Hello , any advice would be greatful for . Have owned 2003 V70 D5 since new and now done 121k miles , first time its broken down . For abouttwo miles prior to engine cutting out there was no power to accelerate and power gradually died , car stopped and hard to start and then started up and moved a further 200 yards and then had to be towed home ( very embarrasing being towed through our village by my girlfriends 12 year old 1.3 ford fiesta and not good for Volvos image ). Tried getting it started at home , eventually did after flattening the battery a few times . The display read 'urgent engine system' just before engine died out but this has now dissappeared. I have since driven the car 600 miles with noproblem except when you accelerate hard the engine dies again but picks up once youtake your foot off theaccelerator. Tried my local main dealer and two other independant garages , Volvo main dealer told me the only person they had qualified to use engine diagnostic was on holiday ! Have replaced the diesel fuel filter and the air filter , I am assuming you dont get intermittant faults on the fuel injectors or the main fuel injection pump ? There is no misfire or roughness when car is driven without pushing it and its still averaging 56 mpg which has been normal since new , any ideas ? In view of the difficulty I have had getting a mechanic to even look at it I am planning to do engine diagnostic myself ( have downloaded some free OBD2 software and now looking for a connector and lead to go to the computer ) but I havnt got that far yet so please give me some advice . I am planning to drive 2000 miles over the next ten days on holiday to the South of France so would like to get it fixed .

 

Sounds like an electrical issue rather than a fueling system issue as such... culprit on a diseaselwith these sort of symptoms is the lift pump... a lift pump is the auxilluary fuel pump used to supply the injection pump with fuel (much the same as a fuel pump on a petrol vehicle) no idea wether volvos use them or not. Injection pump is sucking fuel from the tank all fine and tickety boo until you hit the loud pedal ..... this is when the assistance of the NFG lift pump is needed... engine suffers fuel starvation as the NFG lif pump is dead in the water... issue solved when you turn down the loudness.

The other problem area would be the solenoid valve on the injection pump (I do not know volvo diesels BTW I'm making an educated guess based on general mech knowledge) this "fails to safe" basically it is a Valve held open against the pressure of a spring - power to the solenoid fails so does yer fuel, engine dies but check the electrical connections all the way through on this circuit.

As I said I'm just stabbin in the dark here as diesels tend to run and run and run....

 

thanks for your reply and can confirm you are correct its the in tank electric fuel pump , looks like the motor is burnt out as applying 12V it dosnt respond and takes no current , car at garage but they cannot source a replacement pump easily . Local main dealer said he had never heard of one failing on anything less than 10 years old and therefore dont stock them . bba-reman.com dont make a re conditioned unit . I took the pump away from the garage and now taking drastic action as nothing to lose and going to open up the motor canister to see if I can rewind or repair the motor , have done this before but not on an immersed fuel pump , engine is diesel so not as susceptible to sparks from motor but still will needto reseal it . Anybody done this before successfully ?I believe the pump has failed some time ago and keeping a full tank of fuel has enabled the car to keep going and its broke down when the tank has been down to the last gallon or so , I am also thinking maybe filling tank fully and keeping it full might put enough pressure on the fuel line which together with the low pressure engine mounted mechanical fuel pump could keep the car going whilst I get it back to the UK , do think this is possible ?

 

Just so you know, this forum is probably 99% North American members from what I have seen and we unfortunately don't get diesel cars here except for a few VW and Mercedes vehicles. The knowledge hereabout diesel Volvo's is probably next to nil.
We are still waiting for the manufactures to bring us the diesels. Volvo did import a diesel in the early 80's but it was a flop (240??).
Maybe now it will be worth buying one here with over $4.00/gallon and $1.35/liter gas prices.

 

I had an 740 GLE diesel, that I traded in on my 98 V70 T5. It had 318,000 on it, running strong, but the interier was falling down around me. I also had a need for speed!