V40 T4 (1.9) Misfire / backfire - running rich

[mikeyskona]

Hi guys (and gals).

2 days ago i became the prowd owner of a 98 Volvo V40 t4. Test drove the car and it was absolutely on the money, so handed over my cash, then drove it 50 miles home without missing a beat.

Next day, at anything over quarter throttle it'd misfire, bog down and sometimes die altogether. I checked the HT leads and Coil packs and they were shot, so replaced them (spark plugs looked ok). This made it better, but the problem was sill there.

Then the wierdest problem cropped up. After turning the engine off, the cooling fan would start spinning for about 15 mins then shutting off (yet wouldn't when it's running). I had it plugged in to the diagnostics today, and they didn't give me the fault code, but told me that It reported "L1 Bank Fuel running rich" or something like that.. Basically the car is running rich.
I completely disconnected the MAF, and it improved things a bit yet it's still misfiring (and backfiring) quite Alot.. and now the MAF is disconnected it stalls on idle, but i was expecting that, sometimes it's almost undrivable.

Is it likely the MAF is the cause of all my woes? or am i looking at something a bit more severe... I am on a very limited budget after buying the car, so i have to be as systematic as i can on repairs. I can't just replace bits Just in case (not yet anyways).

Thanks in advance guys