Greetings to allfellowVolvo.com users... I'm a new member and need some help and/or hopefully advice.

About three months ago I purchased a VERY nice and VERY well maintained 2000 Volvo V40 with 50K miles on the odometer (it now just turned 52K) from a gentleman that babied this vehicle. He was the type that took it, exclusively, to his local Volvo dealer for service and repairs.

The issue I'm having is this: I religiously track my mileage and fuel economy with every fuel-up. For the first two months of ownership, I consistently got between 21-21 mpg using 89-91 octane fuel, and doing mostly local, around-town driving.

Now, into my third month of ownership. I have notices a marked and sudden decrease in my fuel economy: I get between 15-16 mpg, 17 at best - and I have not changed fuels nor has my driving habits/style altered at all (I am the only driver of the vehicle).

The car seems to run well (i.e. no skipping or misfiring) and the power delivery seems to be ok (adequate) though as of late, it seems to have a little less spunk that it seemed to have when I first got the car...but that could be an entirely subject perception on my part.

I have noticed that my fuel pump seems to be very loud (high pitched whine) and has always been that way since I purchased the vehicle some 3 months ago. I brought the vehicle to my mechanic (A Volvo specialist with many years experience) who advised me that he didn't feel it was anything to be concerned, stating that it was NOT uncommon for these cars (the S40 & V40) to have noisy fuel pumps. Yet, in another thread on this site that discusses this same problem, another user suggested to that thread's originator that his fuel economy woes may be attributable to a failing fuel pump. Hmmmm.....

One more thing worthy of note... I have experienced an odd phenomena that periodically appears whenever I am driving around town running errands. And that is that I sometimes have difficulty getting the car to start (i.e. it cranks but does not start). When this problem does occur (and it's not all the time) it takes multiple turns of the key in the iginition and prolonged engine cranking (I know..this isn't good for the engine) to get the car to start.

I like the car very much and bought it specifically because I wanted a small wagon that was within my budget that offered a blend of style, utility, acceptable fuel economy and some 'fun to drive' factor. And while this is certainly no BMW 3 series sport wagon, it's a great little car otherwise...and I hope to have it for a long time to come.

Any help with this problem, in the form of advice or suggestions, would be greatly appreciated. In the meantime, I'm going to contact the Volvo dealership that the car was serviced at by the previous owner to determine if/when the car last received a major tune up. I know that it sat for prolonged periods in this guy's garage (which explains why it only had 50K documented miles).

Thanks in advance...

Sincerely,
Mark DiRollo

 

Hi Mark,

I came online today to search the forums for an answer to the exact problem I've noticed with my '02 V40 -- sudden and significant decrease in fuel economy. Had to laugh when I read through your message -- last year at this time I was having the other problem you mention -- failure to start. The forum was a huge help -- allowing me to self-diagnose the problem -- the idle air control valve. (Too bad my local Volvo dealership service dept failed to listen to me when I asked them to check this -- and I spent another 2 months going back to them before they finally "figured it out"; but that's another story. [:@]) Once the air control valve was replaced, my car has been starting just fine.

Ifanyone has any suggestion regarding the fuel economy -- that would be wonderful!

Thanks,
Volvo1818

 

I just bought one last week for my wife (and me!), to replace her 95 850 wagon w 158K. My 98 bmw 328i has just turned 100K, and I want to slowly bring it back to it's original condition, so I'm putting less miles on it for now. Anyway, saw this post, don't know anything about these cars yet really, but had fun driving the in-laws 2000 s40, so bought this 2002 v40 for my wife (64K for $7K).

My guess would be O2 sensor or clogged catalytic converter. A bad turbo, but then you would notice crapout ofyour exhaust, especially when you accelerate--at least that was true of our old 940T. I've heard that sometimes you can lose power from accumulated deposits not getting burned off the O2 sensor, or possibly in the catalytic converter. This when drivers don't "exercise" their engines on a fairly regular basis. Most volvo drivers I know are pretty stodgy drivers who won't get their rpm speeds up much past 4,000. Combined with driving short distances, I think the idea was that the engine doesn;t have enough time to heat up and work efficiently, and deposits form around the 02 sensor. Anyway, just a thought.

The solution, was to'run' your engine to getit decently hot for a little while, and to thus burn off some of the deposits onthe sensor. This from Click and Clack several yrs ago--discussing a 240 I think--so I don;t know how credible/relevent this info is. ALthough I gather that one of the people they consult on volvo 'issues' around here is well known to be THE volvo authority in the area.

 

Sounds like an excuse torun some seafoam through it! With winter mix gas you will always take a hit on MPG. My 2000 gets 24 around town and i just made a trip to new mexico and back last weekend and gotover 33 MPG. You may want to perform your 60k service early to change out plugs and such. Most importantly, only run premium fuel. If you run a fuel below grade your engine will run rich to stop knocking and you will loose another couple of MPGs. Not to mention you run the risk of burning out the coil prematurely.

Hard warm startis probably yourfuel pressure regulator. I had the same issue. When it was cold it started right away. When it was hot it would just crank and crank until it finally fired.