440 - Won't Start - PLEASE HELP !

Hi,

I have a Volvo 440 1.8Li Manual.

It has been very reliably for the last 7 months I've owned it until it let me down on Wednesday.....

Wouldn't start so got the AA out.

AA couldn't resolve, there was no spark at the plugs. He checked a few things and said that there was a pulse on cranking at the LV side of the coil, but no constant 12V and the pulse was only there momentarily. He cleaned the Crankcase sensor, but to no avail. He suggested a new ECU ?

I then got an Auto Electrician out, whom basically said the same.

I purchased a 2nd hand ECU, same part num, but that didn't make a difference.

I have had no signs of this problem prior to this.

Any ideas (of course the 2nd hand ECU could be faulty too, but this seems a coincidence?)

Any help on diagnosing it would be great as I'm stuck 200 miles from home ! (Wigan) and my Wife is going to have to do a 400 mile round trip to pick me up !

Many thanks


Steven Brennan
07715 456 448

[the hoff]

Originally Posted by Steve-b

Hi,

I have a Volvo 440 1.8Li Manual.

It has been very reliably for the last 7 months I've owned it until it let me down on Wednesday.....

Wouldn't start so got the AA out.

AA couldn't resolve, there was no spark at the plugs. He checked a few things and said that there was a pulse on cranking at the LV side of the coil, but no constant 12V and the pulse was only there momentarily. He cleaned the Crankcase sensor, but to no avail. He suggested a new ECU ?

I then got an Auto Electrician out, whom basically said the same.

I purchased a 2nd hand ECU, same part num, but that didn't make a difference.

I have had no signs of this problem prior to this.

Any ideas (of course the 2nd hand ECU could be faulty too, but this seems a coincidence?)

Any help on diagnosing it would be great as I'm stuck 200 miles from home ! (Wigan) and my Wife is going to have to do a 400 mile round trip to pick me up !

Many thanks


Steven Brennan
07715 456 448

no expert but try the distributer cap and rotar arm give em a good clean prob not the prob but thats were i always start good look

[Daniel M]

What actually happens when you try and start the car? Does anything come on, does it try and start, just click repeatedly or anything at all?

Do you know where the starter motor is? Might be worth getting down and checking the connections around there? From reading various post's/forums, alot of ignition problems are actually caused by the coil. Is there anyway you could get a spare to try from somewhere? How about the megafuse? Follow the positive wire from the battery along the length of the front of the car, and check all the white plastic connections, eventually bringing you to a big fuse.

Not really clued up on engine stuff/electrical, but those would be the things i check first.

Hi,

The car cranks over okay, all lights on the dashboard are working, just no spark.

I've not checked the rotor arm or disy cap, as these were new a couple of months ago.

I'm going to try and source a new coil pack, as I have been told that these could be a problem?

Would a faulty coil pack cause the ecu not to send out the correct pulses and the 12 v feed to the coil, as these have been identified by the AA and the electrician as a possible cause ?

Many thanks


Steve

[the hoff]

Originally Posted by Steve-b

Hi,

The car cranks over okay, all lights on the dashboard are working, just no spark.

I've not checked the rotor arm or disy cap, as these were new a couple of months ago.

I'm going to try and source a new coil pack, as I have been told that these could be a problem?

Would a faulty coil pack cause the ecu not to send out the correct pulses and the 12 v feed to the coil, as these have been identified by the AA and the electrician as a possible cause ?

Many thanks


Steve

CAN DO YES

Okay,

I'm getting another coil pack and another ecu sent out just in case and I'll give them a go.

Unfortunately, my wife had to pick me up and my car is 200 miles away, but I'm back down south (Chippenham) on Wednesday, so hopefully I can get the good ole Volvo going again without any more problems (fingers crossed).

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Many thanks


Steve

Hi,

Got another ecu, a coil pack and a crank case sensor.

This morning I tried swapping the ecu - Didn't work again.
Then tried the crank case sensor - Didn't work.

Changed the Coil pack and yippie the car breathed back into life !

Seems like the coil pack talks to the ECU and then the ECU sends the pulses if all is okay to start the car. The tests the AA & Autoelectrican did was just test for these pulses and then blamed the ECU as they were not present.

It took all of 20 mins to do this without any meters or specialist tools, just a trial and error appoach.

I can't believe that the AA spent 2 hours and a Auto electrican 1 hour (and £62 Labour) didn't diagnose the coil, as they both blamed the ECU. Okay, given they didn't have any spares to try, but a simple Fluke meter across the Low tension and High tension connectors on the coil would have given the tell-tale nod that the Coil was faulty.

The auto electricial should have had no excuse as they are meant to be specialists, the AA are more generic. Makes me wonder how much they do know and how much money they extrude from individuals that desparately need them ! I'll know next time !


Many thanks for all the hints.



Steve

[the hoff]

ive always said start with the basics spark and fuel aa are a bunch of norm ans i was told i was to qualified for the job ha ha good luck