so the other day, I thought my transmission had gone out because on acceleration, the pedal suddenly had no feedback. while still rolling, I shifted down to 2nd, and all of a sudden it was back, so I shifted back into Drive and it seemed fine. like always, I had my radio on loudly, so I didn't really notice engine revving.

today, it died 4 times on my way to work (22 mile trip), this time, I turned the radio off and realized that the engine actually dies, not the trans. the first time, I pulled over and turned the key all the way off, then started it again. seemed ok. one the highway it died and I shifted into neutral and got it to start again while still rolling. the 2nd time on the highway, it wouldn't start from neutral and I had to pull off and turn the key off. it died one more time after that.

the engine just kills. it doesn't sound like a fuel problem...no sputtering. when trying to start it from neutral, the starter gets the engine moving, but then it wouldn't keep running once I let off the key. full tank of gas this morning, so it's not running out of gas.

I had an 83 Jeep CJ that did this same thing a few years ago. it turned out to be the distributor wasn't getting power. there was a short somewhere in there, so we just spliced in a new wire and kill switch under the dash (but not before we swapped the 4-cyl for a fresh SBC!).

could this be the same kind of problem? are there other ignition problems that 240s are prone to? any way to check what's going on? this problem sucks because it's not consistent...

J.

 

Last time tune up was done?
How is the distributor cap and rotor?
Can you test the coil?
Tune up done?
Temperature high? if so your gasket might me going

MY GUESS:
Throttle Position Sensor(gone or needs adjusting)
Need a Tune up!!!
Trans neutral safety switch(under your gear selector, remover cover and look for solder points cracked or the switch cracked or worn) VERY EASY TO CHECK...phillips screw driver

FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR( you got a full tank and given that you know your pumps/relays work, the next culprit is this little bugger) NOT EXPENSIVE 35 to 45 dollars...
CLOGGED FUEL FILTER

 

the neutral/park safety switch won't killl the engine, it just disables the starter.

this is a 1990 240? thats LH2.4, so it has a crank position sensor, these and the wires to them get suspect after 20 years.

clogged fuel filters usually just cause a horsepower stumble at heavy throttle positions that recovers as soon as you left off.

my daughter's 87 240, the intermittent hard-to-start on cold mornings, and occasional stalls turned out to be the ignition wiring harness connector to the ICU. but thats pretty specific to that exact version (87/88 US 240's used a chrysler ignition controller).

 

it's not the CPS, as I changed that as soon as I bought the car. a quick chat with the Volvo mechanic that did my head gasket revealed a possibility of the fuel pump relay? he said that they will cause everything to sort of "go dark" when they are out.

I've heard lots about the infamous FPR...

J.

 

on a 240 that relay is behind the glovebox, accessible by removing the passenger side kick panel under the dash. I highly recommend only using genuine Volvo, or Steibel relays there.

its actually a double relay, one half controls the power to the ECU, while the other have controls the power to the fuel pumps.

 

thanks, Pierce. is there a way to test it to see if it's going out? or do they look fine until they finally crap out?

J.

 

testing a relay requires having a voltage source and test load. and if the problem is intermittent, like from a cold solder joint, then it could test fine on the bench and STILL be flaky in the car.

 

yeah, that's what I thought. where's the best place online to pick up a new relay? there are a bunch out there per a quick Google search...

J.

 

Volvo Parts, Accessories and Performance Specialist Since 1963
Car Parts - OEM & Genuine European Replacement Parts Catalog | FCP Euro
TascaParts.com (volvo pn 3523608)

Fuel Pump Relay 240 700 900 is what you want.

I *might* be wrong about it being behind the glovebox, thats where it is on my 87, but the drawings for a 1990 show it over on the other side behind the fuse panel, which doesn't make sense to me.

 

On a '90 240, the fuel pump relay is behind the glove box.

 

ok, thanks guys. gonna pick one up and see if that works!

of course, I drove all the way home last night and all the way to work today without incident...

J.

 

back to the drawing board...

I've been out of the country for a few weeks on work and I finally got around to ordering a new FPR. the car had serious issues today...died 6-7 times on a 4 mile drive. seemed to die while idling more than anything...so I tried to keep the gas going and turned off the OD and at stops I put it in neutral & kept my foot on the pedal a bit.

got it home, installed the new FPR...and no dice. it started right up, ran for about a minute, the shut died. started it again and it ran for a few minutes. I shut it off, then tried to start it, but it wouldn't go. waited a few minutes and it started again. but basically doing the same thing, even with the new FPR.

so what else could be causing this? does the idle thing give any insight?

J.

 

clogged cat converter?...

 

no lh2.4 obd diag codes?

no start can be furl or spark. or, if its the crank position sensor, both

 

would there be a CEL if there were codes? there's no light on for CEL at all, so I haven't checked the codes.

doesn't seem to be fuel related...the pumps are still running. seems more spark related as it just dies right away, no bogging or lack-of-fuel sounds.

I put in a brand new CPS the week I bought the car, so I doubt it's that.

J.

 

HOLY CRAZY ELECTRICAL ISSUES, BATMAN!!

ha...ok, so the story gets stranger by the minute! this morning, my car gave me more fits than it ever has. it died about 9 times in about 6 blocks. so I turned around and pulled into an Autozone to see if they had an OBD1 scanner (the answer was a big 'NO') and left the car running. I popped the hood to just see if anything looked out of place. the only thing I noticed was the engine bay light had gotten smashed somehow and was hanging funny. when I grabbed it, the metal from inside the fixture touched the hood and sparks flew. so I un plugged it and tossed it in the trash.

went inside to ask some questions, leaving the car running.

came back out 5 minutes later and it was still running. I'm a little surprised since it wouldn't stay idling for more than 30 seconds w/out my foot on the gas. so I get in and decide to drive it back home and work from home today. I get going and there's no cutting of the engine, no funny dying...nothing. drives just fine, purring like a kitten.

so I get on the highway and head to work. 24 miles and 40 minutes later I'm at work w/out so much as a hiccup. I did notice that my clock in the dash and my stereo stopped working. I figured a fuse blew with the spark...

get to work, shut it off and tried turning it back on (something that previously wouldn't work). starts right up. do it again, same thing. everything seems fine now. I go to put my CD face plate in the glove box and...DING DING DING! it starts dinging at me like the door is open! ha! close the glove box and it stops dinging. GREMLINS!

so yeah...the car seems to run fine now, but there's some crazy stuff going on with the electricals. could that light being smashed have been the cause of all this? was it touching the hood while I was driving causing a short that shut down the dizzy or something? is that even possible? or is this pure coincidence?

J.

 

OBD1 cars don't need any code reader, there's a little box on the left strut tower near the power steering reservoir. lift the lid, and there's like 8 numbered holes, a push button, a LED, and a jumper wire. plug jumper into #2 (LH Jetronic EFI controller), and press the button for a couple seconds with the key on but engine off, and read the codes off the blinking LED. repeat for position 6 (ignition controller)

see Engine and OBD Diagnostic Codes
for the specifics, and how to reset it and stuff.

 

anyways, yeah, a short to ground could cause all sorts of sporadic behavior.

and your glovebox light setting off the door chime suggests there's more shorts under teh dash.

 

aha! thanks Pierce...I was just looking at that thing this morning wondering what the heck it did! will do, and I'll report back later tonight.

oh, and super-bummer about possibility of more shorts. electrical stuff is the ONE thing I can't stand to work on.

J.

 

I found another guy on Turbobricks who experienced the same dinging from the glove box when his #8 fuse blew. so I'm thinking that maybe I'm ok on that one and that there's not any other wiring mishaps back there...

J.