Hello,
I am new to posing here but have came her alot for different things with my 850 GLT.
Problem: My car will not start and stay running. Sometimes it cranks and starts for a few seconds other times it will only crank. There are no odd noises or smells. It cranks at normal speed. Also my power lock button inside the vehicle will not work.
History of problems: No history of problems that i know of. I am the second owner. First owner maintained the vehicle very well.
Last thing i did that before i did it there was no problem whatsoever and now it will not start: I had been trying to install a Stebel compact airhorn with a relay. It would not work and i did not have any power showing up on my multi-meter while the horn button was depressed.
Today i removed the battery and started checking the wires from right out of the fuse box to the horn wires in the front of the car for continuity. there was continuity along all the wires. I also replaced a burned out fuse for the lighter in the car. Its never used and i dont know how long it has been burned out.
When i was poking around at the wires i also found what i have enclosed in the picture and have no clue what it goes to. It does not really look like it was hooked to something and im not sure what its for. It might be he cause of my problem or it might not be im not sure.
Sometimes when i get into my car the power seems to be off but right when i pop the hood the dash lights up like i had just connected the battery. The terminals are not loose and they are clean. The battery is at proper voltage and i have not had any problems with it. I do not remember unplugging anything under the hood. I opened the air filter box and took it out in an effort to try to remove the box to get to the wires under it. I couldnt pinch the tabs at the outside to remove it so i closed it back up. The only thing i can think of if the problem is in that box is the sensor or whatever that is at the bottom of the air box i just touched it and poked at it with my finger a bit trying to figure it out.
Currently the horns are not connected.
Yesterday i took apart the steering wheel and check the clockwheel in it for damage and signs of wear. Everything looked fine. Took it apart and put it together without a problem. Then this morning i spent about an hour total driving it with out a problem. I have checked every fuse in the fuse box. I removed the light relay but put it back inplace. I was trying to see if i could lift of the fuse box to look at the wiring there to see if something was bad there causing no power to the horns.
The check engine light does not come on so i dont think i would have a code to check. The lights come on when the dash lights up when it does.
It seems to act like a loose wire but everything i moved or removed i replaced and tightened it. The only thing that is not exactly right where it was in the enclosed picture. Like i said i have no clue what it is. Sorry for the long post. Just trying to be as through as i can.
Miles : 152k

 

sorry about the problems you are having, but why dont you let us help you by trying to figure out your first problem before dealing with the other issues.No offense, just saying. about your no start issue, did you do a fuel pressure test to make sure you are getting the right pressure from your fuel pump. that could be the cause of the no start. check your fuel pressure first and lets on move from there. heres a link to a video on how to do it in case you have noo idea on how to check for fuel pressure.also you pressure should be around 43PSI. you might get 39 or 40 with a cold engine.
How To Check The Fuel Pressure On A Volvo - YouTube

 

I think that is the ambient temp sensor in your picture.

If I understand you right, you were having an intermittent electrical problem where you lost power. You took off the battery cables, cleaned and put them back on, then it drove around OK for an hour?

Are you sure you didn't actually fix the problem? Possibly the terminals were a little loose and and a little corroded and you fixed it?

 

Turkey_Sandwich : I had driven it for an hour before i disconnected the battery. and started trying to trace the wires. I did clean the connections with a rag, but today i am going to take steel wool to it. So the car was running fine before i took out the battery.
SlimFlex2: Right now i am having a problem with it even keeping power on. I am going to re clean the battery again and better. Then go from there and trace power. Then i can check for the fuel pressure. When i can get it to crank more i will see if i even get fuel out then check the pressure.

It seems to only get power once i open the hood. and then it is not consistent.
Also when i was putting the battery in i was putting it in lost grip and ended up letting the + terminal of the battery touch the - lead that goes to the battery. There were no sparks, but i do not know if it may have tripped something that i cant check with the fusebox I am going to go try cleaning things up a bit and retracing my wires until i get reliable power then i will see if i can test the fuel pressure.
Thanks guys i will let you know what i come up with. Hopefully i can get it fixed today, because i need my car during the week for doctors appointments.

 

First, take that battery to autozone or where ever and get it tested. No sense in going through a bunch of diagnosis and you're sitting there with a failing battery.

If your battery has an intermittent internal problem, it could cause the problems you describe. Are you working with a voltmeter?

It is ok that the + on the battery bumped the - lead. You made no circuit, so there was no difference of potential to go to anything.

 

Car runs now
I went and cleaned all the terminals and connections near the battery including the main ground by the battery. I used terminal cleaner and steel wool and wiped everything down and it started up. Also this time when i reconnected it i left the key in II. I remember when i took apart the steering wheel I read that you are supposed to leave the key there if you had removed or otherwise messed with the airbag system. So i left it there and i also took off a cover to check fuel pressure. I have not done that yet since i dont have the clamp for it yet. I went to O Riley's and they were somehow out of little clamps. But the car runs fine like it did before without any hesitation or lag. I am getting a code now which i dont know if it is because i took the cover off that area and replaced it. I am enclosing 2 pictures. The first is the code i get when i scan and the second is the place where i took the cover off. I know that the place where i took the cover over is the throttle pulley area. Im not sure what the horizontal cylinder is in the picture. It hums when the key is on II. I would say its a fuel pump, but i am pretty sure its alot closer to the gas tank. Also yes i have a multi-meter, but that is about the extent of my electrical tools i have. Its just a cheap one.
Thank you again for everything.

