel. If there is fuel in the coolant overflow jug, then there is a headgasket issue. There is a test you can get at an autoparts store using a liquid which will change color in the presence of gas. If all of that checks out OK. You may have a stopped up flame trap and the engine can't breathe. The flame trap is located in the fresh air pipe and you can twist it out and replace the plastic honeycomb piece. Also, I would probably go ahead and replace the entire plastic portion of the flame trap because they get brittle. Be sure the vacuum line is good that goes to it, It is also located in the fresh air inlet pipe.

Expert TypeASE Certified Technician
Category: Volvo
Pos. Feedback: 98.5 %
Accepts: 1141
Answered: 7/10/2012

Experience: I've had 10 years of experience on the car line at 2 Volvo dealerships, Quality level Volvo tech.

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