The message to which you are about to reply is shown first. GO TO REPLY FORM



 VIEW    REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE    PRINT   SAVE 

Rough starting and gas smell

Could be something as simple as dirty spark plugs -pull the plugs and check for deposits, especially black deposits. If you're doing mostly city driving it's common to accumulate deposits and simply cleaning/replacing and gapping the plugs may put you right. If you're doing highway driving and still collecting deposits then maybe you're misfiring for other reasons and it's simply time for new plugs, ignition wires or distributor cap/rotor (clean ignition electricals are especially important during damp weather to prevent misfiring due to arcing). If the deposits are oily and you're blowing blue smoke on a warm start then the engine is probably showing signs of wear.

Internal deposits soak up a bit of the extra gas injected during cold start. It takes a little extra cranking to get started and you'll get that fuel smell from the incomplete combustion. Pre-ignition from the (gas soaked) deposits causes rough running until the deposits heat up enough to keep fuel burnt off -it takes a minute or so which is what you're experiencing. Even when hot, an engine with heavy plug deposits will often still stumble, typically at higher revs accelerating up a hill.

If you see a lot of black deposits on the plugs there will likely also be deposits in the head and on the valves and/or injectors. In that case a couple of tank treatments with a good quality fuel injection cleaner gas additive (like full strength Techron) will help remove engine deposits. Use the cleaner additive before replacing any plugs or at least re-clean them afterwards as the plugs can get really fouled during a cleaning to the point of misfiring even worse than before. I've had a few friends curse me for suggesting gas additive treatments and that initial excessive fouling was always the cause. Early B21/B23/B230F's seem to need an occasional gas additive treatment especially with an auto-trans in the city where the revs seldom stay over 2000. Using a good quality gas of the recommended octane (maybe one grade up during hot weather) and perhaps a semi-annual gas additive treatment will help a lot. Later B230F's with knock sensors and a higher recommended octane are less of a problem.






USERNAME
Use "claim to be" below if you don't want to log in.
PASSWORD
I don't have an account. Sign me up.
CLAIM TO BE
Use only if you don't want to login (post anonymously).
ENTER CAPTCHA CODE
This is required for posting anonymously.
OPTIONS notify by email
Available only to user accounts.
SUBJECT
MODEL/YEAR
MESSAGE

DICTIONARY
LABEL(S) +
IMAGE URL *
[IMAGE LIBRARY (UPLOAD/SELECT)]

* = Field is optional.

+ = Enter space delimited labels for this post. An example entry: 240 muffler


©Jarrod Stenberg 1997-2022. All material except where indicated.


All participants agree to these terms.

Brickboard.com is not affiliated with nor sponsored by AB Volvo, Volvo Car Corporation, Volvo Cars of North America, Inc. or Ford Motor Company. Brickboard.com is a Volvo owner/enthusiast site, similar to a club, and does not intend to pose as an official Volvo site. The official Volvo site can be found here.