99% of the time the plug or coils are the problem.

 

If you have replaced the coils, wires, and plugs and still have the problem then look closely at the coil connectors themsleves. On my '01 I noticed the 2 wires on each coil connector had backed out due to the plastic/rubber (whatever it is) that holds the wires was deteriorating. When you push the connector onto the coil, the wires were loose enough to not fully seat on the male pins of the coil. Over a few days the wires would vibrate loose enough to make an intermittant miss. The fix was to carefully push the wires all the way onto the male pins of the coil then place a dab of high temp RTV on the back of the connector so they cannot back out again.

 

not sure if anyone mentioned this or not but my 2000 s40 had a similar problem, whenever i gave it gas to get up to speed on the highway the car would shake in the front. It ended up being abroken motor/engine mount.

 

[QUOTE=harstonsharley;21317]Engine sputtering/cutting out when I "romp on it", why? Secondly, where are the spark plugs and it is feasible for me (moderate motorcycle/american automotive mechanical knowledge) to change them. Is the sputering when I "gun it" coming from and dirty throttle body, bad turbo, plugs, injectors, etc...??? I am lost.
Also what are "Volvo" plugs, I just bought 4 Bosch coppers, is that OK?

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ANY AND ALL HELP WITH THIS MATTER.

Did you ever figure out what the problem was?

 

If you clean or replace the cvvt valve it should correct the problem.

 

The 1.9L Volvo engine has the old "wasted spark" DIS similar to what was found on the old GM Iron Duke 2.5L engine from the 80's. You have 2 coil packs sitting on top of cylinders 1 & 2 spark plugs and then 2 plug wires off these coils running to cylinders 3 & 4. The problem is the plastic part under the coils or spark plug wires can develop hairline cracks allowing the spark to jump to the head instead of traveling down further to the spark plug. The test is to use high temp RTV to coat the cracked plastic part that fits down over the spark plugs to see if the miss disappears.

This being a turbo engine, you can get detonation with improper spark plugs, plug gaps, and poor grade fuel on a hot day. Iridium plugs are the best for turbo engines to prevent detonation. Platinum are ok but some engines just don't tolerate them well. Anything less and you are asking for trouble. The Volvo Iridiums from the dealer are super pricey. You can get as good or better Iridium plugs for way less money at the local parts store. NGK and Bosch sell good quality Iridium plugs. Make sure to gap them correctly.

 

Are you saying it cost 30K in repairs ?

TECH is that right. I am looking at an XC90 for sale and It sputters in the same way. I don't know if it is worth it to buy the car and and repair that. I was told it is an air leaking.

 

If your car is cutting out when accelerating hard it's the vacuum lines. Most of the time it's the one that connects to the turbo passes by the engine block and connects to the manifold or around the throttle body. Having a leaking line causes the ecu to give too much o2 or not enough causing the engine to run like **** or stall. It's not your plugs or distributor if the car runs. Check all of your vacuum lines before messing with anything else. Engine gets hot weakens the lines.

 

That post is from 2006, when his car would'v been less than 5 years old, assuming the oldest one would be a 2001. He meant the 30k mile maintenance schedule.

 

The spark plugs are new. How do I know which coil I need and how much do coils cost?
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Do a process of elimination - you can swap the coils and see if the misfire follows one of the coils. If it does, replace the coil. If you only have one misfire, and it's on one of the "remote cylinders" (spark plug wire, no coil) then look at replacing the spark plug wire.

Of course, the first thing I'd do is to replace the spark plugs if that hasn't been done in a while...