Hello to all,
My name is Dominick and i just joined the forum last night. I have a question regarding my 2004 V40 and im not sure where i need to go to post it so im going to post it here.
recently the car has been having a little difficulty starting. First thing i did was get the battery checked, i should've known it wouldn't be that easy. I decided to change the plugs and ignition coils.
everything was going along smoothly until i hit the third plug. Once i removed it i noticed quite a bit of engine oil on the plug. Im far from a mechanic but i do know when something aint right.
Is this a death sentence, because other than the hard starting the car still runs great. less than 100,000 miles. if this is the wrong place for this i do apologize in advance. Thank you

 

Was this wet oil or an unusual build up of burned stuff on the tip of the plug compared to the other spark plugs?

Wet oil is from oil in the spark plug hole. The cam covers can leak slightly into the spark plug holes. Don't worry about it.

What do you mean by "a little difficulty starting"? Engine spins over a long time before catching? Engine spins over slowly?

 

it was wet oil. when i say difficulty i mean it crank crank crank then starts, never did that before. once its starts all is good
by the way, thank you for the reply.

 

Are there any codes stored?

A common thing that would cause a long crank time on the 4 cyl s/v40's was a bad fuel pressure regulator. Have replace many of those to solve that symptom. (after verifying it was bad) Check the vacuum line going to it for gasoline - there should not be any.

 

not sure what you mean by codes stored. the check engine light does not come on at all. i will look into the fuel pressure regulator thanks again

 

There can be codes stored in any of the control units - and not be bad enough to turn on the check engine light.

 

please excuse my ignorance. what control units are you referring to? will going to autozone and having them check like when the check engine light give me the answer to your question?

 

Here's a list of possible modules in an s40. Your american market car has most of these modules. But obviously not the LPG (liquid petroleum gas) module - that version was not sold in North America.

A good scan tool can talk to and retrieve self diagnostic codes from all of them. The free OBD scan from the autoparts store will probably only give you info from the engine control module. That MIGHT be enough information for you to develop a reasonable/rational diagnostic path . (Not guess, spend, replace, be pissed it's not fixed, then repeat same process again)