volvo issues

  • Thread starter Thread starter Charlie
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Charlie

Hi Folks,
I need some advise from you about couple issues of my 96 volvo 850
wagon. It is a very nice car with only 71K millage on it.
Last Tuesday, when I was driving the car to work, all of sudden, there
was a light "Check Engine" going on, and it lasts whenever I start my
car. I was kind of surprised as I did my service regularly.
I brought the car to my service company to find out what went wrong.
The service person read the code from a small black box that he
connectd to my car. "410!", that was what the box displayed, and from
his mannual, it means "Secondary Air InJection system Mulfuntion".

Also the same service person, when he was doing the coolant service on
my car, he found a crack on the belt that connets the engine. What he
told me is sooner or later, that belt is going to break. If it
happens, the damage is much more than a belt. So It is a good choice
to have it replaced right away, and that company privides this kind of
service. That was a second suprise to me !


So here are my questions,
1. For that "check engine" problem, how accurate to get the correct
code by reading from that black box. I mean the code tells you it is
caused by problem A, but eventually you finds it is problem B ?

2. If it is "410" issue, can someone tell me what this mean and how
serious the problem could be? How much it costs? That service place
does not do such kind of problem solving, so I do not get any answer
from them.

3. For that belt issue, from what the service man point out, I do see
a string on that belt, but I am not sure if it is a crack or not. For
that kind of car of that "age", is it normal to have a belt broken ?
If it was going to happen, would there be a light going on on volvo
850 wagon(1996) ?


thanks a lot for the help!



cji
 
In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Charlie said:
3. For that belt issue, from what the service man point out, I do see
a string on that belt, but I am not sure if it is a crack or not. For
that kind of car of that "age", is it normal to have a belt broken ?
If it was going to happen, would there be a light going on on volvo
850 wagon(1996) ?
Click to expand...

I presume that this is the timing belt which drives the camshaft? If this
breaks, a *lot* of damage will be caused because the valves will be open
when they shouldn't, and the pistons will collide with them. The car will
stop very suddenly - maybe a long way from nowhere!

Timing belts have to be replaced at regular intervals (typically 60,000 or
80,000 miles) to prevent any such disasters from happening. As far as I am
aware, there are no engine codes to warn of imminent breakage. If there is
any doubt about the state of the belt, replace it *now*!
 
Charlie said:
Hi Folks,
I need some advise from you about couple issues of my 96 volvo 850
wagon. It is a very nice car with only 71K millage on it.
Last Tuesday, when I was driving the car to work, all of sudden, there
was a light "Check Engine" going on, and it lasts whenever I start my
car. I was kind of surprised as I did my service regularly.
I brought the car to my service company to find out what went wrong.
The service person read the code from a small black box that he
connectd to my car. "410!", that was what the box displayed, and from
his mannual, it means "Secondary Air InJection system Mulfuntion".

Also the same service person, when he was doing the coolant service on
my car, he found a crack on the belt that connets the engine. What he
told me is sooner or later, that belt is going to break. If it
happens, the damage is much more than a belt. So It is a good choice
to have it replaced right away, and that company privides this kind of
service. That was a second suprise to me !

So here are my questions,
1. For that "check engine" problem, how accurate to get the correct
code by reading from that black box. I mean the code tells you it is
caused by problem A, but eventually you finds it is problem B ?

2. If it is "410" issue, can someone tell me what this mean and how
serious the problem could be? How much it costs? That service place
does not do such kind of problem solving, so I do not get any answer
from them.

3. For that belt issue, from what the service man point out, I do see
a string on that belt, but I am not sure if it is a crack or not. For
that kind of car of that "age", is it normal to have a belt broken ?
If it was going to happen, would there be a light going on on volvo
850 wagon(1996) ?

thanks a lot for the help!

cji
Click to expand...

The code P0410 means there is something wrong with your "secondary air
system" or air pump system. The only function of the air pump is to get
some oxygen into the exhaust when the engine is started from cold to
reduce exhaust emissions. The only symptom you get with this code is
the check engine light - nothing else will be hurt if you put off this
repair. However if something else goes wrong, then you won't know,
since the check engine light is already on. To answer your first
question, codes are pretty good, but they're often misused - your code
is often called the "air pump code", and replacing the air pump may or
may not fix the problem, depending on what's wrong. And if the air pump
is indeed bad, there may be another part that has failed causing the air
pump to fail as well. Specifically in this case, there is a valve that
prevents the exhaust from backflowing into the air pump that sticks
open, causing condensation buildup in the pump, which causes pump
failure from corrosion or freeze-thaw cracking.

Read about replacement at:
http://www.volvospeed.com/Repair/airpump1.htm


If you can see cords in any belt, just replace it. Don't wait for total
failure.

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

NOTE: new address!!
Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)
 
Hi Bonnet and Mike,
Thank you for the advices. I will have that belt replaced right away.
As a matter of fact, that belt is connecting to the air pump,
generator, etc. and is called "driving belt" according to the volvo
manual.

For that "check engine" light, I really do not know what I should do.
I really suspect this has something to do with my car washing. I used
high-pressue water to wash the car the other day, and that light went
on jast a day after


Thanks very much for all those tips.


CJ
 
Charlie said:
Hi Bonnet and Mike,
Thank you for the advices. I will have that belt replaced right away.
As a matter of fact, that belt is connecting to the air pump,
generator, etc. and is called "driving belt" according to the volvo
manual.

For that "check engine" light, I really do not know what I should do.
I really suspect this has something to do with my car washing. I used
high-pressue water to wash the car the other day, and that light went
on jast a day after

Thanks very much for all those tips.

CJ
Click to expand...

FYI the air pump is power by an electric motor and mounted under the
battery, it's not engine driven. It's possible your washing of the
engine got some water into the air pump's relay or control valve.

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

NOTE: new address!!
Replace tt with t (twice!) and remove parentheses to email me directly.
(But I check the newsgroup more often than this email address.)
 
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