Poor economy and trouble starting when cold.
 

Over winter a few times I had trouble starting my car, it just turned without really seeming to fire. Sometimes pressing the accelerator worked, sometimes it didnt. I usually left in 10min and then cam back and it started but with a strong smell of fuel from the exhaust and the Engine Warning Light showing. Once the car was warm an Italian tune up saw the light go off the next time the engine was started.

Ive also notice in the last 6-12 months that my economy is around 28mpg average with mixed town and motorway driving. Just got 34mpg out of a 60 mile motorway run at 65-70mph. I dont have a heavy right foot and do drive quite economically.

From doing a search I'm lead to believe the Fuel Pressure Regulator is the suspect part and will need replacing. Generally when this part is mentioned so are the Fuel Pump, the Thermostat and the Engine Tempature Sender however my car runs fine with regards to auto choke, reaching correct running temp and staying there and warm air through the fans. Im also considering wether the HT Leads and Ignition Coils will need changing.

Anybody want to venture on what on the list will need changing and the best place to start? So far prices Ive seen for various parts are as follows but feel free to correct any you think are wrong -
*Fuel Pressure Regulator - around £70
*Thermostat and the Engine Tempature Sender - around £70
*Fuel pump - around £270
*HT Leads - around £35
*Ignition Coils - around £90

Altogether its over £500 so I would prefer not to have to change all of it if it can be helped. However as I do cover quite a lot of miles (16-17k a year) and have the possibilty of 2 trips into europe this summer, if I can get my economy sorted they may end up paying for themselves.

recently had my thermostat changed. bought the new one from rufe/frf £15 or less sticks in mind inc post for it, really has made a differance to my mpg.
i used to get the strong smell of petrol on start ups , the occasional wont start 1st touch, now (so far so good) 1st touch, every time no strong petrol smells, and approx 33/34 mpg combined (mostly town driving 100m motorway run with town both ends).

But i think my issues were slightly different, id done the new plugs/filters/oil with gen volvo bits + castrol magnatex , had the VVT pulley replaced (was borked when bought the car).

From my readings , the fpr/fuel pump are more common when there 100kmiles + and fpr more so if its a "hot start", so may be able to pop on the "later possibly" list.
coil packs and leads can be checked visually for cracks/etc ,and a temp measure of slightly streching the springs may help (as will gen volvo plugs), mine runs a Lot smoother with gen plugs than the others (i think mines a Fussy booger of a car).

Fuel pump can be a lot cheaper if you go for a walbro one @ £90ish and a couple of slight easy mods to the pick up, (960kg has a post somewhere on the GSS432 pump needed).

Depending on which type temp guage you have, it maybe as simple as a sticking thermostat? ,, no numbers and C to Red it should sit middle of the dial , ones with numbers on about the 90deg c (maybe wrong on numbers one).

Depending on when you last changed things, perhaps dropping £20/£40 on a full filters (air/oil/fuel) and gen plugs with an oil change May help your mpg. Or at the very least give you a known good start point, and youd be checking the coil packs/leads while there..

Might pay you if the engine lights been thrown to pop to a local volvo dealer offering there free winter health check for a free reading of any codes and a pointer from there if anythings flagged up.

Changed plugs in Oct, 5,000 miles ago. The plugs i took out had only done 20,000 miles. Oil and filter changed yesterday. As for others -
Oil and Filter Change 29/05/2009 44,995
Cambelt Change 27/07/2009 48,430
ATF Change 27/07/2009 48,430
Brake Fluid Change 27/07/2009 48,340
Oil and Filter Change 22/08/2009 49,834
Spark Plugs 22/08/2009 49,834
Coolant Change 22/08/2009 49,834
Cabin Filter 22/08/2009 49,834
K&N Air Filter 22/08/2009 49,834
Fuel Filter 22/08/2009 49,834
Oil and Filter Change 22/12/2009 54,970
Oil and Filter Change 09/04/2010 59,859
Oil and Filter Change 01/09/2010 67,531
Spark Plugs 20/10/2010 69,558
Cabin Filter 20/10/2010 69,558
Air Filter clean 20/10/2010 69,558
Oil and Filter Change 15/02/2011 74,678
As said, rises to middle and stays there. No apparent temp issues when running.
see above, car currently on 75,000
Car went in to Volvo in Jan when i got beached in snow and logged an EML trying to get out. They did find £1000 worth of faults (bushes, brake pipes, etc if you remember) but nothing to do with the engine management.

If there wasnt anything engine managment logged/found in jan , id be a little suspect on the fpr/fuel pump being on the way out, more so the fpr if your hot starts are ok.
they seem to throw a "bank x" type code, or a more specific one.

Lovely records on when/what was service/changed.
and a bit of a "hum" with everything being as it should be service/temps and running when started.


one thing i have noticed on mine , if DRL is "on" and its chilly (- temps to +4/5) mine can take 2-3 tries of the key to start, and or a tiny bit of throttle. (suspect its down to the use mine gets/battery condition) more so than a fault with the car. but if your batterys cold or not 100% perhaps swapping to DRL = off and seeing how it responds for a month may shed a bit of light on what , if anything is iffy.

32mpg is the book, 28,, isnt too far of it, hills/driving style/traffic etc , its enough to think "humm" without it being enough to say "aha ! X"

Had considered a knackered VVT pulley but dont seems to be getting the symptoms consistent with that.

Couldn't be down to cat/lambda sensor issues, after getting beached in the snow? If the hot cat suddenly cooled, it can cause problems, and a dodgy/knackered cat and/or lambda sensor, will more than likely throw the light and can give poor mpg.

It did have a lambda changed before i bought it. Could be reoccurence of the problem. might just have to take it to volvo to get it read the next time it happens, see what fault shows.

mine Drove ok, was down on power but only above 3500rpm , the main symptom was the noise. Still shifted off the line, held speeds nice, and could be called "fairly nippy really" , the mpg was about the 26-29 level as well.

wasnt the usual tick..burrrrr,,,,tick burrr type noise of gears meshing/chewing , it just sounded like a car with noisey tappets.

there should be a wav file somewhere on here of mine, and a few links to the tick/burr type ones as well, just to 100% rule them out.

is there a strong smell of petrol at the exhaust end on start up ? may point to the fueling issues, ie over fuel due to cat/lambda sensors ?

Symptoms sound very similar to mine currently awaiting a fpr in the post hopefully here at the weekend so will update when fitted.

But mine has 66k full history but hates cold starting cranks for a while and when starts smells and sounds like its flooded

Cool, look forward to hearing if you manage to solve your problem