Engine 850: B5234TR/2.3/20v/T5R: black smoke and poor economy

[trystan]

hi everybody i'm brand new to this site so please forgive any naiveity, and i'm sorry my first post is for help, but i just can't figure it out. so ive got an 850 r auto estate with 110,000m on it, it was imported from japan in 2005, and its started to smoke, ive read a lot of threads on here but not found the exact problem. symtoms are black smoke on idle and some time on heavy acceleration and gearchange, rough lumpy idle sometimes, also on idle every 10-15 seconds you here a click from engine bay which sonds like a solenoid or relay, every time this happens engine idels differently and amount of smoke from exhaust changes sometimes dissapears/ reapears, also high fuel consumption. a while back a volvo specialist said change air flow meter so i did tings settled down no smoke 29 mpg all good, now its started again but a bit worse than before, took alot of cranking to start the other day when hot big cloud of black smoke and lamda light came on, no faut codes recorded. please any help would be appeciated. also im getting blue/black smoke when getting back on the gas after its been on overrun- im thinking turbo seals, but will accept other diagnosis. so are these seperate issues or do you think there is a connection. many thanks in advance if you need any other info please ask

[Paul240480]

Hi & welcome.

I would have suggested air mass (flow) meter, but you've done that.

Check for air leaks, from intake right down to turbo intake port - is there a good seal where the air mass meter connects? Maybe that after a few miles it's developed a bit of a leak there?

good luck & I'm sure you'll get some more replies from those with more knowledge....................

[Jod T5]

Hi I would start by cleaning the Idle air valve with some brake cleaner... Then the throttle housing...With no codes probably best to do the "free" stuff before splashing the cash on possabilities (sp?)
Cheers
Jod

[Chris_Rogers]

Originally Posted by trystan

hi everybody i'm brand new to this site so please forgive any naiveity, and i'm sorry my first post is for help, but i just can't figure it out. so ive got an 850 r auto estate with 110,000m on it, it was imported from japan in 2005, and its started to smoke, ive read a lot of threads on here but not found the exact problem. symtoms are black smoke on idle and some time on heavy acceleration and gearchange, rough lumpy idle sometimes, also on idle every 10-15 seconds you here a click from engine bay which sonds like a solenoid or relay, every time this happens engine idels differently and amount of smoke from exhaust changes sometimes dissapears/ reapears, also high fuel consumption. a while back a volvo specialist said change air flow meter so i did tings settled down no smoke 29 mpg all good, now its started again but a bit worse than before, took alot of cranking to start the other day when hot big cloud of black smoke and lamda light came on, no faut codes recorded. please any help would be appeciated. also im getting blue/black smoke when getting back on the gas after its been on overrun- im thinking turbo seals, but will accept other diagnosis. so are these seperate issues or do you think there is a connection. many thanks in advance if you need any other info please ask

Was the new MAF a genuine Bosch unit?

What did you use to read the fault codes?

[trystan]

Originally Posted by Chris_Rogers

Was the new MAF a genuine Bosch unit?

What did you use to read the fault codes?

i did get a cheap 1 off ebay but it would hardly run with that one in so got a replacement, it still didnt work so got mmy money back and got a bosch one this was a used 1 but the car it came off was running fine so am fairly confident and it did seem to make a difference for a week or so, i have since read other comments here about cheap non bosch units and from my experience would agree not worth it, but very tempting as bosch ones run at about £180 whereas cheaper ones are £40! it can get a bit expensive just randomly changing parts when your trying to rule something out, but thats why im here looking for pointers, so do you think second hand one would have failed so quickly?
codes read with my ebay special £20 reader but wasnt 100% so got volvo guy to read them and he wasnt reading any either also wife called the AA and nothing either, so am at a bit of a loss.
i was just wondering does anybody else get the clicking noise from engine when idleing? thanks

[trystan]

Originally Posted by Jod T5

Hi I would start by cleaning the Idle air valve with some brake cleaner... Then the throttle housing...With no codes probably best to do the "free" stuff before splashing the cash on possabilities (sp?)
Cheers
Jod

thanks jod, i cleaned idle valve and throtle body as suggested but not made any difference but there was a fair amount of oil in intake pipe from intercooler, also when i put it back together and started her up she was a bit reluctant and then lumpy for a bit
sombody else has suggested cts any thought on that? thanks again

[Paul240480]

clicking or ticking noises can be due to a leaking gasket - intake manifold. A home made stethoscope - pipe & a funnel can be useful in locating exactly such noises.

Another method may be to spray carb cleaner around the intake manifold, if the noise stops or idle settles for a few seconds, than that's the cleaner sealing the leak for that short time. Leaks can occur around injectors too I think.

[Kerry_T-5R]

Air con constantly clicks on and off. Do you have aircon? If so does the clicking stop when you turn the aircon off.

[trystan]

never thought of air con doing that, will check, but ussually air con is off as it uses too much fuel already and i do live in wales!

[Chris_Rogers]

Originally Posted by trystan

i did get a cheap 1 off ebay but it would hardly run with that one in so got a replacement, it still didnt work so got mmy money back and got a bosch one this was a used 1 but the car it came off was running fine so am fairly confident and it did seem to make a difference for a week or so, i have since read other comments here about cheap non bosch units and from my experience would agree not worth it, but very tempting as bosch ones run at about £180 whereas cheaper ones are £40! it can get a bit expensive just randomly changing parts when your trying to rule something out, but thats why im here looking for pointers, so do you think second hand one would have failed so quickly?
codes read with my ebay special £20 reader but wasnt 100% so got volvo guy to read them and he wasnt reading any either also wife called the AA and nothing either, so am at a bit of a loss.
i was just wondering does anybody else get the clicking noise from engine when idleing? thanks

When you say they did not anything with their code readers, do you mean they did not connect to the car or they got a positive code 1-1-1 no faults.

What year is the car does it have the diagnostic connectors like this?

http://volvospeed.com/CheckEngine.php

If not you will need to make a code reader like this:

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=46943

Until you have read the fault code(s) to see why the MIL is on you will get nowhere.