I wanted to see if anyone can help me with this. My Volvo starts up, but idles very rough and almost wants to die. Also, when it's running alot of white smoke is coming out of the exhaust. Any idea what my problem might be? I am thinking it's a fuel issue, but this will only be like my second major problem with the car, so far..

 

Awesome, well thanks for those who at least read my post.... [:@]

 

White smoke usually indicates blown headgasket... Check to see if there is water in the oil. Is the oil cap milky? The other symptoms also point that way... rough idle, etc..

 

Yeah, I had it towed to the shop today (funds reasons) and the guy said over the phone that it sounded like a blown head gasket. Also, he asked if it overheated and it did, right after I got a full service oil change at the local wal-mart. The car had FULL coolant in the car and when I while driving home, the car was overheating. I pulled over to put coolant in and it was completely empty. So, I went to buy more and filled it to max per the reading on the coolant gauge. I'm pretty sure that's it. I know the part is cheap, but don't think the labor will be. [:'(]

 

Oh yeah, thanks for the reply man. I read this board alot, but just recently signed up.

 

Well, headgasket labor is expensive for sure BUT if this overheating happened right after service at a shop, then there is a good probability that they might have caused it. I'd try and figure out WHY the car overheated, and if in fact the shop was responsible, they should pay for the repair... May be the place where you towed the car can ascertain what caused the overheating which blew the head gasket. Good luck!

 

Yep, blown head gasket. They take the head off tomorrow, but already quoted me a grand to fix it. If the head is warped, it's an additional $200 on top of that.

It was actually WAL-MART that left my car without ANY coolant at all, when I took it in there, FULL. Bastards.

 

SUE THEM! A nice little small claim action will pay for your repair-and make them be more careful the next time...