Rough Rider!
 

Hello - I just bought a used 1998 V70XC - fantastic car! drove fine for 2 weeks and then that was it.
I know all about the ABS situation - because I have that situation! No biggee - I'll fix it! But now the check engine light went crazy and the service light came on, I went to Advanced Auto Parts to have the guy hook up the hand held computer to read the codes - he was as impressed as I was about the location of the hook up port - very nice!
Anyway - codes P0300, P0302, & P0304 - Multiple misfiring, 2nd cylinder misfiring, and 4th cylinder misfiring, respectively.
Can anyone out there in Volvo-Land tell me what the issue is if they've experienced it - is it a cap & rotor thing, or a coil pack, or a wire and plug issue - the guy at the car place asked if I've driven through a puddle - maybe got the coil wet - I don't know if the Swedes engineered it to fail every time you drive through a puddle, but I'm thinking not.
Any info would be swell!!!

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Do you work on cars AT ALL? If not, you either need to start or get rid of that car.

You should start by opening up the hood and checking to see if your car has a cap & rotor or coils. Two totally different systems.

Then do some basic trouble shooting. After you determine what is causing the misfire, get the car tuned up. When was the last time the spark plugs were replaced?

Wow rspi the guy is asking about issues with misfires there isn't a need to be an asshole about it. There are plenty of people that don't know what they are doing and come to this site to get help because they don't know what they are doing. Everyone at one point in time had no idea how to work on these cars so don't act like you were born with all knowledge on volvos.

Now back to the op. Fist start by checking the distributor and see how worn it is. If you see any burn marks then that would need to be replaced.

Huh? I thought I posted help, video's and all.

Could be any one of those things. First is it running rough. A 5 cylinder will run rough if one cylinder is misfiring but some people do not notice it like some customers I have dealt. If so pull off each spark plug wire individually and listen for a change in how its running. If it changes, no problem with that cylinder. If no change, pull the spark plug and inspect the electrode wear and color. Have the codes cleared. When the light comes back on take note of what is going on. Going up a hill. First starting. after it runs for awhile and the cars hot, ect.

Agree damiem. RSPI, the YouTube videos may be helpful for beginners to understand how things work, but does not solve any problems. It takes critical thinking and problem solving to make sure a repair is found, repaired right, the first time. I am a professional mechanic. I use those skills everyday. Always learn something new.

Thanks everyone - to answer the question, yes I DIY - just buried an MB 400SEL - 21 yr. old problem child! the tranny went and I had to give up on her. I did caps and rotors, several front suspension components, brakes, bearings, etc. I've done heads on other cars in the past, and plugs and wires as well - I was a diesel mechanic in the USAF and worked on heavy equipment, but if it gets too deep and it takes too long, I'm sort of screwed because I need the car all the time for work. I'll eventually get a second car, but I haven't slammed the big sale yet.
I haven't had a chance to look over all of the responses yet, but I certainly appreciate the help - I hope it is just spark plugs.
I don't know the service record of this vehicle, but it's got 153000 miles on it, and the woman who owned it before me wasn't up on cleanliness, so I will assume maintaining the vehicle was off the radar as well.
Because of the codes, I'm pretty sure it's 2 & 4 that are not getting spark - I need to find some schematics online later today and this cold weather needs to back off!
I'll keep you all posted - again, thanks for all of the help.

Crisis Averted!! The previous owner must have had issues with the electrical system because the cap, rotor, plugs, & wires were all new. I took the cover off to look over the spark plugs, disconnected one at a time, all five were firing because when I took each one off, the engine went squirrllee and when I plugged it back on, shazam! I pushed the wires harder on the cap which probably secured the connection better. I took it for a test drive around town and it's all good! Thanks for all of the input and videos - it helped me get over the learning curve for this engine in a jiffy.

Good to read that you are a DIYer. You will love this car.

The car has a low pressure turbo but does well out the gate.

The things that will cripple her are:
- Heater core. They leak under the carpet and leave a film on the windshield, as well as leave coolant smell in the cabin. If you loose your coolant, the head gasket will fail.
- Coolant lines to the turbo. Since they are behind the motor, people forget to replace them. When they fail, they leak all your coolant out, and you end up with a blown head gasket. Bla bla bla.
- Timing belt and associated parts. If the timing belt breads, it WILL destroy the valves. If you don't know the history, do everything (rollers, tensioner, water pump). If you have records, you may be ok for a while. ON the '98's, it should be done every 70,000 miles or 7 years.
- As in the video, the PCV. When clogged you get a lot of oil on top of the motor and when real bad it can blow seals, cam, crank, RMS. No fun.
- The turbo has an oil cooler line that goes to the radiator. When those lines leak, they make a mess and should be replaced.
- The shaft going back to the rear wheels goes bad and should be repaired or removed.
- Motor mounts. On top of the motor and at the front of the motor (behind the passenger wheel).

