Sunday - I backed the 850 out of the garage and left it in the driveway for a couple of hours while I worked on the 740. I pulled it back in and all was fine.

Monday AM - Temp dropped into the 30's overnight. I turn the key on the 850 and just as it fires up and I release the key, it "coughs" one time and comes to a stop. I try the key again and it jsut cranks. I figure a sensor is bad so I check the codes and get 1-1-1. I pull out the timing light and grab the closest plug wire and find I am getting spark. I check the injectors and they are clicking just fine. Check for fuel in the fuel rail. Yes I get a little splash. Now I am confused. I was sure that all my Brickboard knowhow would lead me to a solution. I had replaced the plugs with new NGKs about a month ago, so just to see what would happen, I pulled them and put the "old" Bosch Platinums back in (20,000 to 30,000 miles on the old plugs). Both sets of plugs have a trace of carbon on the bottom of the threaded body, but not so bad. Same response when I turn the key. Now I am real confused and late to work so I call my friendly local Volvo mechanic and relate the story to him and he says "It's flooded". It is not common, but sometimes happens with 850's. The rich mixture on the two previous starts was the beginning of the sequence. Now think about this; How do you get a car that by design enriches the fuel mixture at start-up to start when there is already too much fuel in the intake system? In the old days, you could wedge the throttle plate open, keep your foot off the gas petal to minimize the fuel flow and crank until it clears. With fuel injection the ECU is programmed to pump gas whenever you crank. To fix it, he said to open the throttle by holding the gas petal to the floor and crank until it starts which was going to take minutes. I think he is speaking figuratively about the time, but he assures me he is not. I asked if pulling the fuel pump fuse and cranking for a few moments might help clear the gas out, but he said in his experience it doesn't help. I followed his advise and the car started just as he said it would. It would hit on a cylinder a time or two then gradually increase until it was running and blowing black smoke. Finally it is running normally.

I hope I never experience this again, but if I should, are there alternate methods of getting the car to start?(I am still uneasy about this.) Could I blow out the cylinders with my compressor? Any risk of knocking off a chunk of carbon if I do?

Looking for feedback and hope my story might alert others and help them avoid this problem. Anybody else gone through this?

Thanks,

Dan