D5 occasional hiccup!

**Spee** · Friday 30th April 2010, 22:57

Hi all.

I've noticed recently under part throttle and in all gears that my D5 hesitates and seems to "miss fire". It's not too bad and only does it now and again, but there must be a cause and I'd like to nip it in the bud as I'm planning a trip abroad in the next month or so.

My first thought is to change the fuel filter as I've read somewhere on a much less friendly Volvo forum that the D5 is sensitive to fuel filter blockages and can run poorly if they aren't changed fairly regular.

Any thoughts??

Ta

Gareth

**Spee** · Sunday 2nd May 2010, 12:11

Nobody?

**thebadger** · Sunday 2nd May 2010, 16:41

Well, the fuel filter could be at fault. The really cold winter has broken quite a few cars in the mechanical sense, however if it is "hesitating" then it points to injectors & possibly a glow plug at fault.

When were they last changed? (that goes to the fuel filter too)

Remember that if* it's doing it on a very regular basis, then its probably a failure in a component (injector, plug, rail or filter) if it's very rarely happening then it's maybe just blocked filters or injectors.

Have you checked to see if it's throwing any codes? (basics!)

Sorry I've not responded, as it's a D5 issue which I can't really say I'm too clued up on.

**princepugh** · Sunday 2nd May 2010, 18:29

Agreed on filters and injectors as a good starting point - found out last year my (T5) fuel filter had never been changed, after 150k miles, despite a good service history! Currently running some Redline injector cleaner through a full tank and that does seem to be making a difference. There are a number of Redline products for diesel you may wish to consider.

You might also want to read up on the Diesels EGR and DPF systems (if yours has the latter).

HTH

**Spee** · Sunday 2nd May 2010, 21:05

Thanks guys! It is every now and again, it hasn't done it for days now and the last time it did it was is heavy traffic, only did it once and it's been fine since, I'm going for the filter first, if it happens again I'll wizz it up to Readview and have the codes checked.

Oh, I realised today that it's only ever done it when I've been on less than 1/4 tank, may or may not have some bearing on the issue.

Cheers

Gareth

**Liddo** · Tuesday 4th May 2010, 15:59

Let me know how you changed your fuel filter, Im doing mine soon

Take piccys

**p fandango** · Tuesday 4th May 2010, 16:01

Originally Posted by Liddo

Let me know how you changed your fuel filter, Im doing mine soon

Take piccys

mines still using alot more fuel than it used to (down to 47mpg now lol) so thinking about doing my filters as well

**Spee** · Sunday 9th May 2010, 18:33

Got my filters but won't get to change them until at least next weekend. Happily enough I've had no hiccup since posting the original post! Forum power it seems!

G

**doug kyle** · Sunday 9th May 2010, 23:20

I had something like this with my D5 S80,
it turned out to be a dodgy injector.
All sorted now, back up to 45 / 50 mpg.

**Murphy** · Monday 10th May 2010, 14:56

I would check/clean the EGR valve on a D5

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=94139

**thebadger** · Monday 10th May 2010, 21:22

Originally Posted by Spee

Happily enough I've had no hiccup since posting the original post! Forum power it seems!

G

That will be £40!

Thank you, and come again!

**Spee** · Thursday 20th May 2010, 22:08

Originally Posted by doug kyle

I had something like this with my D5 S80,
it turned out to be a dodgy injector.
All sorted now, back up to 45 / 50 mpg.

My fuel economy is superb, I'm averaging 50 plus, no effort at all, realistically around 54 across a tank full. It's still doing it, but again, it's random! I drove home 60 miles last night, quite a few "missfire" moments on part/gentle throttle, coming back down to work today, the same 60 miles in reverse, it never missed a beat! Strange!

G

**thebadger** · Thursday 20th May 2010, 23:50

Deffo sounding like an injector to my mind. Have you considered throwing some cleaner into the tank? Sounds daft but some will help (some are pish) but a clean of the injectors will work best.

Also, do you normally take it out for an occasional "thrash"? Too often not abusing the car once in a blue moon can be bad for the fuel system as the pressure never reaches it's peak performance. Just a thought...

**princepugh** · Friday 21st May 2010, 10:51

Originally Posted by thebadger

deffo sounding like an injector to my mind. Have you considered throwing some cleaner into the tank? Sounds daft but some will help (some are pish) but a clean of the injectors will work best.

techron based

**Murphy** · Friday 21st May 2010, 11:05

Did you consider cleaning the EGR valve?!?!?!?

**Spee** · Friday 21st May 2010, 12:39

Haven't cleaned the EGR but will set about it this weekend. I'm going to stick some cleaner in the tank, run it for a week and then change the filters. It's so random I'm not too worried at the moment but I won't ignore it either!!!

I'm hoping it's not injectors of course!

The car starts off the key, no starting issues at all. Runs fine 95% of the time and does not smoke at all (out of the ordinary anyway). I think it could even be the fuel itself, I don't get my fuel from the same place all the time of course.

Thanks

**Liddo** · Friday 21st May 2010, 14:16

Ive ALWAYS (were possible) got my fuel from the local Shell Station. Ive also put some Redex into half a tank this week, and I'll top it up to full tomorrow. I havent had any issues starting for the past month or so, so Im hopeing my little "gliche" has cleared itself. Im going to replace the fuel filter after Ive done the brakes all round.

Keep us posted.

PS, Mine didnt stutter whilst on the move, it just fired up on what felt like 1 cylinder on 2 occassions.

**Spee** · Sunday 23rd May 2010, 17:35

Can the injectors be cleaned on these engines? If so, might be worth a punt at some point.

Gareth

**Liddo** · Wednesday 2nd June 2010, 14:41

Originally Posted by Spee

Can the injectors be cleaned on these engines? If so, might be worth a punt at some point.

Gareth

No mate, ive asked the main man on here, Jim, and he said its a no go.

Incindentally, after i put the Redex Diesel treatment in, and give her a good old blast down the motorway, she's not played up at all, and is returning slightly better mpg! Dunno if its coincidence???

**thebadger** · Wednesday 2nd June 2010, 23:27

As I said up the page, most modern cars have a note in the user manual that says you SHOULD go out & thrash the engine at least once a month (most cars) or in some cases once a week! (performance cars)

I couldn't make this up! I actually recall hearing James May mention something similar on top gear once. It's to keep things from getting clogged & to fully pressurise all the engine systems. Clear the pipes so to speak! Funny to think that you can have a good excuse to do just that!