RE: Tech Help! Our 850 Died today!
 

Well, after more reading/researching/thinking, we've decided to let the pro's handle it from here. From my reading and with Tech's help, I'm leaning toward a fuel system issue... maybe bad injector, etc. My wife and I really need the car back, and we just can't find the time to continue this on our own, so we're going to let the pro's have at it. I found a local repair shop that works on Volvos, and on the phone, they were very polite, and very nice... and they listened to my thoughts on what is wrong, without immediately correcting me, which in my book, is key.

My wife and I are dropping the car off tomorrow morning first thing when they open, so we should know what's wrong with theVolvo by the end of the day.

Thanks for all the help guys. Without it, we would have another tow bill to get the car to the repair shop... but because of all your great advice, the car will get there ounder it's own power.

We'll let you know what we find out when we find out. :)

RE: Tech Help! Our 850 Died today!
 

Hi Tjay,

I'm sorry we couldn't help you solve the problem. I think this was one of the rare cases.

I hope the shop will find the problem and correct it for you.

Will wait for your update.


JPN

RE: Tech Help! Our 850 Died today!
 

Don't be sorry at all. You guys are awesome and I'm sure you could have helped me solve the problem on my own, had we an extra car and enough spare time. :)That, and I have a pretty basic tool set. I'm still working on "filling" my tool box. I think dealing with fuel injectors and such is more than I have time to tackle on my own, needing our car back sooner rather than later.

Like I said before, without you guys, we'd have an extra towing bill. You did help me get the car running and stay running. That's already more than I could have hoped for. :D

RE: Tech Help! Our 850 Died today!
 

Update: We dropped the Volvo off this morning. They will try to get to it today, and if not, definitely tomorrow. :D

Funny thing is... the car ran just fine all the way to the repair shop... which is farther than 4 miles...

My new guess is a sticking fuel injector. In our earlier test drives, it would start to stumble around 4 miles, after the car had warmed up, and I would start to give it more throttle + boost. With a little boost thrown at it, it would choke and stumble and not run very good at all until it was parked back in the driveway idleing....

On the way to the repair shop, I drove it very easy and didn't get into any boost. It ran perfectly fine the whole way, no miss/choke/stumble.

But like I said, I'll know for sure today or tomorrow!

RE: Tech Help! Our 850 Died today!
 

Update: 8-23

Here's the lowdown. Basically, our Volvo is running lean and we are getting random misfires in all cylinders. With the new MAF, the repair shop searched other areas. They found a broken vacuum line behind the powersteering pump that is messing with the A/F ratio. So they are going to fix that first and see where that leaves us.

They also found the car running with low fuel pressure... it's down to ~37psi, and said spec was 43-45. They quoted me $562 for doing the fuel pump, and I believe that's price of the pump and labor. Doing research at FCP Groton, the pump runs from $125 for just the insert, to $395 for the complete assembly, so I would say that's pretty reasonable price.

The cool thing about this repair shop is the fact that they won't do anything I don't want them to. If I decide, after they fix the vacuum line, that I don't want them to do the fuel pump, they won't. They were not pushy at all. I'd definitely recommend them to anyone based on customer service alone.

Anywho, back to work I go, just wanted to stop in and give you guys an update. :)

RE: Tech Help! Our 850 Died today!
 

Hi Tjay,

As to fuel pump, you only need the insert; the full version is nothing more than the core + the casing. In this particular application, I believe Hella-Pierburg (German) seems the OEM, not Bosch.

Although I do not recommend, fuel pump replacement is within capability of home-mechanics, that is, if one knows what he/she's doing, remove all sources of sparks & fire, have a good ventilation and Class-B fire extinguisher.

The shop you've been visiting does sound decent, and that's the way it should be. Ask to see if they can accept parts from you, and if they do, you can slash off a couple of hundred dollars. Expect the labour to be higher, which is fair for both you & the shop, as shops have to make profit by selling parts too (except some shops try to sell you enough parts to build another car[8D]). How much does the shop charge for labour per hour? Say, they charge $100/hour for a service where parts are supplied by the customer, and fuel pump replacement is approx 1.5 hours, 2 hours at the longest, so in the worst case scenario, your bill would be approx. $340. If they can work quick, it would be approx $240. They should be able to give you a written estimate on this.

It may also help to have the injectors professionally cleaned.

Our member, RedTurbo850, has done this himself with the help of the forum & service manual I believe. I would ask him (PM, etc...) to see how he's done it and what's involved, though no one can be held liable in case if something terrible happen:(.

Will wait for your reply. Thanks for the update:).


JPN

RE: Tech Help! Our 850 Died today!
 

Do the fuel pump yourself. It is very easy. Buy the insert. Get the stock 190lph or get a 255lph off Ebay. Both should be the same since unused fuel gets returned to the tank. 3 hour job max if you have all the tools.

RE: Tech Help! Our 850 Died today!
 

I'd like to do it myself... and I probably have most of, if not all of the tools. It's the 3 hours I don't have right now, unless Iwork on it from 11:00pm - 2:00am... and doing things while tired is dangerous. Like I mentioned, my wife and I are to the point where we just want our car back. The other good thing about it is, the repair shop warranties all parts and labor for 24 months/24,000 miles on their own,on top of whichthey honor any manufacturer warranty on the parts they use.

As always, updates to follow. :)

RE: Tech Help! Our 850 Died today!
 

Does anyone know if the issues were resolved? Inquiring minds would like to know.

RE: Tech Help! Our 850 Died today!
 

MAF sensor is easy to figure out. Also, anytime the check engine light comes on, guys remember to take it to autozone and get codes, even if it is just the generic ones from autozone. sometimes that is all you need to know, such as with o2 sensors!