The V70 came home on a flatbed this afternoon.

The story is 'It felt like there is something wrong with the road ( hands making a rolling motion, gulm, gulm, gulm sound effect) and the check engine light comes on. I was on the bypass and there was no place to pull over. By the time I got to 394 the light went out and it was better. It seemed like if I accelerated it did it, unless I accelerated slowly, bit by bit. When I got off the highway and came to a stop sign and turning into the parking lot, it did it again ( rolling motion with hands) and the check engine light came on.'

The tow truck driver tried to start it and it would not start. He said the engine protection light came on. The car did start at home. The check engine light was flashing when driving it into the garage, and the engine was missing consistantly.

Looking it over, it appears the coolant went from full to just above the MIN letters and it may have spit the coolant out. The frame and splash pan were wet on that side. Could be related or a red herring. Coolant looks normal and does not smell like exhaust. I don't have any test strips. Draining an oil sample, it looks normal.

Codes were P0300, 301, 302, 303. Spark plugs 1,2 and 3 were a little darker on one side than the other, and were not green nor stark raving white. Compression was 170, 180, 150, 175, 175. Not great, but not a problem either.

The Haynes manual helpfully notes that " 7 Regular misfiring indicates a problem with one of the ignition coils or spark plugs. As no resistance values are available, testing the coils is best left to a Volvo dealer..."

The terminals on the coils are labeled 4 3 2 1. Does anyone know what the resistances should be between the terminals ?

Any idea why the engine would miss on cylinder 1, 2, and 3 at the same time ?

Oh, by the way, I'm leaving for Aberdeen at 6am tomorrow for a few days.

Thanks

Greg