I have a 2001 Volvo s40 with about 92k miles, I was told the car has been sitting for a 1.5 years. I took it to autozone and the following codes came up. I am replacing the battery tomorrow but I gave the current one a full charge, if that matters.

The car runs and idles smooth, doesn't die/stall or etc.

CODES:
P0303
P0015

PROBLEMS:
-Car takes a good 4-5 cranks to start with a few steps on the gas.
-Muffler spits out black stuff (my friend said it appears to be carbon).
- Smells like fuel. (I may be wrong about this, because its in the garage and may have been standing to close haha).

Replaced/tested:
-Replaced spark plugs,
-Tested wires and coils for spark, working.
-Oil change.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I would run all the gas out and then get a full tank of fresh gas. 1.5 years is a long time for gasoline to sit. The car holds almost 16 gallons which is about 5 more than when it shows empty. Don't know why Volvo did it this way.

The code P0303 is for a cylinder 3 misfire. This can be a bit misleading as each coil fires 2 cylinders. To narrow it down you swap the coils, erase the trouble code, then drive the car to see if the misfire returns and to which cylinder. If it stays on #3 then it's the other cylinder with the spark plug wire. If it jumps to #4 then it's the coil itself. Although the coils can ohm good they get hairline cracks in the plastic that lets the spark jump to the head (spark plug wires do the same on the other 2 cylinders). You don't see the spark jump due to the coil or spark plug wire over the top of the plug. One person here said they fixed the cracks with JB Weld. YMMV.

The P0015 has usually been the Camshaft Reset Valve (aka CVVT solenoid). One guy took it apart and cleaned it. https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...0-47208/page2/

The long cranking has usually been a bad Fuel Pressure Regulator. Test fuel pressure for about 60 psi at key on and no instant drop to zero pressure when you turn the key off.

Let us know what you find?

 

Ok, after replacing the battery, the spark plugs, testing the wires/coils, everything seems working and fine. So I went ahead and wiped the codes... (note: after I replaced the battery the car started right up, multiple times today as i drove it, on the first crank, also the black carbon seemed to have vanished all day today....I was happy.)

Now I know I didnt solve the issue for the P0015, but right now its freezing and didnt take it apart to clean it but will probably do so in a few days when it warms up.

Issue:
As of 8:30 pm today, I started the car and the long crank was back. Also with that the black carbon crap came out of the muffler again and it smelled like gas.

What could be the cause of the black crap out of the muffler?

 

Black powdery soot is too rich. Plus you have the fuel smell. You need to test the fuel pressure to make sure it's close to 60 psi. A bad FPR will normally cause low fuel pressure so the test is just to rule out the FPR.

How is your temp gauge working? The ECM uses coolant temp at start up to fine tune the amount of fuel entering the engine. Cold engines need more fuel than a warm engine. If your temp sensor is giving the wrong temp to the ECM it can cause starting problems. You need a DiCE tool and VIDA to see what the sensor is actually reporting to the ECM though.

Another potential troublemaker is the top O2 sensor. This is the one used for feedback to the ECM to fine tune your engines air/fuel ratio. However, it shouldn't come into play until the car enters closed loop when warming up. I'm just not sure if the learned fuel trims are added during cranking of the engine.

Last, if all else fails disconnect the battery again to see if you can duplicate the issue. Removing battery power for 10-15 minutes clears the learned fuel trims.

 

I tried to search how to test for the fuel pressure, is there any videos or guides on how to do it for the s40?

The temp guage seems to be working fine, I just checked it and it seems to be running as it should.

Also, I drove the car for a few hours today and took some notes about how the car was running. It seems to be eating gas like crazy. (175 miles to 0, then 150 in a matter of a 3-4 miles). Now it seems to be at "60 miles to zero" and I probably drove 35 miles total today.

Another thing, I saw a little bit of smoke right above the key/key whole area while I was driving.......really random.

LAST but not least, as I was driving on the way home at about 30 miles per hour the cars power completely shut off. I pulled it to the side, put it in park and hit the emergency lights, I heard a tsk sounded like a spark and all the lights on the dash came on and the car started right up.

 

Sounds like your car is fighting you all the way. Based on your description of it shutting off all power then coming back after a spark sound, you may have an ignition lock cylinder going bad. Especially when you describe a puff of smoke near the ignition key. If mine did that I would start taking the steering column apart to find the reason for the smoke. Did it smell like plastic burning?

The temps are far too cold in Chicago right now for you to be stranded. If you must drive this car then please be prepared.

Fuel pressure is tested via the shrader valve on the fuel rail. Harbor Freight has cheap testers for about $20. These work fine for the few times you need them. The shrader valve is located under the plastic cover over the fuel rail on the front of the engine. You are looking for 60 psi key ON then to maintain near 60 psi for many minutes after key OFF.

