QuestionThe car began running rough during the last 100 miles of a 280 mile round trip on April 18. It had lack of power and seemed to be missing. About 35 miles from home the check engine light came on. I exited the expressway and looked the engine over, everything looked OK. I continued to drive the rest of the way home with the light on. When we arrived, the back of the car and especially the bumper was black with soot. The car normally gets 22 mpg, but it burned a full tank of gas in 150 miles on the return home. I read out the trouble codes, they were 2-3-1, 2-3-2, and 2-2-1.
I had the O2 sensor and catalytic converter replaced in Jul 2004. It has been idling rough since Sep 2004. My Volvo mechanic was uable to totally fix the rough idling problem, he had the car in his shop for 5 weeks in Nov and Dec 04, and replaced the (external) fuel pump, fuel filter, plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor, temperature sending unit, flame trap, two fuel injectors, and idle solenoid. He temporairly swapped the ECU from another car into mine and it made no difference.
I am wondering if the present failure is related to the rough idle problem that was never fixed. Now it both idles rough and runs rough. Also the car has never used oil but it was 1 qt low when we arrived home. Do you think so much raw fuel was getting into the oil that it thined it down? Thanks for any help you can give me.
I would like to get this car fixed, my wife loves it and does not want to get rid of it.
Ben Vickery
Answerthe oil could be getting thinned from too much fuel.the problem could be from the original running problem .it could be a bad fuel pressure regulator.there are also other possibilities,such as a wiring problem in the harness,throttle switch problem.it would really need to be looked at and each sensor and wiring checked at the control unit to find the problem.
