Misfiring cylinder?

[Spinstorm]

My Volvo S40 1998 is misfiring when cold and although it gets better
with the longer I drive it its not right - after about 30 mins of
driving it seems to be ok although there is some shudder and
hesitation if I drop down gears and want extra power without being
smooth with the gear change! The revs seem to be very high when I turn
the engine on at about 1800RPM though that goes down to normal within
a few minutes.

I took the car back in September to Volvo who could not find anything
wrong but said it was most likely the fuel was too rich and the engine
management unit needed replacing!

But as far as I am aware it never once misfired while they had it! a
few days later I took it to another garage and again they could not
find anything wrong at all!

Yesterday it started doing it again - and I have booked it into a
local garage for monday but I am wondering what it could be that would
cause it happen then vanish then come back again! it seems highly
eratic!

Any thoughts? I can only assume that when thge garages had the car
they checked all the connections, plugs etc and cleaned everything
which may have helped? I don't know - I am not very technically
knowledgable about cars so please keep it simple if you have an idea
for me! Thanks.

Two more things quickly - I managed to knock the plastic passenger
side trim off my bumper - the bit that clips onto the bumper but I do
not know what it is called - or where I can get a replacement - I
would prefer to get it online and just clip it on rather than going
through volvo!

Also my driver side window has just randomly stopped working- it made
a clicking sound and now won't open or close? what is going on there?
when I press the button to open or close it the motor works but the
window doesn't move - all I can hear is the noise from the motor
working!

 

[Spinstorm]

Is it safe to drive with a misfiring cylinder or would I potentially
damage the car? and therefore
maybe it would be better to wait till it goes to the garage?

 

[Gary Heston]

My Volvo S40 1998 is misfiring when cold and although it gets better
with the longer I drive it its not right - after about 30 mins of
driving it seems to be ok although there is some shudder and
hesitation if I drop down gears and want extra power without being
smooth with the gear change! The revs seem to be very high when I turn
the engine on at about 1800RPM though that goes down to normal within
a few minutes.

Sounds like a vacuum leak that's closing up when the engine warms up. Find
a shop with a "smoke machine"; it's a smoke generator they can pressurize
the intake system with and locate leaks.

I took the car back in September to Volvo who could not find anything
wrong but said it was most likely the fuel was too rich and the engine
management unit needed replacing!

[ ... ]

If it's running rich, there should be a lot of black soot in and around
the exhaust pipe. They should also be able to determine that by checking
the OBD-II (onboard diagnostics, second generation) codes.

Any thoughts? I can only assume that when thge garages had the car
they checked all the connections, plugs etc and cleaned everything
which may have helped? I don't know - I am not very technically
knowledgable about cars so please keep it simple if you have an idea
for me! Thanks.

I doubt that they checked or cleaned much. If the OBD-II codes don't
tell them to do something, they don't do it.

Two more things quickly - I managed to knock the plastic passenger
side trim off my bumper - the bit that clips onto the bumper but I do
not know what it is called - or where I can get a replacement - I
would prefer to get it online and just clip it on rather than going
through volvo!

You'd have to get it from a Volvo dealer somewhere; try

http://www.fcpgroton.com/volvo.htm

Also my driver side window has just randomly stopped working- it made
a clicking sound and now won't open or close? what is going on there?
when I press the button to open or close it the motor works but the
window doesn't move - all I can hear is the noise from the motor
working!

One of two things--either the regulator (the assembly the window is
attached to and slides up and down on) or the lift motor assembly
has broken. I'd bet on the lift motor assembly. This is what one for
a 2000 S40 (the site didn't list a 1998 S40) looks like:

http://www.partsamerica.com/Product...1C&MfrPartNumber=472715&PartType=1326&PTSet=A

Advance Auto/Parts America doesn't have the regulator for the S40. There
is special about replacing either the regulator or motor; any shop can
handle it.


Gary

 

[Tim..]

Is it safe to drive with a misfiring cylinder or would I potentially
damage the car? and therefore
maybe it would be better to wait till it goes to the garage?

You do risk damaging the catalyst from unburnt fuel- I would not drive the
car until it is fixed.

tim.
..