Engine Running On 2 Cylinders Only?, Shaking engine!

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by Spinstorm, Jan 17, 2007.

  1. Spinstorm

    Spinstorm Guest

    My Engine started up fine today and about 10 minutes later started
    shaking and reving very low and not moving very far when I pushed the
    accelarator down.

    I called out the AA and their guy said the car was running on two
    cylinders instead of 4 - he towed me back to my local garage (who were
    closed for the night!) but when he started up the car to park it the
    engine was running fine on full power!

    Whats going on? he seemed to think that it may be the engine coil? and
    once it cooled down it was ok but because I was stuck in traffic it got
    hot?

    Is that what it is? how much would that cost to fix in England? Thanks.
     
    Spinstorm, Jan 17, 2007
    #1
  2. Spinstorm

    zoltamatron Guest

    I would say you're right in that it's probably ignition related, but
    probably not the coil since two cylinders are firing. Could be bad
    plug wires arcing to the engine, could be a bad cap and rotor. Is your
    car old enough to have ignition points? If so then that is the most
    likely suspect in my mind. Your points may be not opening and closing
    correctly and need to be adjusted/replaced. You really should have a
    dwell meter to do this, but you can fake it without one....just make
    sure they just barely open for each point on the distributor cam.
     
    zoltamatron, Jan 17, 2007
    #2
  3. Spinstorm

    Spinstorm Guest

    Im sorry I failed to mention any information about my car!

    Its a 1998 Volvo S40 and has done 156,000 miles approx, and it has been
    serviced etc up to date as well.

    As I said before when he fired it up 45 mins later at the garage it was
    running fine? is this symptomatic of the cause you mentioned?

    And what about price? is it a big job or a simple one? thanks!
     
    Spinstorm, Jan 17, 2007
    #3
  4. Spinstorm

    zoltamatron Guest

    Ah.....much newer than what I had thought....

    I don't know much about the newer volvos except I'm sure you don't have
    points. In any case I would still say it is probably spark
    related....other than that I really couldn't tell you much.....I don't
    know what kind of ignition system your car has.....
     
    zoltamatron, Jan 19, 2007
    #4
  5. I had the same problem with my '97 S40!!! he runs on 2 cylinders and later
    goes normal!!!
    you have to replace the transformator for the cylinders that are not
    working!!! they are easy to find under the engine cover!!! i payed for my
    about 150euro
     
    Drazen Pranjkovic, Jan 22, 2007
    #5
  6. Spinstorm

    Mike F Guest

    Those cars have 2 coils, each one does 2 cylinders. Each coil is
    mounted on a spark plug, with an ignition wire going to the plug that is
    opposite it (i.e. 1-4 & 2-3) in the firing order. If 2 cylinders are
    not working, then I'd try swapping the coils. If the problem remains
    with the original cylinders, then what triggers the coils, or the low
    tension wires would be the problem.

    --
    Mike F.
    Thornhill (near Toronto), Ont.

    Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
    (But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)
     
    Mike F, Jan 22, 2007
    #6
  7. it' the coil 100% because the wires are OK if the car works normal, but good
    suggestion about swapping the coils, to see, but i'm sure its the coil!!!
     
    Drazen Pranjkovic, Jan 23, 2007
    #7
  8. and, did you had success, is the car running well, my 1998 s40 has about
    180,000km, without any serious service except changing brakes and camshaft
    belt, filter... theese cars are AWSOME!!!
     
    Dra¾en Pranjkoviæ, Jan 24, 2007
    #8
  9. Spinstorm

    Spinstorm Guest

    The garage put two new coils in at a cost of £100 which was a good
    price it seems and so far I have had no more problems.

    I hope that fixed it as they could not actually find anything wrong
    with the car the entire week they had it! not once did it do the same
    thing as when it broke down - so if it was the coils that is fixed now
    - if it wasn't then I guess I will find out shortly if it breaks down
    again!

    I do have another problem with my car I am going to post a new thread
    on in a minute - although it does not seem a serious issue at this
    time I am wondering what it is!
     
    Spinstorm, Jan 30, 2007
    #9
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