a few years ago i got a wonderful 1985 240, perfect mostly California car with 125 thousand miles on it. in the first year my ownership i have replaced windshield, tires, and headlights. recently i have done a full tune up, plugs wires cap and rotor, air filter etc. this fall i drove to providence an hour away and the mass air flow sensor failed and i had to get a tow home. that was an expensive experience and after it was replaced it worked fine. lately it has started to run more roughly, significantly on a lower tank, when i fill up full it runs fine, so i added dry gas and Lucas fuel treatment. this got to the point where it was very had to keep it running when cold. last week I brought it to the shop and made an appointment but of course, it worked fine and continued to work fine that day so i was going to drive it until it could be looked at. within 2 miles after leaving the garage my starter engaged and made the worst sound iv ever heard. i had it towed back not knowing what was wrong and they determined the problem to be bad wire insulation on the starter wires causing the solenoid to engage. After another standing just days later i had to replace my MAF again, luckely that was covered by the parts warranty. This fixed all my problems and it was great for all of 48 hours until today when stopped at a red light it died and would not start back up. i pushed it into a nearby parking lot and it would crank great, not turn over and i was not getting any spark from the coil. does anyone know what this could be of have any advise as to how i could trouble shoot this?

 

Welcome

Coil could be bad. autozone has coils for ~$30....(msd blaster coils, I think OEM coils ~$50)
How is the wiring harness?

did you fuel issue go away? 1/2 tank of fuel and the car is fine. below 1/2 car is hard to start? that could be a bad intank fuel pump.

Wait for the experts to get on...

 

i will go ahead and buy a new coil and stick it in, its in the shop but there friendly and very busy and probably wont mind if i solve the problem myself before they can get to it. the wiring is all a little frail, lots of cracked insulation points seeing as its an '85. i don't know yet if my fuel issue went away because i havn't had it long enough to run the tank down below 3/4. the weirdest thing about it was that it was running amazingly then just died at a red light.

 

wait for the experts to get on and help you more...

in the mean-time: you can check up on some good info here: http://www.k-jet.org/
they have everything even greenbooks.

good luck.

 

I doubt it's the coil. Bosch coils generally last forever. If you have a pre-heat tube running from the exhaust manifold to the air filter box, the thermostat inside the air filter box might be bad. When they go bad they normally cook the AMM. When you replace the AMM you should also replace that thermostat at the same time. Better yet, block the hot air from the exhaust manifold inside the air filter box. Or if you don't have state inspection take the pre-heat tube and toss it in the dumpster. Two things to check: (1) the 25-amp fuse on the left inner fender. Make sure the fuse housing is nice and clean. (2) the fuel pump relay above the passenger's feet mounted on the firewall inside the car. If it's older than 10 years I would replace it on general principles.

 

tomorrow when i get back to it i intend on checking for voltage on the the coil inputs. that preheat hose thing was cracked in like 3 places so i just ripped it off because iv heard that it doesn't actually do very much. i never covered the hole in the bottom of the intake manifold? could that be causing my problems? could that be why my AMF's keep failing?

the fuse that your talking about, your talking about, is that on the main fuse panel below the steering wheel on the drivers side kick panel?

also the fuel pump relay is clicking nicely like it should be

could the thermostat be preventing the engine from running?

 

Does the 1985 240 have a Power Stage and Hall sensor? Those two also contribute to a no-spark situation. Go to www.stepbystepvolvo.com for free guide to 740 no-starts
(B230 engine).

 

The 25A FI fuse is on the left inner fender on a bracket along with the headlight hi/lo relay and a power junction box. Close to the battery. It's the only fuse in the engine compartment.

 

its still in the shop and i dont know if they have come up with any solutions, i dont know if theres anything i can do so when i get it back il surely let you all know what it was, i sure know im curious

 

got it back from the shop, my timing belt was super old and had lost some of its teeth, the distributer wasn't spinning because of it, problem solved

 

got it back, running fine driving home, this morning i went to start it, it started by idling very rough then died, now it cranks but doesnt start. can anyone help?

 

Isn't there a hose from the gas tank that rots out with exposure to gasoline and causes the car to not run well under half a tank of gas or so?

 

on my 86 240 wagon it has two:

one that leads to the main pump 5/8th thick ?
one that leads to the canister on the front left side of the bumper (between wheel well and bumper)
a dead connection with a plug on it.

I am experiencing the same shis ka bob...

new intank pump and working old main pump and new fuel pump relay...new battery, wires, rotor and cap, plugs. etc.