So for the past few months as I turned on my car i'd get a couple minutes of rumbling in the hood. It keeps getting worse and slightly rumbles while I start driving, and I could never decipher what it might be, but finally took it to O'Reillys for a test and they said it is showing "cylinder 1 misifiring" and "system 2 lean off idle bank 1" ... He explained I could just replace my spark plugs to fix it, but neither of us could find where they are in the hood, and he suggested I need to go to a mechanic for that.

I talked to another mechanic at wal mart who didn't look at it but just in conversations he said it could really do damage to my engine, and believes it may not be as simple as replacing the spark plugs.

Does anyone have any suggestions on this? And how might it relate to the "system 2 lean"?

Thanks so much!

Pete

 

Hi Pete, welcome to the forum.

Driving lean can damage your motor. Lean basically means it's not getting enough fuel to fire properly. Chances are that you have a vacuum problem.

If you could not find the spark plugs I kinda feel for you. Almost every car made has covers on the motor that has to be removed to access parts, the parts are under the cover. On my older car the cover is held on by 6 T30 screws (T = torque screws). Plugs are suppose to be replaced every 30,000 miles in my car, you'll need to check your owners manual to determine how often yours should. Use Volvo plugs.

 

I appreciate your response!

I live in Oklahoma so it is tough to find a mechanic who really knows Volvo. But I have an appointment tomorrow and for $180 the mechanic (who knows volvo's as well as anyone around here) will do a full engine diagnostic to figure out what is wrong. Does anyone have any issues with this?

Any suggestions on questions or follow ups I should be sure to ask? He says if it's just a vacuum out of place that will be fixed with no additional charge to the $180.

Thanks,
Pete

 

Pete, the dealer should be able to beat that price. My God, $180 just to check it out. Phew... I do work on cars for people and will change the entire PCV system and replace the spark plugs for less than that (parts not included). Does the cost include parts? Is this a shop? What will be done for $180? A compression test? Even at that I think $180 is high. Call the dealer and ask what they charge to check it out.

 

Unfortunately I am 2 hours and fifteen minutes from our closest Volvo dealer... !

 

Ouch! Don't know what to tell you. Maybe you can get on www.SwedeSpeed.com or www.MatthewsVolvoSite.com and find enough help to deal with it yourself if you're not afraid to.

 

I agree with what has been said. And $180 is way to much for troubleshooting. A misfire in cylinder 1 tells you that either the spark plug or coil is not working, but does not tell you which. Follow rspi's directions to remove the cover, if you have the tools. It's simply a matter of swapping coils (ex: swap the left-most coil, #1, with the right-most coil, #5). You will need to have it scanned again. If the misfire occurs on cylinder 5 and not cylinder 1 then the misfire is due to that coil which will need replacing. A coil runs about $50. If the misfire remains at cylinder 1 then it's not the coil but the spark plug. It could be something else, but let's not even think about that. If it is the spark plug, change out all of them. That might set you back $25 for all 5. You can safely buy your parts when you have the car scanned for codes and the code is the same (plugs) or different (coil).

Things you will need:
torx wrench or bits
rachet and sockets

 

OK HELP - got estimates for my problems... spark plugs, new coil, and fuel injection service.

Parts + labor comes out to $750 !! I have an 02 with 135,000 miles. Is this even worth it for all this?

They said if i don't do the fuel injection service it cuts the cost down by $300. What do you guys suggest?? Need to respond in an hour or two!

Thanks!

 

You are overestimating the difficulty of this job. Even a noob could do it themselves in an hour or two (if you replace all the plugs and cylinder 1 coil). I sure wish I got paid $300/hour to do my job.

I don't like to see anyone swindled out of their money. But if you pay them, that's exactly what will happen. These guys are taking you for a long ride.

 

I told the guys to shove it and said it was a rip off b/c they said they were using "top notch plugs that cost $100 for 5" i said i could go to oreillys and get 5 spark plugs for $25. So they said if i get all the parts from oreillys, a coil, fuel filter, and 5 plugs, they'll install it all for $200. I know it may still be steep, but down from the original 700, will cost me about 300 total with the parts i'll pay for. At this point that is what i think will be my best option. thoughts?

 

Try to get a little more off the labor. It's going to take them less than 2 hours to complete the work. Offer $150 for the labor and hope they counter with $175. I'm glad you confronted the guys. It takes some guts, but it was the right move.

 

So new developments - one of my friends is someone handy with cars... he helped me replace the spark plugs, and the diagnostic test I had from the mechanic said to replace coil 2 (even thought cyclinder 1 was misfiring) ... does this sound right?

The one thing we didn't do that the diagnostic asked for was to replace the fuel filter. We didn't bc it is in the back right of the car underneath, it's easy enough access to, but it the two hoses going in are rock hard and don't seem like they can be pinched while we take the old one off and replace. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Also, i still got a decent rumbling on my car despite the coil and spark plug changes... could this be because i still need to do the fuel filter?

Thanks.

 

I had similar problem about misfire.

My car is running well so far but with problem of loss of very little coolant. I did flush coolant about 1 month ago. I thought the coolant level should be stable after 1 month drive. However, it is not.

I scan with VIDA today and there is no any faulty code. However, I found the below misfire record...

Parameter Value
ECM-Misfire counter 0
ECM-Misfire counter 1 (5 cyl) 79
ECM-Misfire counter 2 (5 cyl) 7
ECM-Misfire counter 3 (5 cyl) 0
ECM-Misfire counter 4 (5 cyl) 0
ECM-Misfire counter 5 (5 cyl) 0

Any advise?