Recommend a good Volvo Mechanic

Dr_Colossus

Have a 1.8 01 Volvo S40i SE with about 113k miles on board. Having a bit of trouble as of late with little power and acceleration. Have to nearly floor it to get up any sort of speed but once it gains the speed it's not bad. It's a real nuisance on longer journeys and on the motorway if you have to accelerate past someone as it's very sluggish and especially on hills. I suspect it might be an issue with one or more of the coil packs and maybe the plug leads? Anyone have any experience of this or know what might be the issue. Anyone recommend a good mechanic that would be able to check it without charging a ridiculous amount of money. Could do it myself but it would be real trail and error and coil packs are pretty expensive to buy on the off chance that that is the issue.

I only have the car about 6 months and do very little mileage, previously I had trouble with an erratic idle and the car used to nearly cut out and stall while stuck in traffic and on take off. It also had the poor acceleration issue at the time. I thought it might be the idle control valve but that was only in the preceeding models, this has an electronic throttle valve which was covered in gunk and built up carbon. I cleaned this and the exhaust manifold and the area around the valves and then ran injector cleaner through a tank of petrol and gave it a good italian tune up and the erratic idle is no more and the pick up was a bit better but still no where near a 1.8 petrol should be. The only problem I have with the idle now is that instead of being erratic between revs between 400 and 1500 now they're consistently around 1800 which is way too high, anyone know of a means of manually adjusting this downwards? I suspect all the gunk and carbon in the valve have left the spring in a slightly open position so it's not closing as it should when idle.

Thanks

bryaner

Sounds like air mass meter to me, get a decent indy to put it on a diagnostic computer it should find your fault straight away.

R.O.R

Where in the Country are you?

Scully Automotive in Clontarf, North Dublin have a former Volvo master technician there. Will be a hell of a lot more reasonable than a Volvo main dealer.

Crazy Taxi

You don't really need a Volvo mechanic, that S40 is the same car underneath as Mitsubishi's Carisma (remember them? na, didn't think so). Your problem is not Volvo specific so just find a local mech who has decent diagnostic gear.

Dr_Colossus

Crazy Taxi wrote: »

You don't really need a Volvo mechanic, that S40 is the same car underneath as Mitsubishi's Carisma (remember them? na, didn't think so). Your problem is not Volvo specific so just find a local mech who has decent diagnostic gear.

Thanks, yea they're the same as the Mitsubishi GDI engine which are supposed to work well on the highly refined Japanese petrol but with the crap we get through the petrol here cause problems with carbon build up around the valves when driven carefully for years.

Based in Dublin city centre so R.O.R.'s recommendation of Scully Automotive sound promising. Have just read a couple of good reviews on MKW Motors the Bosch Service Centre in Baldonnell so might try them also. Ideally just want someone to run the car through a diagnostics test alright and tell me what's wrong so I can then look into the costs of fixing it.

CJackson

My Dads been driving S80s for the past few years and a lad in Parkwest has always looked after him

Directions: http://www.parkwest.ie/list.asp?letter=c&id=361&flashmv=05.swf

Cyberhood Autos
6 Park West Drive
Main: 6239115
Brian: 6204997

deandean

+1 for Scully Automotive in Clontarf

Hellrazer

R.O.R wrote: »

Where in the Country are you?

Scully Automotive in Clontarf, North Dublin have a former Volvo master technician there.

Big +1 there.That former master tech came from here and is probably the best Volvo mechanic Ive ever seen in my life.Hes a polish lad that can fix anything on a Volvo.I keep in touch with him so if anyone needs him for a nixer etc pop me a pm and I`ll give you his number.

Dr.Colossus--Definately sounds like a throttle body to me.Try de-coke it if that doesnt work its a new one.If you want to pop me a pm I can get you a price.I`ll look after you price wise as I do for all boardsies.

R.O.R

Hellrazer wrote: »

Big +1 there.That former master tech came from here and is probably the best Volvo mechanic Ive ever seen in my life.Hes a polish lad that can fix anything on a Volvo.I keep in touch with him so if anyone needs him for a nixer etc pop me a pm and I`ll give you his number.

