Hello all, I'm hoping one of you Volvo pros will be able to help. My check engine light came on and I looked it up in the manual. It said it was an exhaust problem. I noticed when I accelerate on the highway with the A/C on the engine jerks and misfires pretty bad, it also happens when I am going up the mountains. The repair shop told me the O2 sensor, thermostat, and # 3 cylinder showed up when they ran the codes. Can any of you help. Do all or any of these problems sound familiar. I pulled the plugs and they don't look bad, also once I pulled the plugs, the car won't start at all. It won't even crank. I have a friend coming over tomorrow but any help or experience would be nice. The lights work no problem, the batter and all electrical, but it just won't crank. Thank you in advance.

A frustrated Volvo owner

 

I would replace the Plugs and coils.

Make sure you have power to the small wire at the starter. If you do the starter is bad.

 

Definitely replace at least (1) of the (2) ignition coils. They're about $50 each. My 2002 S40 was doing the same thing after I'd had it tuned up... what I didn't know was removing or replacing the plugs can cause the coils to go bad (so the guy at volvo said). He recommended only replacing one at a time. If it doesn't fix it, first try switching the coils before you buy a 2nd coil.

Unfortunately, I had to buy 2 new coils, but my car runs like new again & gets better gas mileage now after the tune up & new coils than it did when I bought it. (31 mpg) Good luck!!!

 

ah ha coils again, my dealer here tells me he has never heard of this problem but i have a misfire when idle. I have told him it is the coils and he denies it. maybe he should talk to some of the people on this forum.

THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL. BAND TOGETHER S40 OWNERS AND GET VOLVO TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS.

 

Hello,

I have the same problem. Did you fix yours? If so what was the reason?

Thanks,
Roman

 

Yup! Sputtering durring hard acceleration. Volvo plugs from the dealer and new coils did the trick for me.

 

Thanks skatermattc2,

I replaced ignition coils. It fixed ignition, misfiring and turbo hesitation.

 

Hi everyone.

I too, have the same problem when I floor my accelerator. The engine misfires and sputters. The check engine light also flashes whenever this happens. During normal acceleration everything's good.

If its the same problem everyone's talking about, will changing both the spark plugs and ignition coils work? Should I try out the coils first? Also, I'm not too familiar with the s40 engine layout. Should there either be individual ignition coils for each of the 4 cylinders, or all the coils mounted on 1 pack? How cone there are only 2 ignition coils for the S40?

 

One coil feeds 2 cylinders.
To be safe I would replace both the coils and the plugs.

 

Is it something that can be DIY? I look at the engine and I cant even locate spark plugs. Never had a turbo car before so forgive me. Maybe I should buy the repair manual online.

Also, can anybody recommend volvo performance ignition coils and spark plugs? Whats a good website?

 

Remove the black cover on the top of the engine to gain access to the coils.

 

I've bought the vadis repair manual from someone on ebay whose link u sent to someone some time ago. Now all i need are the sockets! Thanks tech!

 

I had the same problem. Change he coils and plugs.

 

I changed the ignition coils and spark plugs last night, the acceleration works like new now. Never knew it was this satisfying to do your own mechanical work!

 

 

 

When you had the coils replaced did you also have the spark plug leads to cylinders 3 and 4 replaced? Each coil fires two cylinders.

 

 

Mine was doing the same thing but now it doesn't want to start, what could be the problem?

 

dead battery?