My buddy who has a '99 v70xc which recently had the engine replaced has developed an interesting problem.

When he removes the gas cap for any reason (to fill the tank, add a fuel additive, or prove to me that this is a real issue) the car will not start until the fuel system has had a chance to "re-pressurize".

Does anybody have a suggestion as to how to fix this? It is more of an inconvenience than anything else since the car runs great once he is able to get it going again.

Thanks for the input.

 

Hello, He does turn the engine off before he removes the gas cap, doesn't he? (sorry, had to ask). Can you hear pressure escaping when you remove the cap? After replacing the cap how long does it take before the car can restart? Has he determined a time frame for this "repressurization"? Does he just crank the starter until it catches? I'd fit my fuel pressure guage to the rail to see if there was fuel there. How recently was this car in pieces relative to the development of this problem? Kira

 

I'll answer your questions in the order that you asked them:

Yes, he turns off the car before removing the cap.

Yes, you can hear pressure release when the cap is removed.

He has to let the car set for 5-7 min before he can restart the car.

See above answer.

Only the first time it happened, ever since then he will just turn the car to the "on" position and let the system pressurize.

The car didn't do this until after the engine was replaced, and it was immediately after the engine was replaced that this started.

I'm hoping we can figure out what was missed in the reassembly...the mechanic that did the work was not exactly familiar with Volvo. In fact I think that this was the first Volvo he had ever actually worked on so it doesn't surprise me that something was not properly reassembled.

 

Hello, It's gotta be a failing fuel pump, clogged filter or bad fuel pressure regulator. The second two are cheap "shot-in-the-dark" attempts. Kira