I used to work with one of the guys who's a mechanic there now, so he sorted my alternator out. €80 for the part and an hour on the driveway - good as new

Hellrazer

R.O.R wrote: »

I used to work with one of the guys who's a mechanic there now, so he sorted my alternator out. €80 for the part and an hour on the driveway - good as new

If it was the same lad that used to work here hes the one who figured out why they were packing up--I dont think even Volvo could find that out.Hes making a fortune repairing them :D:D

Better than 350+ vat+fitting RoR.

useless

Independent Volvo Specialists on Erne St in Dublin 2. I've had servicing done there before with no problems.

Leonard Hofstadter

The idle speed in the GDIs is not adjustable.

Injector cleaner will not sort out a GDI or any direct injection, the clue is in the name - GDI.

The problem with direct injection petrols is that while conventional engines suffer from carbon build up, they can easily be cleaned up by as you said the Italain tune up.

A GDI, by definiton only cleans out the cylinders when you give it an Italian tune up, or the 'wet part' of the engine.

The problem is with the valve seats and the head, an Italian tune up will do nothing here because only air enters here, in a standard petrol engine fuel passes through the valve openings so when you thrash a standard petrol engine the added heat and the fuel will 'wash' the valve seats so a good thrashing in a standard engine will clean out the whole system.

The problem at the moment for you OP is that your engine is not breathing in properly and no amount of injector cleaner will sort that out for you.

What you need is to buy something like Ecotek Powerboost, open the airbox and move the MAF out of the way, warm up the engine and spray Powerboost in through the manifold directly. This will pass through the valves and clean them out and do what standard injector cleaner does for a conventional engine. If you're worried about doing it yourself get a Volvo specialist to do it.

It is expensive enough to buy these products(around 70-80 yoyos) but it is a hell of a lot cheaper than getting the head stripped down and doing a manual decoke(over a grand!). It will also make the engine sound less tappety as well, which is a nice bonus! Mitsubishi in the UK used to do a thing called 'Wallnut blasting' which more or less the same thing as described about but Volvo, who know nothing about that engine seeing as they had no input into the design of it decided that they knew best anyway:rolleyes: and recommend a decoke which is very expensive(and old fashioned).

The throttle bodies can get stuck in these engines a lot but poor idling and low power are classic symptons of carbon build up and I would put a bet on that cleaning the throttle body will at best only partially solve your problems.

Direct Injection petrol engines will suffer from carbon build up if they are driven too gently, but the GDI being an early design and designed for high octane Japanese fuel means it is much more prone to these problems than other engines.

Finally a lot of Volvo people know very little about these engines so I would be bringing it to someone who knows a lot about Mitsubishi engines.

Hellrazer

captainspeed wrote: »

What you need is to buy something like Ecotek Powerboost, open the airbox and move the MAF out of the way, warm up the engine and spray Powerboost in through the manifold directly. This will pass through the valves and clean them out and do what standard injector cleaner does for a conventional engine. If you're worried about doing it yourself get a Volvo specialist to do it.

.

Thats how we de-coke them.Straight into the manifold.

However I sell on average 5-6 throttle bodies a month for these gdi`s and I`d put money on it that its the throttle body gone rather than the engine badly coked up.

gibbon75

Hellrazer wrote: »

If it was the same lad that used to work here hes the one who figured out why they were packing up...

Are we talking about the 1.8 alternators?
What is the secret ?

Hellrazer

gibbon75 wrote: »

Are we talking about the 1.8 alternators?
What is the secret ?

As far as I know its a tiny resistor that goes in them.Maplins do stock them in packs of ten for less than 2 euros.Bit of a job to solder it in but here Id have a go at 330 euros if I had an S40.

gibbon75

Or you can go with the Ford Focus alternator

Dr_Colossus

Just an update on this, brought the car to Scully Autocare in Clontarf for a diagnostic test and overall was very impressed with them. Would recommend them based on my brief experience, very thorough and conscientious and actually wanting to get to the route problem regardless of time.

