Greetings,

We were on our way back to the UK from Germany this afternoon - shortly before reaching Aachen the car ('95 850 T5 wagon) engine died whilst moving off an autobahn onto a sliproad. The car will start quite happily, runs normally (and sounds normal) for 5-10 seconds or so, then the engine just dies. This is repeatable. Pumping the throttle does not solve the problem. All electrical items were turned off - no improvement. The fuel tank was at least half full, having filled up some 100 or so miles before.

My initial thought was either fuel filter blockage, or fuel pump problem.

We called out the ADAC (German AA) who towed us to safety and started looking at the problem.

The technician reckoned it was not the fuel pump because having pulled up the boot carpet etc he could see fuel sloshing out of the tank through the fuel pipe, and ergo assumed it was also not the filter as petrol appeared to be getting through to the ignition system. He also discounted any sort of vapour lock or vacuum in the fuel tank as there was no hissing sound as the fuel cap was released.

He removed the pipe from the air filter box and tried an aerosol ignition helper - no change.

He removed the air filter box to get at the distributor cap and rotor arm and cleaned them - no change.

He took the top cover off the engine to access the ignition leads & plugs - tested them all for a spark - no problem.

He checked the throttle cable & linkage, and the idle valve (?) - no apparant problem.

He checked a few other bits and pieces while I was phoning a few people - nothing he did made any difference.

He did not have a diagnostics unit (and I did not have my Haynes manual) so it was not possible to check the diagnostics.

ADAC central office could not help, so we were towed to a local garage, given a hire car for the night and returned to my girlfriend's father's place (from where I write this). We will be calling the garage mid-morning to see if they have made any progress.

In the meantime, anybody got any ideas ???

I still reckon it could be fuel filter blockage - maybe enough fuel gets into the pipe for ignition and a few seconds running but not enough to sustain the engine running. My other (more worrying) theory is an ECU problem :-(

Any ideas most welcome.

Regards.

Nick Pitfield.

Greetings,

One thing I forgot to mention last night (hey - I was tired !) was that the ADAC techinician managed to keep the car going by flooring the accelerator immediately after starting the engine. That rather rules out the fuel pump and filter :-)

We've just spoken to the garage - they have put the diags unit on it and reckon it's the Lambda sensor (didn't say which one it was, but IIRC I had the rear one replaced late 2001). Unfortunately being an older Volvo they can't get the part until Friday, so we're getting a courtesy rental car to drive home today, and will do a day trip through the eurotunnel on Saturday to return the rental car, pick up the volvo and return home.

All the additional costs (except the actual repair bill - €217 quote) are covered by the various insurances we have, so the monetary cost is not to bad - only the time and hassle :-(

Regards.

Nick Pitfield.

That would seem to indicate a problem in the fuel metering.
Maybe the the MAF sensor (mass air flow, I think)?

It might be the cam position sensor. The DTC code for that would be 3-1-4 on A6. It happened to my 94 850 non turbo, where the car just dies without any warning. Pretty scary if it can happen anytime. Basically, my car would crank but not start. Just one possibility. Good luck.

It could be a fuel delivery problem or electrical short or bad electrical connection that is intermittent.

A process of elimination is required here.

1. Fuel delivery. (the 850 manual has specific tests that can be performed to check the fuel delivery system).
2. Electrical. Same.

I'm thinking it is fuel delivery related.

A good Volvo service center can check the fuel pump and fuel delivery capacity. On your car. Take it to a reputable Volvo mechanic (preferably a dealer) that knows what they are doing and let them look at it.

Lawren

sounds like fuel delivery or electrical to me too, fuel filter or pump would be on the top of my list or a pinched fuel line