My engine dies everytime I don't press down the pedal =(

Post by **Agrippa** » 25 Apr 2006 05:39 pm

My english is horrible and my knowledge of cars is even worse. Well, this started to occur more and more the last half year and now it happens everytime I dont give the engine gas. The engine just dies, and I have to restart it, mostly just gearing down and do a motor start when the car is still moving. Sure it works, but it is really annoying, esp in city traffic since it happens everytime I gear down or stop for red. Either its rust in the fuel tank maybe? Or what? I have no clue... =( Could it be expencive to fix or do I just have to use a screwdrivver to the carborator? It is a 340 btw... Thanks

Post by **petefarrell360** » 25 Apr 2006 06:06 pm

Hi and welcome! Is it the 1.4 by any chance? I'd suggest trying this thread http://www.volvo300mania.com/forum-uk/v ... .php?t=571 Good luck and your English is very good!
Pete

Website · Post by **antiekeradio** » 25 Apr 2006 09:20 pm

are you from the netherlands??

(giving gas, sounds really like 'gas geven' to me

)

next question; is it possible you have a 1.7?

Greetings Wouter

Post by **Agrippa** » 26 Apr 2006 04:58 am

Do not know how to check if its 1.4 or 1.7. It is a 1984 model 340DL, that is all i know=)

Post by **arnagath** » 26 Apr 2006 07:57 am

Then it is B14 aka 1.4...
First i would check carburettor and adjust it. I dont know right words for this but when your car isnt moving, engine must be running at 800-950rpm.

If this doesnt help, then put some liquid to tank which cleans carburettor from inside. There are liquids made to do this called as carburettorcleaners etc..

Failure is now in the carburettor, no where else

Post by **Agrippa** » 26 Apr 2006 10:23 am

Hi, I tried several times to pour these emergency cleaning devices in the tank, ATP or such, but it has not made any difference. But what I remember from some months ago was that it seemed NOT to stop when I had full tank. Though now that doesn't help. Weird, since when I am driving the hiway at gear 4 the car runs perfectly, it is only on lower gears it gets shaky and when I release the throttle that it stops. Maybe somehow air leaks into the fuel or such, or something else. Just dont want to abandon my lovely red Volvo, sure its rusty, but rust never sleeps and I dont feel like putting her to sleep for good. Also, I recall this ticking noise coming from the engine, so I recently changed the spark plugs (is that the correct terminology) but it didn't help. Though I guess that the ticking noise and the dying of the motor are not related.

Post by **IvanAE86** » 26 Apr 2006 04:06 pm

Ooh...I've had this happen to my ae86 once... If you know where to find the crankcase vent tube (the guys here will know where it is on your model...I dont), try pulling it loose and have a look at what's coming out.
Big clouds of smoke or any hard wind out of that hose are usually telltale signs of an engine gone bad.
I blew up the piston rings on 2 cilinders on my old engine and it did about exactly what you described...engine sounded a bit loud and I had to keep it going by pressing the pedal down. I also had a fair bit of oil coming through the air filter at the time.

Post by **ebdl** » 26 Apr 2006 05:50 pm

Just making off-the-cuff suggestions here... but is it possible the idle solenoid needs replacing?

I think the carb is most certainly the first thing to check anyway... try tightening the bolts securing it to the engine and if that doesn't work you might want to replace the various gaskets in the carb (some are harder to get than others, but you should be able to buy gasket paper from a good motor factor and make your own).

The link Pete Farrell posted above explains everything you need to know about making sure your carb bolts/nuts aren't loose.

Cheers, Ed

Post by **arnagath** » 27 Apr 2006 04:57 am

I just remembered..take off fuelcleaner which is inside gastank, it might be dirty. My friend had this same kind of failure (engine stopped while releasing throttle while driving) and he took that fuelcleaner from tank and cleaned it, then car worked fine.

So this you have to do:
1.Take off trunk carpet
2.then you can see round cover plate
3.take it off
4.then you see fuelsensor
5.take hoses and wires off
6.remove fuelsensor by twisting it counter-clockwise then you see fuelcleaner, clean it and put it back..problem might be solved

Website · Post by **antiekeradio** » 27 Apr 2006 08:40 am

please start with the carburettor!

no need to go into fuel tank issues if the fuel pump has sufficient flow.

can be tested by disconnecting the fuel hose, and put it in a glass jar.

turn the engine over with the starter motor, it should give strong, pulsating, fuel flow

Website · Post by **antiekeradio** » 27 Apr 2006 08:41 am

PS i don't think this is the problem as the fuel requirement at idle is much less than at higher loads. the described symptoms do not sound like fuel starvation to me....

Post by **arnagath** » 27 Apr 2006 08:49 am

antiekeradio wrote:please start with the carburettor!

no need to go into fuel tank issues if the fuel pump has sufficient flow.

can be tested by disconnecting the fuel hose, and put it in a glass jar.

turn the engine over with the starter motor, it should give strong, pulsating, fuel flow

Its not a big job so why not to do it?!?
Even if fuel flows well, fuelcleaner can still be full of shit! And i think that is one of main things to do..
I would also start with carburettor but still i would check fuelcleaner from tank also.

I said that as an option because my friends 340 had SAME KIND problem and he checked also carburettor and it was fine. Then he checked that fuelcleaner, cleaned it and problem was solved

Post by **Agrippa** » 28 Apr 2006 09:37 am

Hi guys, thanks for all the help, but it is not needed anymore =(
Tonight when I drove hem from night shift on the hi-way, E4, I heard a bang and everything just cracked. I stopped since it was impossible to drive with that strange noise and feeling. I looked under car Iit was raining heavily) and saw the whole exhaust system was laying on the road. All the shebang! =( It had cracked near the front of the car and was pointing downward so forward it was impossible to drive, and the sound was horrible. So I walked in the rain 20 minutes, and finally got hitch to my hometown about 30 km away, and I borrowed a car and drove back, tried to saw it apart so I could drive, but it was to rainy and muddy and I just gave up. I took ropes and tried for 1 hour or so to tie it towards the car so I could drive home. Finally I made it and I drove like 50km/h on the side of the hiway (illegal?) with the warning lights on and finally made it home. It was a horrible drive, the sound was terrible and im tired to the bone now, but now the car is finally dead =( Couldnt afford the towing fee of 300 dollars.

Think it is too expencive to fix all that happened, it must have been rust that made it broke. Also when I used the jack to lift the car up, after some seconds it just broke trough the chassis (must be rusted to death) so I am lucky I didnt went under the car before that happened...

Phew what a night, but now the car is dead, but thanks for all the help, Volvo owners are nice ppl! But I am not sure I go for another 340, even though I loved the car when it worked. Soo much rust on that model. =(

Now I have to take the bus to work every night...

Post by **Tero Huikko** » 30 Apr 2006 09:31 pm

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger - don't give up.
300 series is a great car, but as all used cars it needs to be taken care of.

It's pretty simple technology and everything can be fixed without expensive tools and with basic knowledge you can go far.

Give it a second chance...

Post by **IvanAE86** » 01 May 2006 03:43 pm

Oh dear...so they actually will sag through the jack when the chassis is rotten enough. I was worried this might happen, that's why I always use the cross member and diff housing as jacking points.
Anyway, sounds like the car was in a deplorable condition to start with...chassis rusted to hell, exhaust rusted apart, and probably broken engine internals. That is one car I would sure as hell give up on.