Ok 740 gl '89 with b230f engine n/a

The car died on my wife, thursday. Didn't get much help from her decription of the situation. She basically said the car was getting weaker, and then when she stopped; it died.

Ran some tests on the car. First started with starter fluid in the throttle body, no start. so no spark. Went to the coil, got spark and a nice shock. Hooked up a wire spark tester. Got weak spark on cylinder 1, got good spark on 2, got no spark on 3 and 4. changed the number 1 wire and no spark, or a reaaly weak spark.

whats up with this?

 

I would thin it's the hall effect sensor in the distributor. Take off the distributor and open it up past the rotor. (be careful not to break the rotor, I did once, and the plug for the hall effect sensor at the base of the dist.) Check for oil in there. It kills those sensors. That's my guesses. Now for something real: www.stepbystepvolvo.com. I had a no start. You could read about it, but all I did was follow this guide. It describes how to check the stuff around the hall sensor and determine if it's bad. So just go with that. One little note, you say you had weak spark. I had experience with a car that had weak spark because of a bad hall effect sensor destroyed by oil. Good luck!

Oh yeah, nice quotes.

 

Beardog I had same issue on my 91 740, turned out the rotor and cap haa gone south on me, replaced and spark was good and car started right up. Hope this helps.

 

The '89 should have LH-2.4 and a crank position sensor (RPM sensor) rather than a Hall Effect. Also the CPS may throw off an error code. Have you checked the diagnostic codes?

 

yeah, I did check the codes, 1-1-1 and 1-1-1, all sensors are good according to the computer. I'm going to pull the cap off and see whats up in there today. I ran out of useable light yesterday. If I got oil in there what seal is that?

Also this happened after I replaced the oil fill cap and tightened down the valve cover bolts. So you fix one leak and find a new one.

 

Ok, I pulled the Cap, and discovered there was a thin film of oil in there. Cleaned it out and reinstalled. Tried turning the engine over and nothing. Then i sprayed some starter fluid in the intake, and tried again. still Nothing!

Hey i thought, that empty whishing sound seems like maybe a blown rings. I decided to try the compression test. I hooked up the gauge to the first cylinder; turned the engine over and no compression. Ok, maybe I didn't hook the gauge up correctly; retightened the gauge; turned the motor, and still nothing.

Decided to take a look at the timing belt. Open up the case enough to look in. Hey! That belt looks loose. Ah crap! I pulled on the belt and out it came.

Well, found the reason for the no start.

symptons of my broken timing belt:
Whishing sound as if the spark plugs are out.
strong spark on one cyclinder, maybe a weak spark on another, and no spark on the other cylinders.


Hey, since I'm going in, are there any seals that I should replace cause I'll have access to the area?

Also, since I'm getting oil in there, whats the most likely culprit?

 

OK, busted timing belt. Glad it's a non-interference engine. I'm not sure where "in there" is for the oil leak, or which cap you're referring to.

I just did my timing belt a couple months ago. While I was in there I did the belt tensioner, V-belts, and water pump. I didn't do any of the three oil seals in the front 'cause they weren't leaking. I did the water pump only because it was probably 15 years old and everything was open.

If yours is an automatic you gotta figure out how to hold the crank stationary while you loosen/tighten the crank pulley bolt. If you got air no problem.

If you got engine oil leaks is the flame trap cleaned out? A plugged up flame trap can cause excessive crankcase pressure.

 

"the Cap" was the distributer cap, and that had a film of oil in it. I cleaned it up, But I suspect all my no spark problem was due to the cam not turning.

the rear of the engine is full of oil and gunk, but you can only see it if you take a flashlight and peer behind the engine. I suspect the rear seal is bad. the front is clean, no visible leaks, except some around the valve cover, and some coming out of the oil fill hole. thats why I cinched down valve cover and the purchased a new oil filler cap.

As far as being in there, I ment when I have to remove all the parts in the front, should I replace any oil seals on the front of the engine. I already have a new water pump and was plannig to do that because the gaskets for the pump and thermostat are leaking anyway.


Also, the auxillary cooling does not come on, but i jumpered the wires and it kicks on. I suspected the thermostat in the radiator, changed that, still nothing. Thinking of just jumpering it with a male/male spade bit from Fry's. Is the fan clutch susposed to work at high speed, or is it only really susposed to work at idle. I suspect that the clutch might be permanently engaged and the system is cooling sufciently without need for the auxillary fan. or I havn't found any other switches or relays for it that are not working. But like I said, I jumpered it at the thermostat and it kicks on.

I cleaned the flame trap when i was trying to diagnose the problem. It was dirty, but I could see through it. I've been aware of this type of problem since I first got the car and on the boards.

 

Beardog,

Go to www.stepbystepvolvo.com. The 740 no-start guide would have pinpointed your no-start problem right away. There's also a guide to replacing timing belt, tensioner, and seals.

 

It's ALive Ahh ha haha!

Ok, finally got it all hooked up. it was nice that the belt I bought had the timing marks on the belt already (beck/arnly). Put in 3 new seals on all three shafts, a new water pump and radiator hoses and a new valve cover gasket.

Now that i've sealed all the front leaks, its going to blow all the oil through the rear and the head gasket will blow, but lets hope this lasts me for a few years before that happens.

If I ever get a second car, I might just keep this and pull everything and redo all the seals and gaskets properly, but not till then.