My car has been stalling at idle for a few weeks or not turning over. I cleaned the MAF and the IAC per some of my old codes that I pulled and hadn't addressed. Thought it might have been the battery or spark plugs or distribution system. I changed the Distributor Cap and the Ignition Rotor to no avail. I pulled tons of codes today and I just have no clue where to start.
1-2-2 Air Temperature sensor signal absent or faulty
1-3-1 Ignition System RPM signal absent or faulty
1-3-2 Battery voltage too low/high
1-4-2 ECU faulty
1-5-4 EGR system – leakage or excessive flow
2-1-2 heated oxygen Sensor Signal (front sensor on 1994 and later models) absent or faulty
2-2-3 Idle air control valve signal absent or faulty
2-3-2 long term fuel mixture too lean or rich at idle
2-4-1 EGR flow fault (on certain engines)
3-1-1 Speedo signal missing
3-1-2 Knock/Fuel enrichment signal missing
3-1-3 EVAP valve signal absent/faulty (on certain engines)
3-1-4 Camshft position sensor signal missing or defective
3-2-2 Airflow meter hot wire
3-2-4 Camshaft position sensor signal erratic
4-4-4 Acceleration sensor signal
Help?

 

way too many codes to think a component or two has failed...so battery or connections seems a reasonable guess. I'd probably start by measuring voltages at the battery - engine off should be 12.6 or so, engine running should be 14 or so without a load - turn on the blower/headlights/rear defrost etc should stay in the 13s. If all looks good, check connections for corrosion - you may even want to consider reseating the ECU. Then I'd clear all the codes and see what gets reset and go from there.

 

My previous reads had errors on the ecu. But from what I've read is have to have that done at a dealership. Is that truly the case?

 

Generally recommendations for work at a dealer implies special tools. When it comes to diagostics, the VIDA VICE tool can give more analysis than an OBD2 code reader. You can find one on ebay as well if you are planning to do your own repairs. With that said, I think there are things you can do before going to a dealer.

 

My car is an older model that doesn't require a reader. It's more like Morse code. But I've read where actually resetting the cars main computer (ecu) would mean taking it to a dealer. I'd like to do as much as possible on my own because I can't get very car before it stalls and the nearest dealer is a pretty long drive away.

 

I think reseating meant really just removing it and putting it back in, hopefully get electricity going reliably through all the pins. Not "resetting" but reseating.


I think that was good advice, though. For sure you want to clear all that and then drive it 5 minutes and see what you get in 5 minutes. I think monitoring voltage would be good too. You would not expect all the missing sensor codes to be "real" as they are all separate. The ECU is very reliable but naturally anybody would want to swap with another one in a case like that. It's a temptation for all of us.

 

For Pete's sake, I can't read.
Basically, "try unplugging it and plugging it back in." Sounds like the easiest thing to try. Thanks!

 

Curious - does your '94 have the OBD port under the the coin tray in the center console like my '95 850T? A good reference for the 94/95's is volvotips.com - Check out the " computer relearn procedure" (you should do this if you pull out and reseat (aka unplugging and plugging it back in lol) the ECU. This also shows factory tools and numbers....

 

Thanks! I'll check that out.
The obd wasn't available on 94 850s unless they were turbo. I have a non-turbo wagon so just the code boxes under the hood.

 

I thought so too. I have a 95 NA and it's got no OBDII. It's not even motronic engine management.

 

The battery was bad. Replaced it and it's still not starting. Video
Hopefully that link works...

 

New battery, new fuel filter, new fuel pump relay... It ran today after I put in the relay but it was rough. I figured it needed to relearn so we drive it for a while, did the ecu relearn and let it idle... Seemed to run more smoothly as we drove it but I tried to start it up later and got the same old thing.

 

Changed the camshaft position sensor and now it's worse. It starts but won't go into gear. It sounds horrible and shake. Next thing I'm ordering is a used ecu. Going to go back to the old camshaft sensor. I don't know what else to do. This is so insanely stressful.

 

I'm sorry we're not helping you. Spare ECU is not a bad option, because at some point you want to know, and they're fairly cheap. I have bought them myself at times.

Without the OBDII data stream, you really wouldn't know if, for instance, the MAF is bad, or what air flow is at idle. That makes it harder. You do have a code for excessive EGR flow, and that is an example of something that would create the symptoms you have.

If it runs and is shaking, then it would be really really useful for you to determine whether or not you have any sort of consistent misfire. If you do, then the problem is specific to that one cylinder, and that is a much more limited list of things that can go wrong.

 

No, y'all are helping. I'm just frustrated with the car. There's just so much that can be wrong and it's my only transportation. Can't really afford to fix the 100 fault codes right now.
I got my new ecu, didn't change anything. But I put the old camshaft back in and I'm getting the same issue as when I first had problems. I'm viewing this as a good sign that maybe the camshaft is the critical issue. The new one was literally the cheapest one on Amazon and likely to be defective garbage. I'm headed to my AutoZone to get the (3x more expensive) sensor that they have to test my theory.
I am also concerned about my vacuum system in general though. Between the EGR code and the random tube that I can't locate an elbow for, I'm sure that's a problem in itself.
Thank you for the help so far. Wish me luck.

 

for the vacuum system, you probably need to do a smoke test. Check out Robert DIY's home made smoke tester on Youtube.

 

Love Robert. Will do!