Hey guys. It all started last week when I went to get in my car and I cranked it and it ran for about a second and shut off. I have a 92 volvo 240 non turbo, about 260K. I have now been under the hood all week. Im quite frustrated at this point since school comes back in monday and I have to get to work and school five days a week. Sometimes it will drive fine. Some days it wont even start. It has never shut off on me going 40 miles an hour down the road but it has shut off on me as I pulled out of a parking space and started going about 10 miles an hour. But that has only happen d twice in the last few weeks. I began immediately assuming it was a fuel delivery issue. But the main fuel pump sounds like its working. I hear it working. And I took the cover off where the in tank fuel pump is and felt fuel running through the lines. So then I checked the relay and as I held it in my hand and moved the ignition to the on position I heard it click several times. And also when the car has ran for a while the relay is hot to the touch. After inspecting all of that, I then began to assume maybe it was just a tune up issue. So I took off the EGR valve and it was caked full of carbon build up. I cleaned it out and I also put on new spark plugs and wires. Cleaned the distributor cap very well and cleaned off the terminals on my battery because i seen one case on here with someone with my same problem and theirs was fixed by cleaning all of the corrosion off of the positive battery terminal. My car still isnt running well and sometimes wont run at all. I then changed the fuel filter. And the car seemed to do great. I have drove it with no shut offs for the last three days. And it started up everytime. But last night it started doing the same thing. So today I have been reviewing everything all day. I checked all the wires and fuses. They all look fine. The reason I dont think it is a fuel issue is because my car works and drives sometimes. If the pumps were bad or the relay were bad it wouldnt work at all. And I know if the in tank fails then the main will continue picking up slack but will exhuast after a while. So possibly i need to just start back with the fuel system and change out the in tank fuel pump. At this point I am at a loss. The only thing i havent thouroughly checked was the pumps. That could be my problem. I dont feel it is an ignition problem or electric problem. I also think that maybe I have tore up my in tank pump because on several occasions the last few months I have driven with low amounts of gas. And one time I thouroughly ran out of gas. I know this is hard on the in tank pump and can cause it to go. So maybe that has been the issue all along. Ill have to see. I also have unplugged the MAF and the car still wouldnt come on. So I know it isnt my MAF. I also know it cant be the O2 sensor because it would not cause my car to not work completely. For a short while I thought maybe it was my exhaust system that is causing my car to not run properly. I need to get a whole new one. The muffler and exhaust tip have areas rusted through. I also am unsure if the cat even works. I did an infared temperature test and it is up to temperature standards but I dont know how accurate that is in testing it to see if it operates correctly. I havent checked into the hall switch. I read up on it today and apparently its in the distributor cap. But I have new plugs so I know im getting fire. The car has drove well the last three days. I just feel that maybe my main pump has done all it can and my true problem is the in tank. And if i dont get that fixed soon then my main pump is going to give out. Previously, it could drive fine. Now it seems to have gotten worse over time. Where now when I start it, if it starts, it is very shaky and just barely hanging on to stay on. Then shuts off. And sometimes just wont turn over at all.


Thanks,

Travis

 

Update. For anyone who cares. I went underneath and took off the hose that runs into the back of the fuel pump. and some gas came out and it looked rather clean. Then I went into the trunk and took off the cover of the in tank pump, and there was so much gunk built up on top of the pump. so i got to scraping with a flat head and got alot of it off. AND, I took off the hose that runs to the main pump, and it was clean and clear. But then i took of the other hose I think that runs from the in tank pump, and the hose was caked up and bone dry. It looks like fuel hasnt ran through it in years. So maybe it has been my in tank pump all along. Maybe it has been bad for a long time. So now my main pump might be giving out now! Damn, oh well. I will take out the in tank pump soon and check it out. But right now i am going to research on where both of those hoses go so i can see if my guess was correct.