1995 850 Turbo Wagon, 102k miles, daily driven, ran fine until....

Got in it the other day, turned the key...nothing but a soft whine. No crank, no click.

Called AAA, showed him...he immediately said "timing belt." (was changed at 70k miles)

Took it to mechanic. He said oil pressure in every cylinder was low (75 or less). Timing belt and marks were fine.

He changed sparks, put a few drops of oil in the cylinders...and the car fired right up and has run with no problems. Oil pressure is back up.

The only issue I've had that "might" be related is a slight burnt oil smell (occasionally) when driving previous to no start. No smoke and no leaks. So...?

Thoughts??

 

That is not unheard of, although I am not too sure how it is that it only happens to Volvos. Your mechanic sounds pretty smart. He was not talking about oil pressure, however. He was talking about air pressure, which everybody calls "compression", in the cylinders. The cylinders don't have oil pressure. My 95 has 300,000 miles on it and it's done the same thing once. It fired up and then coughed one morning. Directly after that it just didn't have any compression.

 

by "oil pressure in every cylinder" I assume you mean compression (a compression test is the standard way to see if there is any valve damage should a timing belt fail) - adding oil to the cylinders helps seal the rings and raises compression which will help the car start (assuming no valve damage).

So if the car is now back to normal, the question becomes what caused the car to not start... The turn the key no crank/no click would have nothing to do with the compression (since the tech would need the engine to turn over to do the compression test). That would suggest a battery issue. Did the AAA guy try to jump start? If nothing was done to the battery and suddenly it can crank and fire up, it suggests a wiring problem - either to the starter or at the ignition switch (try jiggling the key if this happens again) or its your PNP switch acting up. The park-neutral-position sensor detects where the shifter is and keeps the car from being started while in gear. If the switch fails you'd get no action when turning the key (soft whine may be the fuel pump engaging).

SO, here's my theory - your PNP switch is dirty and it kept the car from turning over. When you engaged the key you fired up the fuel pump which bled fuel into the cylinders that washed the oil off the cylinder walls lowering the compression making future starts difficult. New plugs and few drops of oil fixed that issue.

So what I'd do next is the "shifter row" (engine off, key to position 2, move the shifter rapidly from Park to Lo 20x or so). This can temporarily clean the contacts on the PNP sensor so the car can start. If it continues, you'd probably need to replace the switch.

 

Thanks for the responses. I don't know what I was thinking...of course it was compression!! (must not post until after second cup of coffee...)

Just to address some of your comments: the battery is newish. We did not try to jump start it. AAA had me shut it off IMMEDIATELY. The whine is in the engine, not back by the fuel pump (primer noise).

And YES...my ignition switch is screwy...if I don't place the key just right, the headlights will not go on and the shifter will not move (without override). So, turning it a HAIR back towards driver frees this up. Definitely need to replace it and based on what you've described, the PNP sensor as well.

Thanks much!! He's a good mechanic but what somewhat stumped. I will share this info.

Even though there's always something to fix, I love this old car.

Any thoughts about smelly burnt oil? Seems to come from engine, not exhaust.

THANKS!!!

 

smelly burnt oil = old car? I'd probably look around for weepy seals, particularly by the turbo oil return line and you should consider doing a test for the PCV system such as the smoke from the dipstick or the rubber (ie surgeons) glove on the oil filler tests. Check cam seals by popping off the timing belt cover and over/under by the distributor.

PS - my '95 850 Turbo Wagon is Regency Red... :-)

 

Thanks. Checked the PCV when first smelled it (glove test) and it passed...even though that one little curved hose on top is ROCK hard. Probably could use a new system.

I'll look around for seaping.

Ha! Nice car. Here's a recent (summer) photo of mine:

 

Super common.


http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...ic.php?t=18175

 

Good advice on the oil leaks and oil smell. The turbo cars tend to leak oil from the oil cooler lines, and maybe lots of it. It just oozes right though the hoses as far as I can tell.
Most of my white block cars have at one time or another walked out a camshaft seal, all the way out. Oil consumption well be pretty high if that happens, but not so high that you'd stop driving. You might drive a while like that. That will make a spot on the driveway.


If it drops any on the driveway you should be able to trace that up.

 

When you crank one of these 5 cylinders with no compression on any cylinder, you don't hear a click or cranking sounds. Just a whine. And that is what was going on. starter was running, engine was turning, and it just makes a whine. It is really strange.

 

yep, I thought about that after I posted my reply.