My engine doesn't fire properly! Any helpful suggestions?

Post by **Apha** » 09 Sep 2005 06:18 pm

Hello,

I have had my 1991 340 for 18 months and for the last 12 i have had an ongoing battle getting it to run smoothly.

I dont think there is anything mechanically wrong with the engine, careful owners regular oil changes and only 54k - genuinely! The problem seems to lie with the spark delivery or the fuel but i'm not sure what to do to improve it or work out what the problem is. Brace yourself for the story so far........

Heres the thing I am female and skint and every time i take it to a garage they tell me to change the distributor/leads, oil etc (which helps a bit but not for long) and then offer to 'investigate' for a fee, and i am fed up with being robbed! The cars just not worth enough to merit spending out £100's on.

Having said that i do like my car and defend it to the hilt against all critisism - it's just a shame it's so tempremental! Basically at best the engine 'murmers' and hesitates when you hit the accelerator and at worst it stutters and shakes and doesn't fire properly. In addtion, when you start it in the morning it takes 3 goes to start - with the choke out and you have to drive with the choke half out for a good while before it settles, no choke it stalls, too much it seems to inhibit it.

3 months ago i had new (good quality) HT leads put on by a reputable mechanic, because he said the old ones were shorting (hence, according to him the problem), to be fair he did show me and it did seem to be the case. But the last set of leads were only 6 months old, as were dist. cap and plugs. 3 months ago i also cleaned up all the contacts including the rotary arm. Then i wrapped up the thing with electical tape to ward of the damp.

So anyway the car was a bit better for a couple of weeks after the new leads and clean up, still a bit of hesitation but ok. Then steadily it got worse and then the rain came and were back to pants again. So this week a friend offered to have another look. There was no spark at one of the plugs. When he disconnected the lead (3 months old remember) at the front of the dist. cap it was so green and corrded it snapped off!

The distributor cap inside was dry - the tape obviously worked here, but the top connections were all green and furred - so we cleaned them and reconnected everything, gave it new lead set number 4!, taped it up and even covered the whole lot with a rubber glove. Fine i thought. Except its not really fine, ok so the car is a bit better (like before)- it even goes a bit quicker but it still hesitates and i really cant keep changing distributors and leads at this rate!!! I am worried with winter on it's way that it will pack up competely.

Has anyone experienced the same problem? Why does it hesitate even after all the electrical connections have been cleaned and checked - am i missing something obvious? (Oh and i have checked the nut under the air filter is tight so it's not that causing the engine to jump about) Are there better quality leads/caps out there? or is it something to do with the fuel?

Please help !

Alison

Post by **5lab** » 09 Sep 2005 06:32 pm

this is going to be the good old 'my 340s got an air leak' problem

http://www.volvo300mania.com/forum-uk/v ... 0-f571.htm

all cars will suffer one at some point.. quite a cheap fix - if you cant sort it like that i'd reccomend a new (2nd hand) carb. will sort your problem..

btw. how you doin'

Post by **Chris_C** » 09 Sep 2005 07:53 pm

Hmm, not convinced it is the air leak Hugh... why would that screw up so many leads and rotor caps? (Having said that still worth grabbing the black air filter box, and giving a shake, if there is any movement that isn't with the engine there is a fre loose bolts.

Is the car a 1.4 or 1.7? 1.4's eat caps and rotor arms, but yours is sounds very excessive. If you have to change again, go to the dealers, and get proper arm and cap. As for the corrosion, moisture must be getting in somewhere, check there are no leaks around with the engine running.

Post by **5lab** » 09 Sep 2005 08:05 pm

nothing will 'wreck' leads, only time. as for disto cap.. i dunno - i recon it was just his best guess

hesitation under accelleration - ie when you first put your foot down - its the obvious tel-tell sign. its the carb sucking itself together.

91 should be a 1.4, but i may be wrong?

Post by **Chris_C** » 09 Sep 2005 08:11 pm

That was my percerption on leads, but I guess in the plugs arn't fitted right.. water might get trapped inside the rubber boot??? And there were 1.7's around still

Post by **huskyracer** » 11 Sep 2005 10:52 am

Could this be a 1.7 with the rear bonnet seal missing? water running off the screen would maybe find its way onto the dizzy cap/leads causing the lead terminals to corrode? that many sets of leads /caps/plugs is way excessive there must be a simple explanation for this one, any cance of a photo from under the bonnet?

