XC70: General 1999 in Limp Mode

[joseph73cf]

Hello, everyone!

I have a 1999 V70 XC AWD that has gone into limp mode for the third (maybe 4th time) in the past two months. I have changed the oil and did a transmission flush. I do not have a check engine light on and when I put my OBDII reader on it does not pick up any codes.

Prior to this happening, the car has run great! I picked it up about three years ago with 125K mi and have kept up on routine maint. It has about 145K now.

I am at a complete loss as to what to do next. Before the last limp mode episode, I took it in to a mechanic and he checked out the tranny and found no issues. A week later we are limping again!

I have checked the forums, but haven't found info on this yet. Maybe I am just missing it?

Any and all help appreciated! I am, by no means, a mechanic, but am able to repair with the help of YouTube!! Diagnosing on my own....completely incompetent!!

[StaffsS60]

Having had a reluctor ring replaced the other day my spanner found that the wheel position sensor had been damaged by the fractured ring- no fault was showing for it but damaged it was. I did have an incident where my s60 went into limp mode leaving work but it shortly cleared, not done it since the sensor was replaced. Could be worth checking their condition

[SteveSarre]

Hi Joseph

Pacific North West?

Is your car the same body style as the 1998 models, or is it the later version (2000 on but maybe including some 1999 cars). If you give us your VIN we could check out some details. Obscure the last few digits if you want. Or you could go to https://www.vindecoderz.com/

Does your engine management bulb light up when you first turn on the ignition?
Do you have a turbo?
Manual or automatic transmission?
Petrol or diesel?

You say "limp mode" but can you give us some more clues?
When does this happen? When cold? On a fast run? etc
Is the problem lack of power? How fast can you drive when it does this?
Does the problem cut in and out?
What makes it go away?
Any smoke, smells or noises?
How long have you had the car?
etc

The fact that you don't have an engine management light on, and no codes should narrow it down a bit.

Why do you think it might have something to do with the transmission?

Hope that helps,
Steve

[SteveSarre]

On YouTube Robert Spinner is a very valuable source of information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-fBORXFroE

He is in Seattle WA at the moment, and travels around fixing Volvos for people.
If you can get in touch with him, you might get lucky.

Steve

[joseph73cf]

Pacific Northwest, yes. SW WA. I just that Robert was in Seattle as well! Not sure I can catch him, but I did send him a message on YouTube.
I will have to have my son get on here and answer your questions. It is his daily driver...I bought it when he started to drive and he hasn't given it back!!
VIN YV1LZ56D3X259....
It does have a turbo and it is an automatic
petrol
it stays in limp mode no matter the conditions.
No power. I don't think it goes above 10mph and definitely not up a hill!!

It is purely a guess whether or not it is the transmission. My son has since suggested maybe clutch?

[joseph73cf]

Originally Posted by SteveSarre

Hi Joseph

Pacific North West?

Is your car the same body style as the 1998 models, or is it the later version (2000 on but maybe including some 1999 cars). If you give us your VIN we could check out some details. Obscure the last few digits if you want. Or you could go to https://www.vindecoderz.com/

Does your engine management bulb light up when you first turn on the ignition?
Do you have a turbo?
Manual or automatic transmission?
Petrol or diesel?

You say "limp mode" but can you give us some more clues?
When does this happen? When cold? On a fast run? etc
Is the problem lack of power? How fast can you drive when it does this?
Does the problem cut in and out?
What makes it go away?
Any smoke, smells or noises?
How long have you had the car?
etc

The fact that you don't have an engine management light on, and no codes should narrow it down a bit.

Why do you think it might have something to do with the transmission?

Hope that helps,
Steve

Hi Steve, I appreciate you taking you time to help us figure this out. I am the son who stole the Volvo here's my input on the car.

As previously stated: 2.4l, Turbo, AWD, Automatic, Petrol.

I am unsure what you mean by "engine management bulb" however, upon startup, I get a SRS light on the left side, and a service light on the right side. The SRS light is unrelated to the issue, and is from when I removed the drivers seat a while back.

Some further backstory to the issue and my troubleshooting steps:

I was driving on the freeway, at about 70-75mph prior to any issues with the drivetrain. While simply maintaining speed, I simply seemed to lose all power and began to slow down. There were no loud noises, or lurches, It just quietly lost power. I pulled over, and tried to see what was up, As I pressed on the accelerator, I noticed, that my RPMs were not revving very high, and when It moved it was slow, and unable to surpass around 10mph. This initially led me to think about potential engine failure. After limping it over to a safer spot ( drove about 300ft ) I popped the hood, and checked the oil. When I pulled the dipstick there was a lot of small bubbles in the oil, and a few very small chunks of metal. There was also a small amount of white smoke coming from the dipstick tube. ( The oil itself was in good condition and was a little while away from needing a change.) The engine also sounded slightly off, and was shaking more than normal ( side note, the engine mounts are shot, and will need to be replaced, and this contributed to the issue.). I tried checked the fuses, and tried disconnecting the battery, but was unable to get the car to move properly. After towing it home, a friend of mine suggested I check the trans fluid. When I checked the trans fluid, it was a very dark black-brown, and smelled burnt. This is what later leads me to believe there could be potential transmission, or clutch damage. I did an oil change, and drained and replaced about 3/4 a gallon of trans fluid, and that seemed to fix it. So I set the trip counter, and planned to do another fluid drain at 150 miles. The engine was still a little off, but seemed mostly fine, so I drove it to school the next day. My buddy was looking at the engine, when he noticed a hose that had popped off causing a vacuum leak, and after he fixed it, the engine ran a little better, and had a little more power. I figured the car was about fixed at that point, although speculated about a leaky head gasket because I still had lots of white smoke and bubbly oil. We put some gasket sealer in the coolant reservoir and that helped a little. Around 75 miles after I drained the fluid, it was back in limp mode after starting it up. I checked the trans dipstick and it was dry. After about ten minutes of idling, it popped back into gear, and I was able to drive it home. Upon checking the dipstick the next morning the fluid seemed to be at a fine level. This happened once or twice more before 150 miles, but I hoped the next fluid drain would help this. In between wall this we had a mechanic look at the engine and he found nothing wrong, which I find odd considering that it was still producing too much white smoke, and very bubbly oil. ( side note, I never noticed metal in the oil after the first time the car broke down.) I couldn't do the fluid change at 150 miles because of a snow storm, and after the storm broke, I had to go to school and work, so I had no time to do the change. So at about 160 miles, It went into limp again, and I have been unable to revive it since. I flushed the fluid again, and it did not help, I checked the fuses, and unplugged the battery, and that was also unsuccessful. The engine still ran fine up till this point. I let the car sit in the garage for 3-4 days, without being turned on or ran. I came back to it with an OBDII scanner, and was unable to produce a code, despite having two dash lights on. I later learned that Volvos require a specific code reader. But after turning it off and on a few times while playing with the scanner the engine started to run a bit rough, at idle with the RPMs dipping and going back up. I tired to put it in reverse and it instantly died on me. Then I restarted it and tried again, and it popped into reverse. Then I let it idle for a few more minutes, and it had wavering RPMs for a while, then it dipped almost to zero, almost died, and went back up. I shut it off, and have not done anything with it since.

I apologize for the long answer, and truly appreciate it if you take the time to read my response. My future plans with the car, and to attempt to locate a viable OBDII scanner, and try to get the error code, and hopefully proceed from there.

Thank you very much for your time, have a wonderful day.