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Stranded! (sort of) V70-XC70 1998

posted by  someone claiming to be Marc Steinberg on  Thu Mar 22 01:31 CST 2001 [RELATED]

It's very wet in Boston this morning; rain at a good pace plus snowmelt makes for interesting driving -- lots of deep puddles and road splashup.

After about 25 minutes of driving, the car began running very rough, tach all over the place at idle, surging at speed (< 25 mph). Then the car quit completely at an intersection and I couldn't get it started again. I waited a few minutes (unhappily, the intersection was on a hill, I was pointing up, and so I was stuck there!) and then it started up again but then quit after about 10 seconds. Tried a few more times and managed to get it going enough to get out of the intersection a block or so with the "Check Engine" light on, but when I slowed down, it promptly died again. This time I couldn't get it restarted.

Fortunately, I was about a block from my boss's dad's house, so there was no immediate need for a tow or a spousal rescue. Now for the questions:

1 - Was this behavior due to the rain? If so, why was only my car affected? If not, what happened?

2 - Should it be looked at by a mechanic?

3 - Will I be able to start up the car and drive it home this afternoon?

4 - Assuming the problem was the damp, how do I explain to my wife that our 30K+ car is afraid of water?

-Marc







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    Re: Stranded! (sort of) V70-XC70 1998

    posted by  someone claiming to be Marc Steinberg on  Fri Mar 23 04:03 CST 2001 [RELATED]

    The car started up right away and ran flawlessly yesterday afternoon. Guess something in there just got a little too wet! The only remaining annoyance is that now the CHECK ENGINE light is on until I get it to a dealer.







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    Re: Stranded! (sort of) V70-XC70 1998

    posted by  someone claiming to be KC on  Thu Mar 22 07:56 CST 2001 [RELATED]



    Dont rule out lack of gas or fuel pump problems....







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    Re: Stranded! (sort of) V70-XC70 1998

    posted by  someone claiming to be Vladimir on  Thu Mar 22 06:35 CST 2001 [RELATED]

    Hi, Mark. Sorry to hear about your ordeal. I live in Boston and also had fun driving today, though my car performed flawlessly. One question I have is might you have sucked in some water into your intake during one of the splashes you drove through? I have witnessed (not today, a few years ago) a BMW driver drive full force into what was obviously a deep pool of water (higher than the hood of an average car). His beemer stalled right in the middle of the mini-lake and I watched his headlights dim as he tried to re-start it (the water was covering most of his headlights). I have never seen anything quite like this before. I am not saying you did anything remotely as silly, but those puddles out there today were pretty impressive (I saw many drains spout water like fountains in Belmont). So, your car may have ingested some water through the air intake. If I were you, I would try Prospero's suggestion and if that didn't help I'd take it in to the dealer. You will need to read and reset the codes that caused your check engine light anyway.

    Good luck.







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      Re: Stranded! (sort of) V70-XC70 1998

      posted by  someone claiming to be Marc Steinberg on  Thu Mar 22 06:58 CST 2001 [RELATED]

      The deepest puddle I drove through was well over a foot. I took it slowly, but even so, that a lotta water! If I did suck water into the intake, is the car likely to be driveable, or will I need a tow?

      Also, a question: I thought the car had an electronic ignition module. Prospero's suggestion would seem to indicate a mechanical distributor. Anyone know which it is? ('98 GLT)

      Thanks.







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        Re: Stranded! (sort of) V70-XC70 1998

        posted by  someone claiming to be Kele' on  Fri Mar 23 04:36 CST 2001 [RELATED]

        I helped rescue a VW Cabrio that "ran into" some water. None in the egine, just soaked and I mean soaked the air filter. Took out the air filter and it started after some cranking. New air filter in and all is well. But I do remember that car had a intake that is low near the lower portion of the front end. It would seem it enhance the "watered down"effect.







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        Re: Stranded! (sort of) V70-XC70 1998

        posted by  someone claiming to be Vladimir on  Thu Mar 22 09:05 CST 2001 [RELATED]

        A foot shouldn't be a problem, I reckon... I would say get it towed to the dealer if it refuses to start and run smoothly.

        Your car has both a distributor. I believe starting in MY 2000 Volvos have distributerless ignition. The electronic igintion actually means no points in our case (a poinless ignition ;) ). Also the ignition timing is controlled by a computer rather than vacuum lines.







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    Re: Stranded! (sort of) V70-XC70 1998

    posted by  someone claiming to be Prospero on  Thu Mar 22 02:38 CST 2001 [RELATED]

    It very well could be moisture in the distributior cap causing your problems. You mentioned water and ice melt (salt), salt water is many more times more conductive than plain water and has the tendancy to cause major issues with electrical systems that usually have no problems dealing with small ammounts of water ingress. The first thing that I would do is to pull off the cap and rotor, clean or replace both. (If you clean the cap and rotor, do so with WD-40 on a clean towel and wipe all surfaces till clean and dry. Use some emory cloth to lightly polish the rotor if it is pitted or damaged.) Install the components. Then I would try the car, if it still has issues, there may be water in the fuel. I am 90% sure that the problem is with the cap and rotor, or the plug wires are toast. To change the cap and rotor, you will need a 3mm allen wrench, 8mm sockett and ratchet, 8mm open end wrench and some patience. To gain easy access to the cap and rotor, I took off the cover on top of the throttle cable wheel and if necessary, pull off the air filter cover. Figure on an hour if it is the first time doing it. The T-5 cylinders are numbered 1-5 with cyl #1 at the passenger side and cyl #5 at the drivers side. Good luck.

    Prospero






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