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No power - 940 S Auto

It never has been the most powerful car, especially on hills or when fully loaded. But it has gotten much worse. First noticed an oil leak which I now believe was from a severely cut flame trap hose (have replaced hose). At the same time I noticed the oil, the car started operating sluggish when cold.

At first when going up hills, I could shift from drive to 2nd gear which did the trick. But now even when shifting to 1st gear, it won't accelerate up hills.

Air filter is fairly clean. Tried to replace gas filter but need a pit or lift. Also bought new spark plugs but need torque wrench. Will take care of these things as soon as I can get to a shop.

Does anyone have any other ideas? I'm in England with only one Volvo dealer near me but could be pricey. I'd like to do what I can first.

Thanks in advance.

David

Reply to
Titan
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I would hazard a guess that your 940S has the 2 Litre engine (B200). This is normally fairly sluggish as it has to haul a rather heavy car around and is not really man enough for the job. It sounds as if the inlet tract could do with a thorough clean-up including the Idle Air Control Valve. The Positive Crankcase ventilation system could also do with a refurbish. If you do not have a turbo on your engine there is a filter included in the Flame Trap of this system. This will need replacing as will the smaller of the two hoses from it's top to the manifold, the nipple it attaches to will also need to be scrupulously cleaned to ensure that there is no blockage occurring.

The sluggish when cold may well be due to a thermostat having failed open and/or a non-functioning cold start injector.

Is your car a saloon or an estate? If it is a saloon it is from 1992, 1993 or 1994. If it is an estate it could be from 1995.

Why don't you ask on the technical forum 900 series section of the Volvo Owners Club website for technical help. We have a lot of knowledge available to help Volvo owners in trouble.

Cheers, Peter.

Reply to
Peter K L Milnes

One thought - may be a blockage in the catalytic converter. The effect is something like the throttle not opening all the way.

I like the test Haynes has in the manual for my daughter's Honda (if you have or can get your hands on a manifold pressure guage):

*connect the manifold pressure guage and note the reading at idle *open the throttle by hand until the engine is running about 2000 rpm and the guage has stabilized *suddenly release the throttle and watch the guage. If the exhaust isn't restricted, the guage should rapidly move back toward the idle reading and should return to the original idle reading within two seconds. If the guage hangs before dropping or if it gradually returns to the original reading the exhaust is likely restricted - plugged catalytic or muffler, something like that. The delay is caused by the engine being unable to pump the manifold back down effectively against the back pressure.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

Thanks to Peter and Michael for the great responses. To answer Peter's question, the car is a 1993 estate (station wagon). I think the engine is a 2.0 liter.

So, I've taken it in to have the cat cvtr looked at and they discovered the mid-section and rear-box (muffler) needed replacing. Had that done but the car is still sluggish although it does seem do run a bit better. But definitely bad on hills and quick acceleration.

I've discovered how to check the fault codes and found 121 and 231 off pin

2 and code 214 off pin 6. I reset them, drove the car around the block and checked the codes again. 231 was the only code to reappear. I think it means the petrol mixture is too high.

Any further ideas?

Oh, and Peter, what is the URL for the Volvo forum you sited?

Thanks a bunch,

David

Reply to
Titan

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