Vacuum lines changed recently. The SRS sign and the up arrow went on right before the car lost power and sputtered to a stop over the course of a 1/2 mile. Was able to pull over. Speedometer/odo went out. Looked like it was losing battery power ie the dash lights got dinner and dimmer. Any ideas? Towing to a mechanic.
Thanks!

 

Bad alternator? ECU overheating?

 

I was thinking it might be the alternator. There was still juice left in the battery for the emergency and courtesy lights. I tried starting it up again an hour later and it wouldn't turn over.

 

When your alternator dies, all of the dash warning lights come on. Then you are driving on battery juice for 5 to 10 minutes. That did NOT happen as you explained your situation above.

Unfortionately what you described is likely a timing belt failure. You also have a chance that the fuel pump cut off or died.

 

Thanks for the responses. I had the timing belt changed approx 20K miles ago so hopefully it's not that. Mechanic is taking a look at it now.

 

Good to read that. So many people fail to change timing belts. Hopefully more than just the belt was replaced. A belt can get tossed by a failed roller or water pump as well. Sad situation. I seen a car the other day in the junk yard with the belt cut through the cover, bad roller. All of the roller bearings were lying in the bottom of the belt area.

 

Mechanic checked it out and said it was just the battery. Alternator is fine. I didn't know a bad battery could cause a car to sputter out and die on a freeway. I guess I will find out with a new battery.

 

Mechanic charged up the battery so I could take it to Pep Boys who then said the battery was fine. They also checked the alternator again which they said was fine. It's been driving ok since then. I thought the reason for the car to sputter out on the freeway could have been a drain on the battery. Used the troubleshooting guide on this forum to test the battery drain and I got 0.03. I think I was doing this correctly because when I pulled a fuse to the alarm and retested I got 0.02.
Any ideas of what could have caused the car to sputter out on the freeway and what I can do to test that out? I want to take this car on a road trip in a few weeks but don't wanna get stranded.

 

Just a warning about Pepboys. I worked in fleet maintenance and almost every time one of our cars was brought in there by a driver with an electrical problem that was alternator OR battery related Pepboys would always condemn the alternator AND battery.

Normally they don't fail together, they can but usually it's one or the other and if it's the alternator it can be like this guys problem where once the battery is charged it works just fine and can give you years more service.

That's just my two cents because they used to drive me crazy and it was a company thing not just one store in one state, coast to coast it seemed to be policy.

As for this situation of it sputtering and going dead on the freeway. I'd be looking at the chance you have an intermittent regulator failure of the alternator but you should get an idiot light on the dash ON steady for 15 to 45 minutes until the battery finally runs out of juice then sputter and die. Could also be a bad wire running to the battery to feed the alternators juice to it or a bad sensor wire to the regulator that is telling the regulator the battery is fully charged when in reality it's running out.

Check all the wires at the battery, alternator and you might want to check the ones under the fuse box. Better to check things out when you have opportunity and it's running than let it go till it acts up and it's dead. Look for anything loose, frayed or corroded
With wiring, when in doubt clean it or replace it and go one size up for good measure.

 

I used to work for Interstate Batteries. If there is a distributor in your area you should be able to visit them and they will load test your battery properly. Not all parts stores can do a proper load test, so a poor battery will pass their test, but not a test done by someone who knows batteries. Also the rule of thumb is that once a battery is 5 years old its probably a good idea to replace it to be on the safe side.

 

Definitely agree getting the battery and charging system properly tested!

If you don't know how to do it, find a shop that does; and BTW, that generally isn't some auto part store or service chain. Some of these guys should not be allowed to open a hood. Cking a battery and charging system isn't rocket science, but it isn't as simple as most people think.

Another aside; while 5 yrs is one threshold, I would never junk a battery just because of age. I bought my 855 in Jan 2004; overhauled the starter twice since then; same battery. And it wasn't new when I bought the car...

 

I agree about not junking a battery just because its 5 years old, but at that age it could be a problem. Here on the West Coast a quality battery can last for years. I had a customer with an Interstate Battery that was 14 years old, still tested fine, but he bought a new one just to be safe. When properly testing a battery not only do you need to do a load test and check voltage etc, you need to open the caps (if it isn't a sealed battery) and check the specific gravity and look at the liquid level and colour. Not many auto parts places do that, it's easier to load a battery and fail it so that they get the sale.

