V70 T5. Engine light, misfires and then limp mode.

[Jimbug1024]

Hi,

Documenting this "journey" in case it helps anyone else...

Acquired a 2002 2.3 T5, 165k miles but carefully owned and driven.
Had stood for a few months before I got it.

Ran great for a few weeks but became more and more hesitant under acceleration.

Finally, on it's first long run (~100 miles) it lost power completely, yellow engine light (still and flashing) and limped us home. 60 miles of limp mode - not ideal!

I only use premium petrol (Momentum 99 usually) but I've run it almost empty twice, so willing to accept some crap in the system if that's likely from running it very low on fuel.


After several days wrestling with the VIDA / DICE setup I've managed to get communications with the car and getting these errors from the ECM:

ECM-3503 Misfire, at least one cylinder - Catalyst damage
ECM-3513 Misfire cylinder 1 - Catalyst damage
ECM-3523 Misfire cylinder 2 - Catalyst damage
ECM-3533 Misfire cylinder 3 - Catalyst damage
ECM-3553 Misfire cylinder 5 - Catalyst damage

At this point I'm going to check the plugs and see how they look.
Reset the errors, and then see what ones I get after a bit of driving.

I'm hoping I'm just looking at plugs, coils and leads at this stage!!

Will keep you posted.


ps. If anyone knows of a VIDA/DICE set up thread I'd be happy to contribute - it's a total pain in the arse to set up unless EVERYTHING is perfect on the PC - and then it's just "fiddly". Mine is running on a Macbook-->VM-->Win7Pro 32bit.

[Georgeandkira]

Since you're rolling your sleeves up swap coil #4 into position #1.
As #4 was the only unmentioned cylinder it'd be interesting to see if your misfire data changes.

Also keep in mind that higher pressure turbos can be picky over spark plug type and brand. I believe clean looking plugs can create problems if they're the wrong ones.

Either read about successful plugs on Volvo modification boards so you can buy "correct ones" or go to Volvo and get 'em.

[Jimbug1024]

Good thinking on the coils and thanks re the plugs. I'm seeing lots going for the NGK platinums - I've no idea what's installed at the moment until I've looked.

Last time I fitted platinum electrodes into a car was back in the 90's, into a 1984 MG Montego

I thought the T5 was a relatively low pressure turbo? With the "R" having the higher pressure? I've not done any mods (yet).

[big_yin]

The Turbo versions only like the Volvo plugs
Had NGK's in a P1 XC70 T and it didn't like it at all.

[pierremcalpine]

Don't rule out a faulty upstream o2 sensor. My was totally shot and I got similar behavior.

[oragex]

Flashing check engine light may mean serious misfire. I've had this when I got a faulty fuel injector (tried to 'clean' an injector using acetone - not so wise). The engine was shacking and severely lacking acceleration/power, with only one faulty injector. But I've got the car back home quickly, put a fresh injector in place and it did run without issues.

However, when the car is being driven for longer distances with such issue, serious additional problems can happen. As the codes say, the catalytic converter can get permanently damaged, the piston rings can get damaged, and possibly the valves seats as well on the cylinder that has the issue, all from the unburned fuel thrown in there.

If that was you issue too, maybe have a close look at the wires to all injectors and also to all ignition coils while there. You can test which cylinder has the issue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnYUQh23p7Q

[Jimbug1024]

Planning to check plugs and reset codes this weekend.

Thanks for the replies, I'm bearing all that in mind!

[Jimbug1024]

So I'm a bit confused about spark plug gaps.

Just removed 1 and 2 and they look in very similar condition. I'll get 4 out next as that never reported a misfire.

The gaps look huge to me. A bit of digging says for un-modded 2.3 T5 it's 0.028" (0.7mm) gap. So I'll set to that and see how we go.

Pics to follow when 4 is out...

[Jimbug1024]

Plugs 1,2 and 4...
Re-gapped them all to 0.7mm and gave them all a quick dust, etc.

Looking into the cylinders 1,2 and 3 looked a bit moist.


So.. I've reset the error codes and run the engine for a bit.

The car was shaking around like mad which I guess means not firing on all cylinders.

Re-scanned for errors and got Cyclinder 1 Misfire (ECM-3513).
So, I'm thinking coil pack.

Will have another go tomorrow and swap 1 and 2 coil-packs to see what happens.

Regarding the plugs... is it worth replacing them yet or letting things run "well" for a bit and let the crud work it's way thru?

Redex/Wynns/etc worth a try too?

[Jimbug1024]

Swapped the coil packs for the left-most 2 cylinders.
Reset the codes and car and let it run.

Got an error for cylinder 3.
I thought the cylinders were numbered 1 to 5, working away from the timing belt end. Is that incorrect?

In the meantime I didn't notice before that when it runs there's smoke coming up from behind the engine - not loads but just a bit. Was wondering/hoping this is just due to the non-firing cylinder.