Post by **Apha** » 14 Sep 2005 05:09 pm

Wow,

You are a helpful bunch - thanks a lot for your ideas, i am going have a go at it this weekend. Will let you know how it goes!

its a 1.4 by the way, LE i think.

Cheers

Alison

H570 NOM - Stormin' Norman!

Post by **Jaypee** » 03 Nov 2005 02:07 am

Check the solenoid connection on the spare tire side of the carb.. the original connector is quite weak so it might be broken/loose. I doubt the whole connector is broken cuz the car wouldn't be running at all when the motor is still cold..

Post by **pettaw** » 03 Nov 2005 02:49 am

The OP has probably either fixed or scrapped his car by now as this post is old, but its strange that the leads should be so green after only a short while. It is worthwhile using proper Volvo dizzy caps and leads, they just work so much better, but even the cheapo ones shouldn't go green THAT quickly.

The carb also sounds like a problem. It may not just be the baseplate that is worn or loose, sometimes the throttle butterdly can actually wear in its bushings and suck air in that way. I should see if you can get another carb from a scrapper to try on the car along with new leads and a cap to see if that sorts it. Even a new carb isn't out of the question at, I think 175 quid from Eurocarparts. Depends how long you want to keep it really.

Post by **special** » 03 Nov 2005 06:12 pm

hellooo people

the problem with the leads could be due to temperature under the bonet

i had this exact problem for a while ...but cant rember how i fixed it

is the car getting to tempurature as fast as it normaly does ?

Post by **Apha** » 03 Nov 2005 06:36 pm

Hi,

Thanks for all your suggestions, the car (Stormin Norman) is still going albeit with it's little issue. I had a go at all the simple things and fiddled wtih the mixture/timing to see if i could help it a bit but short of getting a new carb fitted - which is well beyond me, i have made no remarkable improvements, although as ever he still gets from A to B.

I have to say the improvised dist. cap cover fashioned from a rubber glove has done the trick in terms of damp weather starting - good as gold now.

Anyway i have come to the conclusion that now i am living in central Leeds the cost of keeping Norman has overtaken the benefit (although heated seats in the morning are certainly a treat when it's cold). Am going to sell my soul to the devil and get a car with a little engine better suited to sitting in traffic jams or even scap car ownership all together. .

Would anyone know of anyone interested in taking Norman off my hands?? Obviously it's no dream machine but i would like to see some use made of him rather than being scrapped if i part-ex him. The tax and MOT are up end Feb 06. He's nearly up to a massive 55k now so should have some good bit's left on him. My insurance is up in mid December so will want to get rid of him before then. If anyone is interested drop me an e-mail, money is highly negotiable since the best part-ex value i was given wasn't mega bucks.

Apha xx

Post by **foggyjames** » 04 Nov 2005 11:47 pm

Stupid question maybe, but exactly what will you gain by getting something (presumably smaller) with a smaller engine? You already have cheap tax, and 1.4 is reasonably economical (for a car of this size - remember it's closer to a Sierra than an Escort in size) if you drive it carefully, and the insurance is pretty cheap (again for a car of this size).

Not that I'm biased at all

I always enjoy feeling a little smug when visiting the mrs and taking her and her 3 uni housemates on their 2-week supermarket shopping trip... to being able to fit all their shopping in the boot

Try that with a Micra or Fiesta! We won't even mention the french nastiness some people seem to take pleasure in owning

If you have any further problems, I'm more than happy to lend a hand, since you're not far from Derby when you're (at home?) in Coalville. I'm no specialist on the 1.4, but I think I know what to look for by now

cheers

James

Post by **5lab** » 05 Nov 2005 01:46 am

foggyjames wrote:...her 3 uni housemates ...

ttiuwop

Post by MJ » 05 Nov 2005 02:00 am

Yeah, when you have to hitch a lift in a fiat with your back about 1' away from the boot, it's not the best...

Post by **foggyjames** » 05 Nov 2005 02:15 am

5lab wrote:ttiuwop

Maybe pics if a) you're lucky, and b) I take some

. Is it jsut me, or has Hugh become wildly horny in the past couple of days? Been smoking something mate, or is the thought of owning a Mondeo catching up with you?!

cheers

James