My video channel has good instructions for a lot of things that you may have already know needs to be done.

Oh, the only other bad thing that these cars like to do is burn valves. Try to make sure you don't drive it running rich or lean. A good PCV system will help with this. Along with some fuel injector cleaner.

Most things are just easy tinkering things. You may want to check compression to make sure the motor is strong before you put to much into her.

Thanks for all of the info - I had reported yesterday that everything was fine - well, not so fast! The Volvo gods are going to teach me a lesson. When it warms up to operating temperature, it runs like I had described in the initial post - runs like it's only got two or three cylinders bangin' - so on the way to work this morning, it stalled and died - I started it back up and drove it to the repair shop because I really can't get into it right now, but this shop will do me right.....at least I'm hoping they will.
So, I'm thinking it could be the temperature sensor - maybe it failed and the computer doesn't know how to mix the fuel when it's warm. I've had two cars in the past that had issues with computer related sensors that fail and all hell breaks loose and the car runs like it's the end of its life - fixed them both with the right sensor being replaced and all is well - both cars were the output shaft sensor unit.
We shall see later today when they call me - I'm hoping that all of what you've told me about isn't the case right now - I need more time to monkey with that business.

Well, they've changed out the fuel sensor and checked out all of the electrical system - the pcv valve is good, there aren't any vacuum leaks, no arcs from the plugs, wires, or rotor/cap -
What I haven't mentioned here is that the ABS, Check Engine, Service, and Track lights on the dash are intermittent - the guy at the shop said maybe it's computer related - he also said that the timing belt has been replace recently, so he suggested maybe the timing was slightly off - that doesn't make sense - it's been running fine for 2 weeks - no problems except the intermittent dummy lights.
So, I would think that the computer could be the reason for this.
Any thoughts?

Those lights are usually caused by a ABS control unit on its way out. Also seen the lights caused by a crank position sensor, loose connection or gone bad. Crank position sensor is tied into the ABS system to read speed of the engine when slipping occurs and how much pressure to apply regarding amount of wheel speed.

All sensors that read inductive pickups are sensitive to heat.

Sounds sorta like a Mass Air sensor starting to go, but in most cases with motronic in volvos it causes a start and die at when first started.

Thanks...I'll look into it.

Monkey Business
 

Hello,
I dropped the car off to a "foreign car specialist" that guy at the place where I'd originally brought it to suggested.
So I went over there and dropped it off, called and spoke to him, and paid him a visit.
He's got the "god-complex" going on - you know - that "without me you sob's would never get to work!" attitude.
I was out of town, told him so, and called three times leaving messages each time to nicely tell him that I'd like to know wtf was going on with my car, how much $ are we talking about, and if he could please give me a call. Nada!
The arrogant prick never called me to say jack ****aqua about anything going on even though he said he would keep me in the loop.
I called again today using my g-friend's phone and guess what!? , someone answered! The secretary answered and told me that he would call - after a long hold, she said he was "right in the middle of something" and told her to remind him that he was to call me - how sweet! She asked if I could be reached at (123) 456-7890, my number- like she had it memorized - yeah, the one to avoid and not answer when it comes up on the caller ID.
Never happened - he must have forgotten!!! I'm all good about the benefit of the doubt, and all, but I'll be dipped in horse-**** if I'm going to be taken for an idiot! Which I may have already been!
Now it's waxing on Tuesday, and I need said car to actually get to work and everything else.
Live and learn!
I'm going over there tomorrow to retrieve the car and get it over to somewhere else.
I'm sure there aren't any other central PA folks with Volvo's out there on this site reading this post, but if you are, avoid "Professional Performance" like the plague! The owner thinks too highly of himself and doesn't follow through as well as can't communicate so well.

Are you in Pittsburgh?

I no longer live in Pittsburgh.

A lot of mechanics are like that. They are better at working than customer relations.

What did you take it to a mechanic for?

Well, if you really would like to know, it's all because of cloning.
I can't be in two places at once - I'm still waiting on those smart scientists to hook me up!
It turned out that the spark plug wires are shorting out and the starter solenoid stuck in the actuated position - anyway, the guy apologized profusely about not calling me - he'll have it ready today and it is not so bad - $250 for the things done to it, and it will drive fine - he's taking care of the ABS system - taking out the unit and sending in out - he handles Volvo's all the time with this issue, so it's a walk in the park. I really needed this to be done by the mechanic this time around - I was just too busy.

he wasn't being an asshole....I've watched MANY of his videos and have gotten very helpful advice from what he's said. I recently purchased a '98 Volvo S70 T5, and ANY information I can get is USEFUL. I have the intelligence to be able to glean what I need and use what I can use. YOU are the one being the jerk here.