S40 Common fault??

[VolvoJohn1]

Hey all

I have a 2001 (X reg) 1.8 S40, and found a bit of a strange fault....

I kinda hope its a 'they all do that' sort of thing!!

When I'm accelerating, mainly in 3rd or 4th, the car hits around 3k RPM and goes flat. As a pancake. Will not pull very well, its like i'm towing a very heavy trailer with the lag I experience.

Please tell me my car isnt broken!

It drives pretty much perfectly apart from this!!!!

John

[andy_d]

dont want to scare you too badly, do a search on "VVT" in this forum, listen to the video's and sound clips folks have posted, then lift your bonnet and listen to your engine, if it is the vvt pulley, find yourself a good volvo indy garage or main dealer, and get them to double check the sound IS said VVT, then replace it

milage ? and when was your cam belt and aux belt replaced last? ,,as if they havent been done yet get them done at the same time as the VVT (they have to be taken off to replace the VVT)

[stevo48]

Might be worth getting the codes read to see if it could be something less expensive than the vvt, I drive a 1.6ltr v40 and it does the opposite to yours, I get to 3k rpm and it takes off like a rocket.

[960kg]

......the VVT noise came back on the S40 and i don`t care either i really dislike the car....Phase 1 anytime, but that`s just me!!......as the VVT is an adjustable item when running, what causes it to rattle ,i don`t know, but i think mine is stuck on advance because i get the mpg and it goes quite quick but i have to slip the clutch to get moving from a standstill and in reverse difficult not to stall......it is if you have to have a second go when pulling away just like if it is in second gear.......the car does look nice when clean but that is only one day at best as it is that black colour, not practical at all, i do really loathe the car, i only bought it to replace the ageing GDI and got it cheapish.......does anyone else have this pulling away from a standstill thingy?...

.....Oh!, just out of interest i read the codes on it and have none, but the VVT has gone west Ha! ha!....

[andy_d]

thats the "insert words" bit with the VVT, it doesnt throw a code when it goes, just makes a variety of noises and either pancakes your the bottom end / top end depending on the possition it stuck in when it fails.
with it working tho you Do get a nippy low end and a "Grin" top end (relative,,its all relative,, the top end will be nowt near a t4's,)

what sort of mpg are you getting with it stuck ? i know my auto will be slightly worse mpg wise.

[twinturbo]

Hmm..

I had not considered a VVT fault however, We have to give it some beans to get our 1.8 moving or slip the clutch a bit otherwise it tends to stall. Also my MPG is about 23, mainly conservative town driving ( My 2.3 Galaxy manages 22ish!!!!)

Wonder if my VVT is stuck.

TT

[andy_d]

if your only getting 22ish , from the 1.8 volvo engine round town,, id be Rather concerned.
mines a 1.8 volvo lump and Auto box , im getting 32-34mpg with a 90%town/10%motorway and Not driving it for "best mpg"

TT, does yours sound a "noisey tappet" type row from the inlet cam, at the sprocket end ?,,

[960kg]

Originally Posted by andy_d

thats the "insert words" bit with the VVT, it doesnt throw a code when it goes, just makes a variety of noises and either pancakes your the bottom end / top end depending on the possition it stuck in when it fails.
with it working tho you Do get a nippy low end and a "Grin" top end (relative,,its all relative,, the top end will be nowt near a t4's,)

what sort of mpg are you getting with it stuck ? i know my auto will be slightly worse mpg wise.

....Hello andy...i am getting 34mpg with it stuck?????...mixed driving and it does go fast when throttled out of town.....the driving ability in town is really terrible from stationary......i am glad the T4 doesn`t have this VVT, i do understand that this "invention" is widely used on other motors and Jaguar but it was only replaced just 15,000 ago on this S40 as i have the pre-owners bills......disgusting i think, this modern age does breathe fire to me........i am not getting it fixed i shall just run it because of the 34mpg, so i don`t know the outcome of an ignored VVT fault .....i cannot see if anything would happen as it is a sealed unit......

[twinturbo]

Originally Posted by andy_d

if your only getting 22ish , from the 1.8 volvo engine round town,, id be Rather concerned.
mines a 1.8 volvo lump and Auto box , im getting 32-34mpg with a 90%town/10%motorway and Not driving it for "best mpg"

TT, does yours sound a "noisey tappet" type row from the inlet cam, at the sprocket end ?,,

Can't say I have realy noticed it being noisy, will have to have a good listen.

The book figure for the urban cycle is only about 25MPG from memory but it does seem rather poor, especialy as I try to drive it fairly economicaly.

I have just replaced the plugs so hopefully that may improve things as the old ones did not look the best.

TT

[andy_d]

Originally Posted by 960kg

....Hello andy...i am getting 34mpg with it stuck?????...mixed driving and it does go fast when throttled out of town.....the driving ability in town is really terrible from stationary......i am glad the T4 doesn`t have this VVT, i do understand that this "invention" is widely used on other motors and Jaguar but it was only replaced just 15,000 ago on this S40 as i have the pre-owners bills......disgusting i think, this modern age does breathe fire to me........i am not getting it fixed i shall just run it because of the 34mpg, so i don`t know the outcome of an ignored VVT fault .....i cannot see if anything would happen as it is a sealed unit......

i agree the "improvment" with a part that fails every XX,000 miles (or less) is very poor,
the pulley the cam belt drives isnt directly connected to the hub that locks to the cam shaft.
so if it shatters the broken connecting bits you may end up with Very out cam timing on the inlet, dont think you could bend valve, but the engine really wouldnt run very well at all IF it shatters (some have).
34mpg is spooky the same as mine , i dont drive for ecconomy tho, i boot it when needed, and being an auto mine should be worse than a manual.
mines deffinatly still working, it was less than 3k miles ago it was replaced. and i dont have any sluggish pulling away or lack top end (up to 70).

if book is supposed to be 25,, then im really stumped as to why i get 34