 

I have this similar problem occurring right now. My car had been driving fine until a recent rain storm which flooded some streets. Mind you the car did not go into any water rather just splashed big buckets over one part. Since that point the engine struggled to stay running. Thought I flooded the car. didn't think it would be battery drain because it starts right up again. just that the engine would struggle then all dash lights would come on. The ECC would also start blinking as if i just had turned of the car.
After a few minutes I started the car and ran no problem for 15 miles. Seems that as long as the car was not at a stoplight for too long it was ok.

Fastforward to next day where the car would die after just running for a minute. then after a day of not using it the battery was completely dead. This is just a new battery that I got from autozone. It was the cheapest battery i could get from them but still. I'm hoping it is just a defective battery and that the alternator is doing its job.

 

I keep one of those digital voltage gauges that plug into the cigarette light in each car in the glove. It does not replace a true gauge but for 5 bucks you can at least monitor what is going on. One handy feature is it has an lcd meter that monitors charging. They have come in handy over the years. My wife knew enough when her car was acting flaky to plug it in and call me to tell me of a low voltage situation and that voltage was dropping as she gave the car gas. Turns out the battery was on its way out.

 

The most common cause of a Volvo stalling is the fuel pump relay. It is random and does not toss a code. If your car runs out of gas, it will cause warning light to come on because the key is in position II and the motor is NOT running.

Note to all 850 (P1) Volvo owners... if you have not replaced the fuel pump relay in the past 5 years, carry a spare in your glove box.

 

Reading up on http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...pic.php?t=3484
the relay was mentioned but first i tried disconnecting the Maf plug and this did the trick. car runs without stalling. Didnt drive around to much cause I don't know the ramifications. will try to clean the sensor when I get the chance. Next would be the TB then the relay

 

Well, it happened again. This time I was prepared a bit more and took note that the radio started to cut out and then went dead, then the SRS light popped up, the the arrow light popped up, then the speedo and rpm gauges went to zero and then the car started to sputter out. I was able to pull over. This was over the course of about 2 minutes. I turned the car off and then it would not restart. I disconnected the negative terminal of the battery, checked the fuses, unplugged and re-pluged the relays including the fuel relay, then reconnected the battery and it still wouldn't start. I then disconnected BOTH terminals from the battery and reconnected them and the car started. Based on this, it seems as though it's an electrical problem and not a fuel pump or fuel relay. I recently cleaned the MAF so I don't think it would be that either. Also doesn't seem to be a battery problem because I did not need to recharge it or replace it before starting it back up (does that logic make sense?). That all being said, I'm going to interstate battery center right now to get the battery and alternator checked out. I'm going to try and check the wiring where I can get to it. Any other ideas?
Thanks!

 

"the radio started to cut out and then went dead, then the SRS light popped up, the the arrow light popped up, then the speedo and rpm gauges went to zero and then the car started to sputter out."

Because of the above it seems to be an electrical issue. NOT due to you pulling things apart and reconnecting them. That may or may not have made any difference. It may have wiggled something into a better connection, MAYBE.
What is interesting is that you had so much time till the engine cut out.

When you say "wouldn't start" is it proper to assume it was cranking and just not starting ??

If the battery still has the guts to crank the engine after it dies at a good speed it's likely the battery is good and isn't the problem and also that it's properly charged and the alt it good too. I would still have them tested as knowing is so much better than guessing. Plus you need to find the problem so you want to eliminate things by testing and not just assuming.

There is a chance that the ignition switch is starting to fail as they will do very strange things and still work as they start to wear out.

If your positive battery cable terminal has a nut on each side like mine does you also want to check that both sides are tight. Not tighten until something bends tight but securely tight. I didn't realize on mine one side tightens the cable to post connection and the second one tightens the feed wires to the fuse panel. I had never run across this type of set up before and after a batter install I tightened one nut down, it felt tight, didn't slip on the battery's post and I thought I was good. Dead car on the side of the road later and I found out by accident that I had loose wires on the other side of that terminal, it doesn't go all the way through

 

Thanks for the reply. I agree that the disconnecting and reconnecting the battery and relays did not actually do anything and I think it was just time that allowed it to restart. When I turned the key it would not crank. The dash lights would go on but nothing in the engine. It was as if the battery were essentially dead as I've had that in the past and it seemed like a similar type of failed start up. Then twenty minutes later it started up just fine. I did take it to an interstate battery center and they load tested it and it passed just fine. Alternator has been tested a few times too and it passes fine as well. I'm thinking it could be shorting out as some of the wires are corroding away. It's been driving fine ever since it restarted. Still stumped. And electrical business is above my head.

 

Wound an ignition switch cause the car to putter out the way it did on a freeway?