I just bought a certified pre-owned 2002 S60 2.4t last Wednesday.

I was away for the weekend and the last time time I drove it was on Thursday so it's been parked on the street for the past few days. That's right, I drove it for two days.

This morning I went out to head to the office, actually looking forward to the drive for a change. The car starts up, I hit the front defroster about 5 seconds after starting and *WHAM* the car stalls. I try to turn it over a few more times but it won't start. (yep it's turning over OK - no battery/starter probs). I wait about 10 mins and try again. and again. and again. This can't be happening. It's new.

I think I turn off all the climate control stuff and it turns over at one point, but since I'm still new to this car, I didn't realize the fan would kick back in unless I turn that, so the car stalls out a second later when the fan starts turning on. It still won't start and it won't.

I'm now seeing "reduced engine performance", but I'm not sure how long that was present for.

I'm now waiting for roadside assistance to tow me to the nearest dealership, which of course is not the one I purchased the car from.

I can't wait to get my sales guy on the phone.

Anyhow, I needed to rant and share my misery. I'll keep you posted as the story unfolds.

 

The roadside assistance guy got to my car, and started it right up. how you ask?

If you didn't notice, I live in San Francisco where we have things called hills, and I was parked on one.

The service guy pulled the car to level ground and started it immediately. I considered this, but I didn't want to 1) get stuck in the middle of the interesection if this didn't fix the problem, and 2) this is a 2002! level ground should not be required to start a new car!

The service guy stated he has seen this all the time with Volvos when they have less than 1/2 a tank of gas. The fuel pump dries out and it can't start. Sounds somewhat reasonable, but huh? If I'm on a hill in the city, am I SOL?

Again, it's a 2002. This type of problem was addressed in vehicles ages ago.

Maybe there's a slow leak in the gas line somewhere to allow it to drain when on a hill if sitting for a time?

Thoughts? Did I buy the wrong car for SF?

Thanks

 

Are you 100% sure you have exactly 1/2 a tank of gas?
Do you smell gas when it is running?

They had a problem with the sending units not reading correctly.

 

Thanks for the response Tech

I actually had between 1/8 and 1/4 tank in there. The roadside assistance guy mentioned that he's seen the problem with 1/2 a tank or less so I fit into that category. After he started it, I drove a couple miles to a gas station w/o incident, turned off the car, filled it up, and restarted it again no problem.

No gas smell either, so I guess that would rule out a gas leak...

 

How many gallons did it take to fill up?

 

I don't know the exact number, but based on what I paid and the cost per gallon it was just under 15 gallons.

I'm going to take it back to the place I bought it and have them take a look at it. The fact that it passed pre-owned certifification doesn't give me the warm fuzzys that they'll find anything though.

 

Possible to park your car on the same hill facing the other direction? Then you would know if it is because the fuel pickup is dry.

It does make sense to me though. If there is a small amount of gas in the tank and you leave it sloped on a hill where the gas will move away from the pickup, it would probably stall out. Maybe it is due to the location of the pickup relative to the tank. Perhaps it is place at one end or the other instead of in the middle? I do not really know as I have not taken the time to look at it.

 

If it took about 15 Gallons I think that is close to what it holds. That would mean you were pretty much out of gas and the sending unit was wrong.