First try disconnecting the battery for about 10 minutes to wipe the learned fuel trims. Then drive it to see if the car acts the same as before.

 

Oh yeah its fighting me alright, my dad and I are gonna test the fuel pressure tomorrow. I did not smell burning plastic, but then again I didnt really notice. I think you might be right about the ignition lock cylinder....I look for the part online or would I have to get that from the dealer?

Here is where it gets weird.....so after everything no check engine light came on, until about 1hr ago (8:45 pm). We ran and code the codes read and it came out with this.

P0125 CNF MOD13
Insufficient coolant temperature for closed loop control

&

P0125 PND
INsufficient coolant temperature for closed loop control

Now the anti-freeze was about 1-3 inches below the minimum level, and we added some and noticed the heat got much hotter in the car. (it was cool "heat" before).

But the P0303 & the P0015 codes did NOT come back....should this be ok? or should we expect it to come back?

 

If the ECM thinks the engine is cold it will run too rich. That would explain the black soot and fuel smell plus bad gas mileage.

On my 2001 it took 2 start cycles before the P0015 would return. (Mine was an incorrectly mounted VVT gear on the cam due to my not buying the cam alignment tool.)

I'd not worry about the P0303 misfire unless you can feel the engine misfiring. Mine would only misfire when accelerating rather hard. I did have to change both coils to stop the misfire. I never tried the JB Weld to fix the hairline cracks as I learned about that after spending the money on new coils. I know now though.

 

Well this has been a rollercoaster....it seems that the cause of everything MIGHT Have been related to a bad battery, old oil, no tune up being done, etc. So after we did all that basic stuff the car stopped spitting black soot/gas, and is back to normal, except for the long crank/rough start. That issue is still there.

The car is no longer eating gas, and just so you have an idea of how bad it was I filled the tank up and drove 5 blocks and then it was at 3/4's of a tank....yes it was that bad. But now its back to normal 17-20MPG which in reality I was scared because I thought the gas gauge was broken because it was going so slow haha.

So now after driving the car for the past 2 days code free.....we got a NEW code last night.

P0115 CNF MOD13
ENGINE COOLANT TEMPERATURE SENSOR 1 CIRCUIT

P0115 PND
ENGINE COOLANT TEMPERATURE SENSOR 1 CIRCUIT

Issues:
-check engine light came on (duh haha)
-Heat in the car went cool.
-Temp gauge went straight down and came up a little bit (no over heating or anything).

Where should I start?


UPDATE:
Warmed up the car and drove to the store and etc, and now it seems the temp gauge is back to the middle when its warm and not at the bottom which is where it was last night. Hmmm.

 

Did you change the coolant temp sensor? They do tend to fail after a certain time. I've replaced mine once on my 2001 with 180k miles.

When you refilled the coolant did it stay in the correct range between the cold and hot lines? Asking to see if you have a coolant leak.

 

No, I didnt not replace the coolant temp sensor. I called Oreilys and autozone and they said they have (2) temp sensors for my vehicle. One with message sender and one with out.....do you know which one it would be?


When you refilled the coolant did it stay in the correct range between the cold and hot lines? Asking to see if you have a coolant leak.

Are you talking about where the "MIN-MAX" fluid level is at? Yes it stayed in between but as I have been using the car it does seem to get lower a little bit (very little) but my dad said there doesnt appear to be a coolant leak. When I got the car the antifreeze was already low to begin with.

 

Search Advance Autos website. Its the very first one listed, Part No. WT5124. It has a pigtail attached just like the stock one on your motor now.

Ok, since you did not change the temp sensor yet that would be my guess given the symptoms and the fact you said the coolant level is between min and max.

 

Awesome, I will get the part and hopefully this will fix the last of my problems.

Ill keep you posted.

 

Changed the thermostat and ECT sensor.......NO MORE CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS.

Yes...finally.

I still have the issue with the long cranking, but I have not checked the fuel pressure. Im doing that later today.

 

Well I never checked the fuel pressure, and the long cranking has continued. Which now leads to a NEW problem.

I drove the car all day today, and it was fine. I then started the car, it cranked twice....heard a click and......nothing. The car wont crank, the dash lights wont come on, even the head lights wont come on or anything, the only thing that happens is that it beeps when the key is in the ignition and the interior lights do come on when the doors open and/or when I unlock it with the key fob but other then that....nothing. I checked all fuses and it was fine, battery is brand new as well.

NOTE:
A few weeks ago (in this post) I mention that I saw some smoke come out of the key/ignition area, could that have something to do with it? That same day I had the power cut off while driving and then after that it started up right away.

Any ideas?