ok! new info, newish problems.

so yesterday, the car sat in the sun all afternoon while I was at work and it started up and drove home just fine. no issues.

this morning, I go out & read the engine codes (more on that in a bit) and try to start it. it got down to about 40 degrees last night and this morning it was in the mid 40s when I tried to start it. no dice. twice I tried and both times it wouldn't go. only when I pumped the gas pedal on the 3rd try did it turn on.

I let it warm up for a few minutes before leaving for work. again, had the stalling/dying a couple of times. both times, I got it to kick back on by pumping the gas pedal while coasting (not turning the key, just double-pumped the pedal and it caught). once on the highway I drove it all the way here to work w/out issues. so it seems like the problem calms down once the engine is hot. not sure if that helps.

now, on to the codes! all the descriptions are from the link Pierce provided. slot 6 gave me a 1-1-1, so no issues there. slot 2, however...

3-2-2:: Air Mass Meter wire burn-off signal absent or faulty - Wiring break between FI terminal 8 and AMM #4 - Various driving problems due to dirty AMM wire

2-3-2:: Fuel trim (lambda control) too lean or too rich at idle - If too rich: high fuel press., leaking injector - various driving problems


so AMM wire issues? what is that, and where can I find it? does that mean I need to buy a part, or just rewire it?

J.

 

clean it...clean the crap out of it by spraying MAF cleaner....don't take off the little circle grills...LOOK CLOSELY INSIDE TO SEE IF YOU HAVE tiny little wires...like a bulb would and see if they are broken/loose/gone.....your year might be different...I have dealt with older ones with 3 wires inside.

then....clean the connectors, MAF AND THE CONNECTOR HARNESS(lack of description) with electrical connection cleaner...NOT THE SAME STUFF...works super awsome.....I cleaned my connections (disconnect batt of course) even the fuse panel...just spray it over....no fires or shorting something out..I got cleaner connections and it zapped this odd build up on the connections..even grease.

I used CRC brand
CRC 4 Mass Air Flow cleaner
CRC 4 Electronic(contact) Cleaner

Worst case scenario: you need to replace your MAF sensor....junk yard part...20 bucks or less..or new.

 

I've heard of as many MAF's being damaged by that mAF spray as actually helped.

pretty sure a LH2.4 car has the thin film version of the MAF, not the wire version. anyways, sadly, the electronics in them can croak, and they are rather delicate. the rebuilt ones available on the market vary widely and unpredictably in quality. the best bet is the 'real' factory rebuilt ones you'd get from a volvo dealer and they are $$$ and even they can be flakey. I'd want to swap it with a known good used one to verify thats actually the problem before buying one.. the MAF is pretty much the same for any LH2.4 car (1989+ 240/740/940 with bosch... regina cars dont have one)

 

I found it right below the glove box on my '90 240. Take the cover that is below that dash in the passenger side foot well off. Its should be sitting on the body right at the back. I didn't use any genuine relay though. Got one off ebay for $10. Bad deal?

 

The ignition module on the driver's front fender will also cause the no-run issue you describe. It looks like this...

LH2.4 AMM's are still the wire variety. MAF cleaner used rudely can indeed cause damage, so proceed gently. As for the screens on the AMM, I always remove the upstream screen as it serves no purpose whatsoever...but that's just me. If you go junk yard hunting for an AMM, remember that 740 turbo cars did not get LH2.4 until 1990. The last three Bosch digits are 016. As long as it's an 016, you're good to go.

 

just an update on this...I bought a can of the electrical cleaner and cleaned the crap out of the MAF plug. the CEL is still on (but I haven't cleared the codes) but I haven't had the issue since.

the plug did look a little gummed up.

J.

 

was there a really strange answer posted here? I got an email about it, but now it's gone...

J.

 

Usually that would be a spam message. Pierce probably spotted it before it got reported to mods and deleted it. Happens quite often.

 

funny thing was, it was sort of a legit idea (engine governor) of what "could" have been happening (if I had indeed been going 120mph in my 22-year-old Volvo)

J.

 

actually, the poster deleted his own message... I dunno why.

the only governor on these cars is RPMs. they won't rev past red line, the fuel is limited. the reality is you'll never hit redline in top gear, except maybe downhill with a tailwind, they run out of steam. My 1996 850 had a speed limiter, you hit 155 (I think?) and thats all she wrote. story out there about some car guys in germany who uncorked a 855T wagon and got it up to 168 or something, but it took a mighty long time to get there.

 

My bad...didn't scroll up to see he self-deleted. After reading the post, I see why he did! Yeah, I can't really see a stock n/a 240 ever really hitting fuel cut often. Stock, there is a 6300 rpm cut built in to LH2.4. You can re-chip the ecu and icu to 7000 but a waste of $$$ on n/a. Even the stock turbo cam flattens out at 5500-5800; not much reason to tach it up further unless there are quite a few engine mods done first.

 

indeed. I don't think our stock 1987 240 sedan has ever seen anything north of 105 MPH, and that took a LONG time with the pedal on the floor. it WILL cruise quite reasonably at about 90 MPH.

 

Sorry I'm late to the party...

When I first got my 1991 240, I had the same door chime issue, that was seemingly set off by random things. I didn't report it in my thread, 'cause I had other concerns to worry about at the time. In my case, when I changed the alternator brushes, it fixed the problem.
I didn't really sit down with an electrical diagram to make sure my reasoning is correct, but so far as I know, the problem is that something that should ground through one path (such as your glovebox light) for whatever reason cannot, and finds an alternate route. In my experience, that is often the idiot lights on the 240 or the door chime.
With the old 740T, I also had similar odd issues--again, it came back to bad grounds. Once those were shored up, no issues.
So... I didn't see a posted solution to the door chime... unless I missed it... but that is the direction I'd go.

 

sorry, yeah, the door chime thing was the blown #8 fuse. swapped it out and no more oddities. just the normal annoyance.

new, possibly-related-but-maybe-not issue, though: I've been smelling gas on the outside of the car since this started. just fumes, no leaks, and only by the driver's rear of the car. thought maybe the gas tank was leaking somewhere, but can't find anything. the fuel pump is making tons of noise, and I've ordered a new one, so maybe that's it? maybe it's spewing gas all over inside the tank and causing more fumes than normal?

I have no idea. new thread for that? or keep this one going? maybe I should just turn this into a "What's wrong this week" thread...

J.

 

ps. I really do love my Volvo! and outside of these small things, it's performing great! it's really growing on me...not to the point where I love my Jeeps, yet. but it's getting there.

J.

 

a noisy main pump can be caused by a defective in-tank pump. a noisy in-tank pump is most likely toast. if you're going to replace the in-tank pump, also relace the 'sock' fuel pickup on the end, and plan on replacing the short piece of hose inside. check the wiring condition where it enters the tank access plate, too, its notorious for failing there.

 

yeah, from what I've read, it almost sounds like the hose is toast. it makes a loud noise (not a pump-whirring noise, but a squak-like noise...sounds like speaker feedback) when the tank is less than half full. once filled, the noise is almost non-existent.

I ordered a new pump from FCP and will check on the hose when I take the old one out.

J.