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Volvo 240 very hard time coldstarting

dannyman742

dannyman742

Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2021
My Volvo has been having a problem where on "cold" mornings (I live in Florida so below 70 Fahrenheit lol) my car will just crank and crank. If I let go of the key it will backfire a little bit out of both the exhaust and intake. I suspect the head gasket because on one morning during one of those backfires I saw a small amount of smoke and a strong smell of coolant. I have been able to get it to start like this by cranking it until one of the backfires holds an idle with revs. It would also misfire sometimes intermittently for a while as I drove until it started to really heat up. Here's the confusing bit though, on warm or hot days, there's no problem it'll start right up and idle fine. So any input is appreciated, though I suspect head gasket because I've heard of cold start problems from coolant seeping through the gasket in the night. Also important is, I have overheated it on accident twice now after installing a toggle e-fan and forgetting to turn it on (I know:oops:) never in the red but definitely higher than the middle, also never a far drive maybe 5-10 minutes and no traffic so air was coming in. The problem only started after that so I may have warped the head, getting a 531 and gasket soon so no worries as far as the head but what are the odds I could've warped the block? Do red block blocks warp easily? Sorry about the long post, any input is again, appreciated!
 
dannyman742 said:
My Volvo has been having a problem where on "cold" mornings (I live in Florida so below 70 Fahrenheit lol) my car will just crank and crank. If I let go of the key it will backfire a little bit out of both the exhaust and intake. I suspect the head gasket because on one morning during one of those backfires I saw a small amount of smoke and a strong smell of coolant. I have been able to get it to start like this by cranking it until one of the backfires holds an idle with revs. It would also misfire sometimes intermittently for a while as I drove until it started to really heat up. Here's the confusing bit though, on warm or hot days, there's no problem it'll start right up and idle fine. So any input is appreciated, though I suspect head gasket because I've heard of cold start problems from coolant seeping through the gasket in the night. Also important is, I have overheated it on accident twice now after installing a toggle e-fan and forgetting to turn it on (I know:oops:) never in the red but definitely higher than the middle, also never a far drive maybe 5-10 minutes and no traffic so air was coming in. The problem only started after that so I may have warped the head, getting a 531 and gasket soon so no worries as far as the head but what are the odds I could've warped the block? Do red block blocks warp easily? Sorry about the long post, any input is again, appreciated!
Click to expand...


Year and fuel system ?
How does the oil look ?
Are you losing coolant ?

* I read your post and the needle going above halfway will not merit overheating on a redblock IMHO, although you may have an issue.

:-P
 
Otto Mattik said:
Year and fuel system ?
How does the oil look ?
Are you losing coolant ?

* I read your post and the needle going above halfway will not merit overheating on a redblock IMHO, although you may have an issue.

:-P
Click to expand...

Its a 93 240 lh2.4 bosch. never seen any milky oil on cap or dipstick. I dont think im losing coolant it could be slow to the point i dont notice but i dont think so. I am how ever hearing a buzzing from my main fuel pump so it could be a fuel problem, but i checked after cranking and there is fuel rail pressure so idk.
 
here's a stupid thing to check possibly... My dad had a Ford Ranger that had a stupid hard time starting when it was cold but started fine when it was warm out. It turned out to be the battery was just really old and it only showed itself when it was cold out. He never replaced it and just cranked it extra long and is still starting the truck. The battery is nearing 10 years old.
 
I've had some wonky hot and cold start behaviour that also changed with outside temperature when the coolant temperature sensor was bad on my 940.
 
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