I have a hesitation/small hiccup issue when putting my car volvo480T under load, all is well otherwise.
Could a worn cap give a bad spark to one or more cylinders?
I have also noticed that the chrome exhaust tip seems to foul very quickly with darkbrown/black exhaust residue on its rim. Could this be the result of unburned charges ending up in the exhaust?
Note the car runs slightly rich on a dyno run but because the acceleration is progressive rather than sudden the hiccup problem does not occur.
What symptoms would you normally expect of a worn dis' cap?
Regards,
dan
|
|
Yes a worn cap could cause hesitation, you should replace rotor arm as well. Does sound a bit marginal though. Are the HT leads measuring ok? Look for stray leakage around leads/cap under bonnet in the dark on initial revving of engine from tickover. Does the Volvo have metal shrouded plug caps like the older Vauxhalls? They were a source of misfiring under load. Good luck.
|
Leads are new.
Sparks are new.
Car is 11 years old and hasn't had its distributor cap changed since birth.
What do you mean marginal? Do you mean that the symptoms are unlikely to be caused by this problem?
cheers,
dan
|
|
The cap and rotor arm are well overdue for replacement. Total cost £12.55 + VAT at Eurocarparts - more, probably, at a Volvo dealer. Suggest you change the cap and rotor and then let us know whether or not the fault is cured.
|
Thanks,
I just noted the following:
Book: From 'Starting and Running Problems' in HJ's Book of Motoring Answers 1998
Title: Unreliable Volvo 340
"I bought a 1989 Volvo 340GL 1.7 for reliability. It has covered 48,000 miles during which time I have been stranded twice, on the last occasion a few days after a service by the Volvo agent. Both times the fault was in the distributor cap. But the garage informs me that checking the distributor cap is no longer part of the service schedule. How can this be so, if it was part of the service schedule originally?"
An extraordinary number of British people bought these old Volvo 340s under the illusion that they were 'buying into' the legendary Volvo reliability. In fact, the cars are designed by DAF, assembled in Holland, and mainly had Renault engines. (Only the 2-litre models had Volvo engines.) Your car either needs a new distributor cap and a set of plug leads (they can start to 'arc' after 6-7 years), or a new waterproof cover for the distributor to prevent condensation 'shorts'. There's no reason why a Renault agent or any competent local garage can't do the job if you feel that the Volvo agent has let you down.
/quote
The 480 is a 1.7 derivative of this engine although the Cap problem had been addressed l suspect this is the problem.
I also noted that many previous posts cover this topic more than adequately...I will make sure to search past posts in future rather than bothering you chaps with the same problems over and over.
Will report back once discap and rotor arm are replaced, many thanks.
Dan
|
Well l got it replaced and in the short journey back to my house from failing its MOT, it has a shedload more torque at low revs (hurrah - nearly caught me out though) although l didn't get to properly boot it (can't in a 30/40 really) did seem to come on boost without problem.
|
|
|