The initial diagnostic test showed up errors with the fuel supply and high pressure fuel pump. The wrong plugs were also in the car but that's a separate issue relating to the garage I bought the car from. Anyway Scully Autocare then got the Volvo master technician involved but the diagnostic software in the garage wasn't specific enough for him and the GDI engines. I took the car back the following week and he took it home with him to run the car through more specific software he had. After the correct plugs were installed the diagnostic tests all lead to the high pressure fuel pump. Testing then revealed that the pressure into the injectors while idling was only 1.8 bars when it should have been 4.5 bars I think. On acceleration then the pressure should have been 5.2 bars but mine wasn't getting above 2.0.

The bad news however was that a new high pressure fuel pump and the labour to replace it would cost a staggering €960. Scully Autocare were nearly as shocked as I was with this estimate as they were envisaging it would cost in the region of €350. They've yet to try another supplier for a price estimate but for the interim I told them I couldn't afford such an expense and that I'd just collect the car and weigh up my options. I didn't actually speak to the Volvo technician when I picked up the car so couldn't pick his brain and as to how common this problem was. Anyone come across it before or advise of possible solutions?

Thanks

Dr_Colossus

Anyone have any suggestions of breakers yards to try and locate a GDI pump or where I could pick one up on the cheap? Has anyone dealt with Traynors in the north before?
Thanks

Leonard Hofstadter

Have they checked the engine for carbon build up and put in Power Boost into the engine? My experience with these cars is that they can throw up fault codes when there is no actual fault.

The fuel pumps can indeed give trouble, but the carbon build up, especially with the age and mileage of your car, is the most likely culprit.

You really should ask them to put Power Boost into the engine while its being worked on. Power Boost(there are other products as well) is a 1 hour job at most (including the need to take the car for a decent drive with plenty of thrashing the engine) and considerably cheaper than decoking the engine. The car will run much better after being decoked. If the engine is not running right (because it has excess carbon build up) for long enough you will be needing a new cat in order to get it through an NCT.

When adding in power boost it will throw on the engine light, so afterwards it will need to be reset. Chances are that once the engine light is reset it will permanently get rid of the fault codes for the fuel pump.

PowerBoost needs to be done anyway, but you may get away without needing to replace the fuel pump if you do this first:)!

Dr_Colossus

Anyone know where I can purchase a can of Ecotek PowerBoost at a reasonable price? Ebay sellers won't sell pressurised cans to Ireland and the Ecotek shop http://www.ecotekshop.co.uk/shop/ only seems to sell two cans at a time and then charge a ridiculous £24.50 for postage versus £4.50 to the UK. Any motor suppliers around Dublin sell PowerBoost and what sort of price do they charge?
Thanks

Leonard Hofstadter

http://www.wynns.be/index.php/en/x/41/direct-injection-power-3

This does the same thing as Power Boost, but I don't know what prices are for it, unfortunately.

From the power boost website:

International Dealers


Ivor
Carismic Styling
Derryguihy
Kilmurry
Mc Mahon
Kilrush,
Co Clare
Republic of Ireland Tele/Fax: +353 (0)65 905 3050
They seem to be the only ones that stock it in the country!

Leonard Cohen

Hellrazer wrote: »

Big +1 there.That former master tech came from here and is probably the best Volvo mechanic Ive ever seen in my life.Hes a polish lad that can fix anything on a Volvo.I keep in touch with him so if anyone needs him for a nixer etc pop me a pm and I`ll give you his number.

I'm pleased with the same dude and thanks are due to the gent who helped me find him.
~ volvo wexford could not log in to the airbag system on my pre 99 volvo.
they phoned another leinster volvo dealer and they couldn't do it either.

failed my nct the following day just because a light needed to be extinguished.

sorted now, thanks again.

bryaner

Leonard Cohen wrote: »

I'm pleased with the same dude and thanks are due to the gent who helped me find him.
~ volvo wexford could not log in to the airbag system on my pre 99 volvo.
they phoned another leinster volvo dealer and they couldn't do it either.

failed my nct the following day just because a light needed to be extinguished.

sorted now, thanks again.

I found pulling the bulb out of the dash sorted my airbag light problem..