XC90 start issue

[Sammank]

Hi new member here. My XC90 (03) has been laboured when starting in the cold, on the odd occasion when it’s not that cold it’ll take a bit longer. Sunday it wouldn’t start just kept turning over, tried later that day with a jump and it started, Monday no start and battery went dead, tried again with a jump start about 6 hours later and after 4 attempts it started but stopped when the leads were disconnected. It since has refused to start whether being jumped or not. Has anyone got any idea what it could be? Really need to get it fixed but it’s not somewhere it can be towed from easily so if I can do it it’d help. No stalling while driving and the battery did seem ok at first.

[XJSDriver]

Diesel engines need working glow plugs and a good battery; if either of these are not up to spec then you will have problems, especially in the cold when the oil is thick and the engine hard to turn over.

You need a multimeter to check the resistance of the glow plugs - you could have one or 2 that are dead but not noticed as you have been able to start in the warm weather, but now is getting cold all the plugs need to be working.

Also get your battery and charging system tested as could be your battery is no longer capable either due to not enough charge or is needing replaced. Once you have ruled these out then you can look at other possibilities one of which is low compression but hopefully this is not the case. I am sure other members will chip in with other things to look for, but as runs OK once started I expect is nothing too serious.

[SwissXC90]

The OP doesn't state what engine he has, so we don't know if petrol or diesel.

At any rate certainly sounds like a battery and/or charging system problem.

Test the battery properly using a load test

Test the charging system properly using VIDA, this allows you to test the alternator's temperature-compensating mechanism to ensure that it is putting out the proper output voltage per ambient temperature. That has a big impact on battery life: prevents overcharging when hot, and helps to charge better when cold.

Read the stored fault codes using VIDA, it will likely have something logged when the vehicle refuses to start.

[Sammank]

Originally Posted by SwissXC90

The OP doesn't state what engine he has, so we don't know if petrol or diesel.

At any rate certainly sounds like a battery and/or charging system problem.

Test the battery properly using a load test

Test the charging system properly using VIDA, this allows you to test the alternator's temperature-compensating mechanism to ensure that it is putting out the proper output voltage per ambient temperature. That has a big impact on battery life: prevents overcharging when hot, and helps to charge better when cold.

Read the stored fault codes using VIDA, it will likely have something logged when the vehicle refuses to start.

It’s a diesel 2.5

[SwissXC90]

Originally Posted by Sammank

It’s a diesel 2.5

Highly unusual as Volvo made only 2.4L D5 diesels in the XC90
Actually 2401cc (D5244T, D5244T2) or 2400cc (D5244T4, D5244T5, D5244T7 D5244T8...)

Did you get the engine bored out to 2.5L ???

[Tannaton]

Sounds like you might have a few problems here.

Firstly, as has been pointed out it is at this time of year cars with worn, failed glowplugs rear their head in terms of poor starting.

Another common issue on the earlier 163 D5 is problematic injectors which "leak back" excessively - the result is that the fuel system takes much longer to build pressure and this results in longer periods of cranking the engine especially when cold.

There's also the issue that your car stalled when the jump battery was removed which it should not do.

So - my counsel would be - assuming that it does start but is taking long periods of cranking - do you get a puff of smoke out of the exhaust when it starts?

If so - suspect glowplugs - the puff of smoke indicates that diesel is being injected into the cylinders whilst the engine is cranking.

If little or no smoke - suspect injectors.

In any case you should do a leak-back check of your injectors, it's cheap and easy to do (search for videos on YouTube) and it will confirm quickly if you have a failing injector which is causing your poor starting.

It's also fairly easy to test the glowplugs on the D5 using multimeter although this will only tell you if they have failed totally.

If you want a quick fix then you need to put your hand in your pocket and hand it over to a dealer or a Indie with VIDA - they will be able to read the fuel pressure during cranking and ascertain why the engine is not starting, they will also be able to check the charging system and alternator as well.

Here is a link to a video on how to do a leak back test made by one of our more helpful members :-) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n-gg1Ytc1s

Here's a video on glowplugs (where they are) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wHP2QVnnV0

[Sammank]

Originally Posted by SwissXC90

Highly unusual as Volvo made only 2.4L D5 diesels in the XC90
Actually 2401cc (D5244T, D5244T2) or 2400cc (D5244T4, D5244T5, D5244T7 D5244T8...)

Did you get the engine bored out to 2.5L ???

Sorry 2.4, doing this on my phone with fat fingers 😂

[XJSDriver]

Stupid me - thanks for pointing that out SWISS! I am not a psychic forgot that there are some out there running on petrol!

[dstc]

Last winter our D5 XC90 had a lot of really rough starts and endless cranking would leave us with a flat battery. A really helpful recovery man suggested we give the glowplugs 2 or 3 goes before cranking the engine.

Key in the ignition, turn it to Position II, let the glowplugs light go out, immediately turn the key to Position 0 and repeat a few times. We had 3 out of 5 working glowplugs, so it was enough to get the engine going. When it was really cold it would really struggle. We already had a 12V Lithium-Ion booster pack which helped the engine. After a while you get a feel of how many times you need. I don't think this'll work if you've only got 1 working glowplug.

About changing glowplugs. BE CAREFUL! You don't need 1000 ft/lb of torque. Various sources suggest removing them on a hot engine. I always remove mine when it is stone cold. Use a smear of silicone grease on the threads when re-fitting.

There are loads of threads on how to check the resistance, etc. Be sure to do this before fitting so you know they all work. If you have any doubts, inspect the glowplug. If it's wet then it isn't working. If it's dry it works.

Luckily our injectors were ok. I believe you can do a leak back test in ViDA.

[Tannaton]

It's easy to test glowplugs if you have removed them - just power them from a 12v battery and see if they glow...

(Note - some later models have lower voltage glowplugs (7v) so be ready to disconnect them as soon as they glow...)