"duh" <nope@notme.com> wrote in message
news:4643d18c$0$27174$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net...
> Ok, I posted the other day about this. Someone said it could be the air
> mass sensor, or the coolant temp monitor.
>
> It just got harder and harder to start.
>
> Here's the history again:
>
> This car has been leaking about 1qt of oil per month for a couple of years
> , and I ran low on oil several times, and there's likely lots of gunk in
> the engine. Not sure what this would do to the fuel system though.
>
> Then, one day, it just started hemmoraging oil. I took it to my regular
> shop, and they said the flame guard was clogged, and it blew out my seals,
> and something on the side of the engine. Luckily I was near the shop at
> the time.
>
> They fixed that, but it was still leaking oil as usual, I took it back,
> and they finally got the damned seals in right, because the leaking pretty
> much stopped.
>
> However, right after that, it began having problems starting.
>
> I finally took it into a shop near where I live now, they replaced the
> distributor cap and rotor, said they were shot. That gave them some spark
> and they were able to start it, but by the time I got there and tried to
> start it, it would almost catch, then die, then wouldn't start. They
> started it by spraying carburator cleaner into a line on the top of the
> engine.
>
> I brought it back in, and they did some more work on it, cleaned the
> coolant sensor, cleaned a bunch of crud out of the ?mixing chamber?, and
> it was working better for a while. Now its getting worse. I've been
> relying on the carburator cleaner to get me started, but its just getting
> worse, running rougher, etc.
>
> They tested the pressure on the fuel pump, and said it was only getting
> about 30psi, where normal was above 40, but they didn't feel this was the
> ultimate problem and didn't want me to throw more money at it in case it
> didn't work. They checked the fuel pump relay and that was ok.
>
> I'm wondering if it might be something as simple as a bunch of crud in my
> gas tank.
>
> I bought some fuel system cleaner, but am leery of using it in case I'm
> going to make something still worse.
>
> The shop who just worked on it said they don't know what else to do and
> the next stop should be a dealer. My experience with dealers is that I
> will be screwed to the wall, but I can't find any reviews for any of the
> independent Volvo mechanics in my area (Fremont/Newark, Ca.)
>
> Any further advice on this would be appreciated.

ere is a good place to startgathering info:

http://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/

Good luck,
joe

Joe wrote:
> "duh" <nope@notme.com> wrote in message
> news:4643d18c$0$27174$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net...
>
>>Ok, I posted the other day about this. Someone said it could be the air
>>mass sensor, or the coolant temp monitor.
>>
>>It just got harder and harder to start.
>>
>>Here's the history again:
>>
>>This car has been leaking about 1qt of oil per month for a couple of years
>>, and I ran low on oil several times, and there's likely lots of gunk in
>>the engine. Not sure what this would do to the fuel system though.
>>
>>Then, one day, it just started hemmoraging oil. I took it to my regular
>>shop, and they said the flame guard was clogged, and it blew out my seals,
>>and something on the side of the engine. Luckily I was near the shop at
>>the time.
>>
>>They fixed that, but it was still leaking oil as usual, I took it back,
>>and they finally got the damned seals in right, because the leaking pretty
>>much stopped.
>>
>>However, right after that, it began having problems starting.
>>
>>I finally took it into a shop near where I live now, they replaced the
>>distributor cap and rotor, said they were shot. That gave them some spark
>>and they were able to start it, but by the time I got there and tried to
>>start it, it would almost catch, then die, then wouldn't start. They
>>started it by spraying carburator cleaner into a line on the top of the
>>engine.
>>
>>I brought it back in, and they did some more work on it, cleaned the
>>coolant sensor, cleaned a bunch of crud out of the ?mixing chamber?, and
>>it was working better for a while. Now its getting worse. I've been
>>relying on the carburator cleaner to get me started, but its just getting
>>worse, running rougher, etc.
>>
>>They tested the pressure on the fuel pump, and said it was only getting
>>about 30psi, where normal was above 40, but they didn't feel this was the
>>ultimate problem and didn't want me to throw more money at it in case it
>>didn't work. They checked the fuel pump relay and that was ok.
>>
>>I'm wondering if it might be something as simple as a bunch of crud in my
>>gas tank.
>>
>>I bought some fuel system cleaner, but am leery of using it in case I'm
>>going to make something still worse.
>>
>>The shop who just worked on it said they don't know what else to do and
>>the next stop should be a dealer. My experience with dealers is that I
>>will be screwed to the wall, but I can't find any reviews for any of the
>>independent Volvo mechanics in my area (Fremont/Newark, Ca.)
>>
>>Any further advice on this would be appreciated.
>
>
> ere is a good place to startgathering info:
>
> http://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/
>
> Good luck,
> joe
>
>

Great. Thanks. Looks like the last mechanic has done me a disservice
by telling me to use carburator cleaner to get it started.