1 reply to this topic

[James A Sousa]

About a week ago, my wife came home and told me that our '95 844 base was jerking when she stopped at a traffic light on the way home. She saw the CEL come on, but the next time the car was started, it was out.

We purchased Hattie 40 months ago with 49,000 miles on her, she now has 95,000 om the clock. She was a former lease car and had been leased for two, three year cycles by the same person. The only (??) issues that came up during a Certified Car inspection were a main seal leak and a bent wheel.

After repairs, she joined our fleet. As a result of visiting this board and brickboard, we sprang for insurance, 48k or 48 months.(Sometimes known as an extended warranty)

I had the timing belt changed due to its age, and all the car has needed since was the replacement of routine wear items. Oh. yes - an evaporator and a starter were replaced at the insurance company's expense. Oil changes at 3,333 mile intervals.

Back to the tale - I thought that the rough running might be due to the age of the ignition components so I removed the spark plug cover and ran the car at night to see if I could see any errant sparks - none. I then examined the wires and put a piece of clean rag between the points where the wires appeared to be chafed, hoping to curb any misfires on a temporary basis..

A two mile test drive went without any problems that I could detect. A longer drive of 20 miles on the highway however, caused the jerkiness to return along with a CEL.

I made an appointment, and the CEL did not come on when I left to take the car up for service. After a 10 mile ride to the dealer, the miss was back along with the CEL.

I got THE call. Bad compression in two cylinders (I do not know, but I think that the cylinders are NOT adjacent), and the next day, a failed leak-down test. Misfire codes were set.

The suspicion - burned valves.

What do you think?

[Tom]

A burnt valve or something else internal just doesn't ring true. When they burn, they do burn gradually. What compression numbers did the shop give? First thing I'd suspect is plugs and wires, even though they seemed to pass your test. If they're not factory Volvo parts, then I'd suspect them (any wet weather involved?). Second thing I'd suspect is a tank of bad gas. There are plenty of other possibilitites but I'd put internal damage far down on the list.

Tom