T4 lambda and poor power
 

Hi I have a 1998 V40 T4 manual, which seems to have a couple of faults. First is the lambda warning light comes on when you drive the car a little harder than normal. I seemed to fix this by taking all the trunking from the turbo to the inlet manifold off and then refitting it, I was expecting to find a crack or rupture but no nothing. Once refitted the lambda light went off and no matter how hard you drove, it stopped off. It stayed like that for 4000 miles or so, now its coming back on again. Also the car seems to have a reluctance to pull as if it is not producing the power it should. I have tried looking at the waste gate but only managed to actuate it by hand, this also seemed to improve things but only for a short time. I wondered if the lambda light was linked to the poor power, if it was loosing boost preasure after the air flow meter it would over fule the car possibly bringing on the sensor waring light! Also when you put the aircon on, the car holds the revs on when you change gear, so the car is very bad to drive especially around town. I hope i havent gone on for too long but if anyone can help i would be gratful.

Johntyboy.

RE: T4 lambda and poor power
 

Hi.

That sounds very poorly. The lambda light comes on for numerous reasons.

Your lack of power sounds like it is distinctly related to the light coming on.

Take it straight to your Volvo dealers and get them to read the codes off which should be stored in the ECUs memory.

Either your ECU itself needs an upgrade, or there is something wrong with the fuel delivery or your turbo isn't working properly.

It actually sounds like it is in 'limp home' mode!!

Did you get the car from a Volvo dealer and did it test drive OK?
If the answer is yes and yes, then you definitely have a case to get them to fix it under warranty.

However if you got it from 'joe bloggs autos' (or whatever) and didn't really drive it, then you may have to shell out a few quid to get it sorted.

Suffice to say it should be driving a LOT nicer than that. Stick in a few tankfuls of Optimax as well, to treat it to some proper fuel and see if that helps. It may have used supermarket 95 its whole life and will NOT be running at its best.

Cheers,
Dan.