 

Hi Cmbt, and welcome to the site.

To properly clean the battery post and cable connections, I would use a wire brush or one of those tools made to clean the battery connections, there may be a good corrosion shell built up that you really can't see. With these newer cars, most of the time it's not the big build up of corrosion that people use to see on the old cars, unless you poured some acid on it like Coke (SMH).

To everyone else, is it possible to short something out when you let those cables connect? The alternator has a charge, correct? I'm thinking you can short out a ECU or something.

 

The cover you removed doesn't effect anything. It's just a cover to protect your throttle cable/pulley from getting bumped around while under the hood. You can put it back on but don't tighten the screw to tight, it will crack the cover and make it fall off. Also when you install that cover, you may see 2 slots in the front edge of it that are suppose to secure the front under the idle control valve.

The humming cylinder you see near your throttle body is the ICV (idle control valve). It will hum when you turn the key on. The fuel pump is IN the fuel tank, behind/under the back seat. You only hear that hum if it's very quiet and you fail to start the car, it will hum for about 3 seconds.

I suspect properly cleaning your battery cables/connections cured your problem. If I were you, I'd clear the code and see if it returns.

 

Yeah, if there are/were any intermittent voltage issues, you can't necessarily trust any codes because they may be a side effect of low voltage. Like RSPI says, clear it and see if it comes back.

That code is for the throttle position sensor. On your car it can be found bolted directly to the throttle body, at the axis of the throttle blade.

 

New problem.... Just after i got the electrical problem was solved i went through a standard car wash and now it wont start and run. I did get it to start and run once and it idled rough after it smoothed out after about 5 min i went to repark and it died.
You cant upload audio here, but here is a link to a recording i made earlier.
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8O...3czUXJXNm5hNDg

Right now the hood is up there was some water in the engine compartment but i have went through that carwash before with no problem.... Im thinking after this i should just let my wife drive it....

Hoping its the Dist cap with water in it. Took it off and there as a little bit of moisture cleaning it up now

 

If the car was running rough and stalling, it should have a code. Read and post it. Did not get to look/listen to your link, it required a google log-in.

 

Cleaned up the distributor cap. There was some moisture in it so i dried everything up and cleaned the crud out. Re-installed it. Now it runs rough and it drives rough sluggish and chugs. Could that be the sparkplugs fouled from it misfiring while there was moisture in the cap?
Thank you everyone again for all your help. Hopefully im not bugging anyone.

 

Was this Noah's 40 days and 40 nights carwash?

 

No it was just the standard touch less. I have brought it through many times before with no problem. Right now i think the plugs may be fouled from all the misfiring from trying to get it started. I needed to get a T-30 torx socket to take that cover off today and i didn't want to pull a hot plug so i will pull one tomorrow if they look bad i will replace them with some Autolite Platinum plugs.
So hopefully after it sits tomorrow it will get better. It runs rough, has little power, and shifts hard.

 

I asked a couple of questions that were not answered or addressed. If you ignore questions from people that offer help on the site you will likely be ignored and not get the help you seek.

A car was DID NOT force water in your distributor.

 

Im sorry. I have been really stressed trying to get the car running. Its my families only vehicle, and between me and my daughter we have at least 2 doctors appointments a week so that worried me alot.
Let me try to pick up what i missed in here.
I did not get a chance to get the battery tested yet. The auto parts store i go to said their tester is not working right now. It does though while not running show about 12.5-13 volts. While running it is about 14 volts.
For the terminal cleaning i didnt have a wire brush so i used coarse steel wool on the terminals and the clamps where they connect to the terminals.
The last code i was able to pull was the throttle sensor one. I dont have a computer to pull it and i use the auto parts store one up the road to pull it.
When i went there last night before they closed there was someone using it and someone in line and i couldnt wait for them to be done. I am not going to be able to make it back there until tomorrow morning. I have my daughter right now who working on the car with is really hard to do she is also on oxygen so its hard to bring her places.
For the distributor cap having water in it. There was some water in it. the only thing i can think of is the under body wash. The car did start and run after i cleaned the inside of the cap and dried it out. It seemed like it was installed correctly to begin with, but i have not messed with them before so im not sure. The contacts were decent in it but i cleaned off the oxidation with a fine flat file. When my daughter goes to sleep i will pull one of the spark plugs to see if they are fouled.
If i missed anything else please let me know. Its been a rough few days so im sorry if anyone is put off or offended.

 

sounds like a case of needing a stage 0 badly and a failing MAF

do a full stage 0.... Pull your IAC and clean it, replace your MAF with a OEM one, leave the TPS alone.

these cars will throw a TPS code if your trying to start it and you pump the gas.
in 17 year of owning my car I never had a problem with the tps even when it threw the tps code and wouldnt start.

 

Can you tell me what a stage 0 is. I know what the rest of everything you said is, but i have never heard of a stage 0

 

Stage 0 is what you would do to make it how it was from factory..
You will need;
Cap
Rotor
Plugs (copper work better) & (gapped correctly)
Wires
air Filter
Fuel Filter
Clean PTC
PCV if it hasnt been done in a while.
Check all vac lines and elbows

there is other stuff that can be done but start there first

 

FCP has their extended service kit on sale for $188 and free shipping.

Volvo 850 Service Kit-Buy Volvo Parts at FCP Groton

No way to promise that this will 100% solve your problem, but if it has been an unknown time since these items were changed, it needs to be done. These cars are very particular about worn ignition items.