Greetings Everyone…
I come here with an issue that has puzzled several mechanics. One has claimed that perhaps my car is possessed?
A handful of times, starting over a year ago, my 2003 Volvo S40 (91k) has had a hard time turning over in the mornings. It would be easily remedied by pumping the gas a couple of time, giving her a few minutes and she would start. Once she started she would start and drive around for the rest of day like a dream. I?ve mentioned it several mechanics and they checked things out and could not find anything wrong as claimed they would have to replicate the issue.
Last week the ignition problem start to happen every morning, I took it to the dealer and again, they did nothing because they could not replicate the issue. I even left her there for a couple of days. No problems starting up while she was there.
This Monday she would not start AT ALL. We tried all day and eventually the next day towed her into the dealer. But once she got it off the flatbed, she started up! And again at the dealer this morning.
Now, the plan is go drive her around because it appears that just sitting around at the dealer agrees with her, but of course that makes her no use to ME! Nevertheless, it?s still maddening that the three mechanics (One dealer, two non) I?ve taken her to have no clue on what could be the problem and none have agreed to do house calls if I do take her home.
And so now I come to you for maybe some suggestions or advice.
Thanks in advance!
The problem might be with the fuel pump module. This is an electronic component that supplies and regulates the voltage to the fuel pump.
On most fuel injected systems, the fuel pump runs at a constant speed, and a vacuum controlled fuel pressure regulator is used to maintain the proper fuel pressure at the fuel rails. On your engine, there isn’t a fuel pressure regulator. Instead the fuel pump module receives a signal from a pressure transducer in the fuel system, and then varies the voltage to the fuel pump to maintain the proper fuel pressure.
The problem with diagnosing the possibily of this is, the problem has to occur while the vehicle is being checked. If it doesn’t, there’s nothing wrong with the vehicle.
Tester
Wow!
I am, once again, blown away by Tester’s response to this question. The fact that Tester is willing to give up so much information at no charge just amazes me. Most of us would probably pay dearly to have an expert like Tester helping us with our car problems. I know I would.
This is why I love this site. There’s so much knowledge and experience here. I learn something every day, and I love it.
Thank you, Tester, whoever you are. I always learn from your posts. Please don’t stop.