Hey guys,

My Volvo seems to be shaking quite a lot in regards to when it's put into drive or reverse.

Backstory: I took the car on a road trip today and drove it approx 400-500km from home. Been totally good the entire way, however the car was loaded up quite heavily (roof rack and fully stocked trunk). I'm currently on a ski trip so of course, it called for my car to be taken up the mountain. Along the drive up the mountain, I was losing power and my check engine line was flashing rapidly. I could rev but it wouldn't do much in terms of speeding up the car.

I got to the top, however when my car was idling it was clearly not in a good state - it was shaking a lot, RPMs were erratic and dropping to half of regular idle speed, etc. Forums are telling me I've got an engine misfire and it could be a spark plug and/or ignition coil issue. What do you guys think? I've got no tools up here, so I'm just seeing what you guys would think the issue is. I'm here until the 31st and going to have to drive out on that day.. currently going to get it towed to a mechanic.

Additionally: starting the car feels a little weak.

 

SO many possibilities - the spark plugs / coils, fuel system / filter, electrical, vacuum leak, etc. Your best bet would be to try to get your hands on an OBD reader and see if that gives you a clue.

 

You will need some basic tools to do anything really. It does sound like you have a cylinder misfiring. And with the 2001, if one cylinder misfires it can cause a misfire on the paired cylinder since it's a wasted spark system. You have 2 coils and 2 wires. One coil and one wire work on paired cylinders. The plastic part that fits down over the spark plug can crack allowing the spark to jump to the cylinder head. A shadetree fix is to use RTV to coat that plastic part so it fills the crack and blocks the errant spark.

You really need a code reader to tell you which direction to go next.