General Engine volvo 480

planemad · Post by **planemad** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:33 am

Hello ! I'm new here, just got myself a Volvo 480, red 2.0 ES model, 1995.
Having read pracitally half this website, and the Haynes manual too I'd like to start by saying thank you for all the information that is online here ! Brilliant.

However, it hasn't helped me find my problem yet !
Here we go :

Cold start, no problem, engine runs smoothly 9 time out of 10
After a couple of miles ( kilometers in my case but whose counting )
at cruise speed the engine starts to stutter, sometimes gently sometimes
very violently, sometimes just a couple of secconds, or for a fair while...

( B20F engine, so no MAF and no turbo... )
So far :
Cleaned out the throttle valve
Replaced the airfilter
Cleaned ( as far as feasable ) the Idle valve
Replaced rotor and distributor cap ( instant result in increased smoothness, and I had the impression less stutter... )
Replaced Sparkplugs ( despite being a beautifull nut-brown, without other nasty deposits )
Replaced HT leads
Replaced Fuel filter ( with the help of LOTS of WD40... )
Replaced Fuel pump relais

Especially afterd the filter replacement it seemed to go a lot smoother, but now (100 km later ) the shudder is back !

Next plan is to check the crankshaft sensor.
Then, when I have time, I'll take the injectors out, and clean them.
Also havent gotten round to checking for fault codes.

For now I just thought I'd share all this with you, as I can see that there are a lot of similar problems going round, naturally when I find a fix I'll be sure to mention it !
I also see a lot of Lambda sonde replacement suggestions, so far i havent contemplated that, both because of the cost ( 130 Euros ) and because it seems to be working fine, any thoughts ?
Further hints and tips are also allways welcome ! I'll go faultcode hunting in the morning !

Greetzzzzz,
Daan.

glasgowjim · Post by **glasgowjim** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 7:55 pm

try this ..
check the wires going into the engine temp sensor below sprkplug 1 if the wire is worn or broken there it will give an intermittent contact/noncontact and you will get the symptoms you describe .
If this is the case two minutes with a soldering iron and you car will run smooth again.

planemad · Post by **planemad** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:38 pm

I had a look at the wires coming out of the probe near Cylinder 1. They seem in fine condition, cleaned out the plug and all that anyway.
I can't seem to get any fault codes either, so maybe the system hasn't detected any problems, or the fault testing system is unserviceable.

While messing around with the connector to the Injection rail, i did notice a major difference in engine sound, but also all the wires going into the plug there seem in good condition. Cleaned the plug out, and reattached everything including making sure that the earth point is good. Sadly it all seems to run even rougher now...

In the intrest of scientific enquiry I've disconnected the battery to see what happens when I reconnect it in half an hour...

The Saga continues...

robkendall · Post by **robkendall** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:42 pm

i know this may sound really simple, and i dont think you mentioned it, but....
do a reset on the car....take off the battery terminals to reset the ecus.
it could be this?
simple i know, but large apparent problems have been solved by doing just this.

you need to leave the battery unplugged for a few hours...i used to do it overnight, then get in the car, and turn the ignition key on....then off, and hook battery back up.
rgrds
rob

planemad · Post by **planemad** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:50 pm

Excellent, well, I thought Half an hour would be enough, ( it was on my little Citroen AX Gti ) But I'll leave it overnight then !! Shopping on the bike... and its raining too....

I'll report the results tomorrow !

robkendall · Post by **robkendall** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 5:11 pm

planemad wrote:Excellent, well, I thought Half an hour would be enough, ( it was on my little Citroen AX Gti ) But I'll leave it overnight then !! Shopping on the bike... and its raining too....
I'll report the results tomorrow !

i dont know really if theres a minimum time limit....sure someone will.
overnight used to be fine for me....think i read the thing with the key somewhere too...or maybe i just made that up in my mind, and ive sat pointlessly turning the key all this time lol

good luck!
rgrds
rob

eEm · Post by **eEm** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 5:22 pm

Ten minutes should be more than enough. That was the general consensus when I searched the forum with the same queery.

planemad · Post by **planemad** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 6:54 pm

I sneakily did take the Volvo to the shops just now after it had been sitting without the Battery for about half an hour, and it did feel a lot more stable...

I didn't do the key thing by the way, but it probably can't hurt...

When I did these things with the Citroen, I usually let it idle for 10 mins ( picked that up somewhere too... ) for the ecu to run its 'setup' program...

Anyway, the bat is not disconnected again, and I'll crank 'r up in the morning, with the key trick, let the engine idle for a bit, and see how things go !

eEm · Post by **eEm** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 9:06 am

When you do an ecu reset like this its a good idea to get in and drive as you would normally (once she's warmed up) so the ecu knows what to do.

Check some more past threads on resetting the ecu as someone else should be able to explain better.

planemad · Post by **planemad** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:26 pm

Well, reconnected the whole system this morning, and went for a drive. Indeed so far no stuttering at all like before. I do get the idea that the ECU is still getting used to the whole thing as idle is a little higher than it used to be, but on the whole a very satisfying experience to drive around whithout getting shaken !!
I hope that this indeed is the solution to that problem !!
I'll search around for some more threads on the whole ECU learning / resetting thing !

Thanks for the tips !!

rgds, Daan.

robkendall · Post by **robkendall** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:38 pm

planemad wrote:Well, reconnected the whole system this morning, and went for a drive. Indeed so far no stuttering at all like before. I do get the idea that the ECU is still getting used to the whole thing as idle is a little higher than it used to be, but on the whole a very satisfying experience to drive around whithout getting shaken !!
I hope that this indeed is the solution to that problem !!
I'll search around for some more threads on the whole ECU learning / resetting thing !

Thanks for the tips !!

rgds, Daan.

fingers crossed Daan....i hope it resolves your problems too!
i like nice simple fixes

rgrds
rob