I have a 93 850 that will not start. It worked fine one night. The next day, no spark. When this happened, the upshift light and sport/ econ light started flashing in unison. I replaced the cam shaft sensor, crank shaft sensor, and ign coil. I checked all the error codes. A1 was 2-2-3. A2 would not give a code. A3 was 4-4-4, 2-1-3, 2-1-4. A5 and A6 would not give codes. A7 was 1-2-2. I tried to clear the codes and only A3 would clear. A1 and A7 would not clear. After I cleared A3, I tried all the codes again. When I plug the probe into A2, the test light shows a faint glow. Not bright like when you push the button, just barely glowing. This started after clearing A3 and it's the only port doing it. Once again A2 and A6 will give no codes, not even 1-1-1. I have checked and fuel is getting to the rail, so that is not the issue. Any and all help is really appreciated and if possible, will be rewarded. I really need this. Thanks

 

PNP switch ?

 

Not sure what that is, but I will look it up and try it next. Keep the ideas coming please.

 

http://volvospeed.com/Repair/pnpswitch.php

 

Thanks. I will give this a shot. However, the car is turning over, just not giving a spark. Wouldn't the pnp switch not cause a turnover. It is late so I can't try this until tomorrow. I will post my results. Thanks for the help. I'll let you know the results.

 

Hey, sounds like my problem...check out what we did for my problem under
"No Spark in ignition coil" forum...by redbottle.

I pretty much had the same codes and some other ones...
One of my injectors was fried...short circuit
My acceleration sensor was fried..."located inside the windshield wipers panel or the black cover between the glass and hood?" if the bottom of the sensor has little tears I think it is bad. You may find yours on the frame directly under the front bumper...
My camshaft sensor was broken inside...
knock sensor out but it is still out and it still runs
I replaced all of them and it started right up...

Oh yeah, my battery was kind of dead...

 

get a circuit tester...a basic one will do...a wire with a screwdriver looking pick...and test your two wires going to the coil...then test the inside of the coil...

replace your coil if need be, I found out that if you have a short somewhere your car will not start until you fix her up...

 

I tested the coil and it was fine. I replaced it first thinking it was the problem. I will check out that other post and try what it says. I will reply with the results. Please keep the advice coming.

 

Recently while trying to test my Throttle Position Sensor I caused the Up Arrow to flash along with the transmission mode lights when I started the car with the sensor unpluged.

Codes from port A1 are your transmission codes and code 2-2-3 indicates "Throttle Position Sensor Too Low" (from Volvo Service docs).

Port A2 shows Fuel Injection System codes, A6 shows Ignition System codes, A3 shows ABS system codes.

With a voltmeter measure the DC between the white/yellow and yellow wires, should be .5 volts with the ignition on and the throttle closed and 4.5 volts wide open.

 

Correction: Throttle Position Sensor wiring: Yellow is a 5 volts supply. Yellow/Brown is ground, Yellow/White is the output.

With the ingintion on measuring Yellow to Yellow/Brown should always give 5 volts, Measuring Yellow/White to Yellow/Brown should give .5 volts with the throttle closed, 4.5 volts wide open.

 

Good to know. Will I be able to test at idle or wide open when the car doesn't start? Will the car know the difference if the engine is not running. I work all day tomorrow, but will try all these techniques thursday and post results. This has gotten really expensive for me, so the sooner I track this down the better. Thanks

 

The motor doesn't need to be running but the ignition should be in the run position.

 

Well I replace the pnp. No luck there. I tested the throttle posistion sensor and it tested fine. What's next. You are all smarter than me. Should I just light it on fire? jk.

 

Well this certainly is a tricky one. Here I though based on the codes it was looking like your TPS.

If the starter is spinning the motor and it doesn’t fire up you are either missing fuel or spark. You said that you had fuel at the rail, how much? If the pump is running and the fuel pressure regulator is working specs say that there should be about 43 pounds of pressure in the rail, that it quite a bit. When you first turn the key on the pump should come on to prime the system and if you poke the Shrader valve on the rail there should be a spry of fuel coming out, if it is more like a dribble then you may not be getting the proper pressure. A fuel pressure gage connected to the rail will tell you more about what your fuel situation is.

You said that the coil tested OK was that just at the coil output or did you try through the distributor? Take one of the plugs out of its hole, leave its wire connected and hold the threaded end of the plug against the metal of the head (hold it by the wire so you don’t get shocked) and have someone crank the motor, if you see a spark jump the gap than your coil, cap and rotor are working and I would look closer at the fuel system. If no spark take the wire for that plug and connect it to the coil output and repeat the test. If you see sparks jumping the gap the coil is fine, suspect the cap and rotor, if still no spark than something is preventing the Ignition system from lighting up the coil and that would be beyond me.

Another thing to look at is the Idle Air control Pump. When you turn the key on you should hear that thing spinning and should be able to feel it. If it isn’t operating that could be a problem and if one of its hoses is loose that could prevent the motor from staying running (While checking fuel pressure at idle on my Volvo not long ago I had knocked off the lower hose connecting the Idle Air Pump to the Air Intake and it wouldn’t start.

I hope you’re able to find it before deciding to scrap the whole thing!

 

so what's the new word? up and running?

 

Are you able to buy an OBDII code reader? I bought mine from Harbor Freight tools for 42 bucks...after fixing your codes it should be good to go...

 

There is plenty of fuel at the rail. I had someone check that last month when this first started. When I said the coil was working fine, I meant to say it's getting power and ground like it should. Also, it's brand new. I replaced that first thinking it was the problem. There is no spark leaving the coil. I've held the output wire to ground and had someone turn over the car and no spark. I checked the wire going into the distributor and all the plug wires themselves just in case. As for an OBDII sensor. It's an OBDI car so no joy there. I'm quickly exhausting options here. Does anyone know what a dealership charges to look at a car. My thought is tow it to the dealership, have them tell me what's wrong, tow it home and fix it. The problem is the dealership is across town and is going to cost quite a bit. My biggest question to myself is, Why no A2 or A6 codes? I know fuel and ignition is run on the same ecu on this car. And those are the systems that wont give a code. I ask this because you are all smarter than me in this area. Thanks for the help and keep it coming.

 

I don't mean to keep beating the fuel thing, recently my 850 would stall and be difficult to start, some times I’d have to walk away for 10 minutes (hard to do in traffic). It began stalling more and more often, never any codes, always had fuel in the rail. I cracked my fuel pump relay and soldered on two lights, one on the input and one on the output and with that I learned that I had a bad fuel pump relay. Changed it last Friday and drove all weekend without a single stall.

I found these two documents (one for turbo, one non), they are one of the service documents that the dealer would use to troubleshoot your car. If you read through it carefully it details how to read codes (you already know how to do that), what the codes mean and even more fun how to put the different systems into test mode. It will also tell you what values to expect from different sensors. It is what sent me to look at my fuel pump relay finally.

Read through a couple times, get your meter and see what you can find.

850 NA: http://mhutchens.com/volvo/troublesh...s-nonturbo.pdf
850 Turbo: http://mhutchens.com/volvo/troublesh...odes-turbo.pdf

Good Luck!

 

A2 A6 codes could not be read on my 94 850 turbo either. I got all codes from the A3? weird...

My local Volvo dealer charges $140.00 dollars to diagnose

 

Alright. I'll give this a shot and post back tomorrow. Thanks again.