Hello,

I just bought a 2002 S40 (1.9L Turbo) a few weeks ago after my 99 Malibu was totaled. The car runs great, is a great pleasure to drive and is all around wonderful (I've wanted a Volvo since I was a little kid). This morning, and again later this evening I had an issue starting the car.

Power is fine, the ignition seems ok, the only way I could get the car to turn over was by giving it some gas when I turned the key (one startup in between the two bad ones was just fine).

The car was/is in great condition with 55k miles when I bought it.

Any ideas? Spark plug? Fuel throttle?

 

You might have a bad fuel pressure regulator. It will bleed the fuel pressure down to 0 after sitting for a little while. Then it will crank for a while to start.

 

Is there any way to check the fuel pressure after the car has been sitting for a while ?

 

Is that something I can test/fix myself?

Will this lead to/cause any other issues besides the starting problem?

 

No it usually only causes the hard start.
Easiest way to check is to pull the vacuum line off the regulator after is has been sitting a little while and see if there is fuel in the vacuum line. If there is it is bad.