Hi fellow Volvo owners,

Long time reader of a number of Volvo forums, finally decided to register because I can't find info specific to my problem any longer by searching. Little by little, my 2000 S40 is having more and more trouble. The car has ~130k miles on it.

About 2 months ago, after 1 month of sitting in the driveway while I went on vacation, I started noticing some symptoms. I drive the car about 20 miles per week since I bike more often, so it was not a cause for immediate concern. However, the symptoms have only gotten worse and I want to find a solution. Here they come:

-Gas-like odor when first starting the car, I get a whiff of it when backing out of the driveway or if I go stand behind the car. Seems to be getting a little stronger. Don't really notice it after driving.

-A mixture of light / dark smoke from the exhaust when starting. Non-white smoke started to appear only recently.]Sometimes an intense shake when stopped and in drive, more often when starting to drive, sometimes for the whole time driving. Sometimes not at all.

-Lately, in the past couple days, sputtering and really shaking each time I start and stalling 50% of the time. Shaking goes away when I start driving or if I let it idle for a minute.

-Replaced the spark plugs 3 weeks ago and found that the one closest to the driver's side had some oil on the top part and on the hexagon used in taking it out, as well as the screw area. Wiped and have checked twice again since, finding more oil each time.

-Also found two small black chunks of rubber (or plastic?) on this spark plug this past Saturday.]Bottom of oil filter and pan show some oil when I wipe with a paper towel. Filter is tight and oil levels seem fine as of Saturday. Towel isn't completely soaked, but there's a fair amount of oil there.

-Noticed when parked in the driveway and checking for fluid leaks, that some anti-freeze was dripping down when I went to use the windshield washer. Confirmed what it was with location, touch, and smell.

We thought it might be an anti-freeze leak with the white smoke, but that wouldn't explain these other problems. Thought it might've been one of the spark plugs not firing correctly but replacing them didn't fix anything.

I'm no expert when it comes to cars, but my current suspect is the valve cover gasket. Maybe oil is getting through to one of the plugs, causing it to misfire, and having to burn some oil every time I start the car. My other guess is the spark plug wires, but this might not explain the oil found on the plugs.

If anyone can help, I'd really appreciate it! I'm located in Miami, and it's difficult in my opinion to find an honest, reputable dealer down here. I once visited one in Margate, FL, but that's about 90 minutes away.

The car drives beautifully, but I know that if I don't fix this problem, it won't drive beautifully for long!

 

I have just acquired a 2000 V40 with 80,000 miles. My suggestions:

1. The oil on top of the cylinder head is coming from the oil filler cap. Replace the oil filler cap gasket - Volvo P/N 1275379.

2. The black plastic fragment that you found in the spark plug well is from the split wire loom under the plastic cylinder head cover which has become totally brittle. To remove it, crush it all up while holding a vacuum cleaner nozzle next to it.

3. The startup smoke and shaking is probably a result of your engine misfiring. You need to fix this before you burn up your catalytic converter. The cause is the oil contamination of the spark plugs and/or maybe a failing coil pack. The coil packs are a known weak point on this engine. There are only two coil packs for four spark plugs - Volvo P/N 1275602. If this were my car I'd buy a junkyard or eBay coil pack and swap it in to see what happens.

4. The oil on the oil pan is probably coming from the turbo o-ring seal. See this document. Buy this kit.

5. The antifreeze leak I can't help you with.

 

First of all, migbro thanks so much for taking the time to read about my issues and give some answers to some of my questions.

I haven't had so much time to work on the car since my post, but then again I haven't driven it much either. Maybe 25 miles.

1. Planning on replacing the oil filler cap gasket. Cheap and I should be doing it anyway. It hasn't been replaced in 4 years that I've owned the car. Napa's site is telling me this one will work, any forseeable problems?

NAPA AUTO PARTS

2. Crushed up the split wire loom, though some parts were wrapped in electrical tape. There were fragments littering the top of the engine already. Found another piece of it on the spark plug in cylinder 4; definitely felt like the plastic I was breaking up. Vacuumed it up real good!

3. Got my $20 diagnostic code reader from Amazon. Found the code P0303, and P0303 P - cylinder 3 misfire. You were right on with this one. However, I'm a little confused because although it appeared to be cylinder 4 that was having the problem (the one closest to the driver side), the error code reads cylinder 3. I reset the error and waited for the code to come again, and it came P0303 once again. There was little to no oil on the spark plug this time, which makes me suspect that might not be the whole issue. My dad recommended against buying a coil pack or anything electrical off a junker, so I may just buy one new. Not too strapped for cash.

But I would like to know - are there any other parts that are cheaper that I can try replacing first? Is there any way I can tell if the coil pack is indeed failing? (I saw some people mention cracks on the tube or something of the sort)

4. Will look into the turbo o-ring seal once I resolve the misfire. Doesn't sound like that's the cause.

Looking for some words of advice on numbers 1 and 3. Thanks so much in advance!!!!