I am not happy today. I am usually pretty good with these things but today things seem to be working against me. I have a 1990 240 wagon. I have been away on business for 2 weeks. I returned on Sunday. Monday it was raining. I went out to start the car and go to to work. It wouldn't start.

I ordered new plug wires from FPC. Installed them, no go. I bought new spark plugs. I once found that the bigger gaps on my old plugs made it hard to start. NO luck. I separated the coil wire from the ground by 3/4" and cranked the engine. I got a spark. I know I have fuel because I can smell it when I crank the engine coming out the tailpipe and when I remove the sparkplugs.

Oh, yea I didn't change the cap and rotor but I did file the contacts and inspected the cap.

What could be going on?

 

You have fuel and spark, but it's not running. I would see if it's flooding. Pull all the plugs. Dry out the cylinders (air dry of air gun). Then try again. After a few cranks pull them and if they are wet, it's flooding. I would suspect a bad fuel pressure regulator at that point.

Does the car sputter at all, or is it totally lifeless? Maybe the injectors are stuck open. I've never heard of that. The only thing that I can think of to cause that would be a bad computer or bad wiring. Both of which I would think unlikely, but a small chance. I would suspect the fuel pressure regulator first if you have flooding.

 

I've had the darndest things go bad on me while parked in my driveway. I've had a cam belt break in the driveway. Whether it broke as it was shut down or when I tried to light it up I don't know. If you have fuel AND spark it should offer to fire even if flooded. A chug or two I'd think. Peek down the oil filler neck while someone cranks it and make certain the cam is turning. It's simple, quick and rules that out quickly. I'd also check the inline fuse near the battery. From the factory, it's an open fuse holder; the proximity to the battery fumes makes it prone to failure...often a new fuse holder is needed as well. Get a sealed replacement holder. If that fuse fails, the injectors will not pulse. Still, if you smell gas...it would seem they'r working. Do you have spark to the plugs? Or just at the coil?

 

Thanks Joe. Good idea, I have been stuck on the idea that this is an ignition problem. I'll start by drying out the plugs. Good thing this is easy to do on this car. Gotta love the access to most things in the engine bay.

 

Thanks for the reply Swift. Good ideas. I wasn't able to try them out last night because it was raining hard. This morning the weather changed. It stopped raining and got cold. I figured I would try to start it again without doing or checking anything just to see if the fact that it wasn't so damp changed anything.

It started right up!!! Damn, that is good and bad all at the same time. The problem is that I won't be able to troubleshoot it until the next soaking wet day when the car won't start again.

I have been using Bougicord wires. Any thoughts on this brand? I thougt they were good. Is Bosch better? Or should I get genuine Volvo?

 

I've used both with great results. I absolutely despise intermittent stuff. It's almost as bad as when you fix something but don't know what the cure was....You drive for months wondering if it will happen again.