940 LPT 2.3 problems starting in damp

[haymitch]

I will also try the meths again once my fuel level is lower

[Laird Scooby]

Good ideas there! As long as the throttle cable is still in adjustment and isn't popping out of the bracket, you should be ok.

[haymitch]

Thanks for that - it appears all adjusted and secure

[Laird Scooby]

Good news! Just keep an eye on it and if necessary look for a new throttle cable at some point.

[haymitch]

Cleaning the throttle body seems to have done the trick - the car is now starting fine including in the hot (and has been doing so for the past week and a half now!). Looks like this has been sorted. Will have to remember to do this every so often.

Hopefully this will remain the case when the weather gets colder.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by haymitch

Cleaning the throttle body seems to have done the trick - the car is now starting fine including in the hot (and has been doing so for the past week and a half now!). Looks like this has been sorted. Will have to remember to do this every so often.

Hopefully this will remain the case when the weather gets colder.

I was kind of under the impression you cleaned the throttle body back in February? They do need doing regularly though, and the PCV system too.

[haymitch]

No I didn't do it back in February - I may have been advised to though. Sorry, I think that was at the stage when I was hoping a garage would fix it so I may have forgotten about it after becoming distracted with that. The PCV system was cleaned (not by me) last September.

I definitely think this was a two part problem. The car was not starting at all until I was advised to replace CTS in June

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by haymitch

No I didn't do it back in February - I may have been advised to though. Sorry, I think that was at the stage when I was hoping a garage would fix it so I may have forgotten about it after becoming distracted with that. The PCV system was cleaned (not by me) last September.

I definitely think this was a two part problem. The car was not starting at all until I was advised to replace CTS in June

The PCV needs cleaning again by now. Also if the garage hadn't found the problem (which most can't these days as if it doesn't plug into the computer, they're snookered) it would have made sense to clean the thottle body.

Can't remember who advised the CTS but that was also "replaced" by the garage who changed the wrong one before that.

One of those situations where lots of different advice and a garage that doesn't really know older Volvos has meant a problem dragging on.

The good thing is you're getting to grips with doing a lot of it yourself now and there's plenty of advice on here to explain how to do everything so hopefully life will be more reliable again!

[haymitch]

Thanks Dave I'm getting there slowly! I'm planning on moving somewhere with off road parking soon - then I'll be able to do a greater range of things on the car. It's tricky getting the car off the ground at the moment.

Will add cleaning out the PCV system to my list of things to do. I'm looking forward to working on the other niggles the car has now that the starting problem is fixed

Definitely agree about the garage situation. It's been a real eye opener! Many of them want to use the cheapest pattern parts for the wrong things and skip the obvious stuff. Makes me wonder how many perfectly good older cars get scrapped due to minor issues. Everyone at work has been saying I should just cut my losses and scrap the car and, really, there's been nothing much wrong with it! This is despite the fact that their newer cars are often in the shop for pricey maintenance / repairs (£2000 for 4 new tyres in the case of one BMW driver!!).

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by haymitch

Thanks Dave I'm getting there slowly! I'm planning on moving somewhere with off road parking soon - then I'll be able to do a greater range of things on the car. It's tricky getting the car off the ground at the moment.

Will add cleaning out the PCV system to my list of things to do. I'm looking forward to working on the other niggles the car has now that the starting problem is fixed

Definitely agree about the garage situation. It's been a real eye opener! Many of them want to use the cheapest pattern parts for the wrong things and skip the obvious stuff. Makes me wonder how many perfectly good older cars get scrapped due to minor issues. Everyone at work has been saying I should just cut my losses and scrap the car and, really, there's been nothing much wrong with it! This is despite the fact that their newer cars are often in the shop for pricey maintenance / repairs (£2000 for 4 new tyres in the case of one BMW driver!!).

It's great to reach and defeat a "milestone" that has been a millstone as well!

I've just had to replace my back axle because a few years back, i put it into a garage and (even supplied the oil and additive) asked them to change the diff oil. "It had oil in it so we didn't bother changing it" was their reason for not doing the job.

I finally managed to change the diff oil myself some time back but by then it was noisier and giving a vibration. It's got progressively worse since - the damage was done because the oil wasn't changed.

In a lighter car i daresay it would go on for several years but in something weighing nearly 1500kg it won't last that much longer.

You now know why (from your experiences) i do everything i can to avoid garages at all costs. I worked in the trade many moons ago and even at main stealers, the amount of shortcuts used was amazing and disgusting. A favourite was simply wiping the oil filter over or if it was the old element variety inside a reusable canister, not even looked at.

Also many garages are only trained on a certain range of products, mechanics move around and from time to time, miss out of manufacturer training. Those who have simply done mechaincs at college then worked for a number of independents will have little or no specific model knowledge, other than what they've found out for themselves. Most fight shy of fuel injection because they don't understand it and refer you to a fuel injection specialist, likewise with electrics in general.

You've also seen evidence as to why i won't even think of running a newer car and on the news recently, there was a report that the number of breakdowns is at an all time high and the cars in question were all under 20 years old. One of the reasons cited is lack of maintenance but like many people who simply buy new cars because the old one "doesn't work" is just buying a newer versions of someone elses problems which will rear their ugly head sometime in the future.
My view is new cars have built in obsolescence and so far, nothing is proving me wrong.

You know that already though!