Hello. My wife has a 1980's 240 wagon. When it gets cold it won't start. Warmer than 50 F and its fine but below that and it won't turnover. Ingintion sounds ok/normal it just won't start up/catch/fire up. Mechanic gets car and it works fine. Told wife to turn key/ingintion to "on" position for 30 seconds then back for 30 seconds and then try starting. This seemed to work sometimes in 40/50-ish+ temps. But has stopped working in colder temps. Winter is now upon us and temps are 30s and 40s. Mechanic tested the fuel pump but said it was fine. Not sure how throughly he tested or what this entailed.

Any ideas? Or can you direct me to which questions to ask mechanic so we can try to solve this riddle? The mechanic is having trouble figuring it out on his own. It's sitting in our garage in 30 F temps and I am a chauffeur and wife is sad her car/independence is threatened.

 

What is the exact year model?
Is it a turbo?
Just guessing from the info you've given,maybe fuel pump relay.


Dan

 

Wait it won't turnover and they told her to mess with the key to get it to start? Then its your ignition, place where the key goes in thats going bad. After awhile the tumblers go bad. They don't want to retract or do there job. Especially when it gets cold and whatever lube is still in there gets thicker. Might be able to take it apart and clean it all out. But if everything is worn out in there then probably need to replace it.

 

Well..I re-read the post.
Will the engine crank/rotate?
If the engine cranks/rotates but doesn't start,it's probably the ignition switch.(see pic)
If the engine wont crank/rotate...as adub96 posted it's your key switch.

(The ignition switch bolts to the back of the key switch.)


Dan

 

There are alot of things that can contribute to a hard/no start when cold. It depends on what type of engine you have. Here is a link to some Volvo service manuals and you will have to determine what type of engine you have and then do some troubleshooting

http://www.k-jet.org/documents/greenbooks/

I believe most 240's have a cold start injector or some kind of cold start fuel enrichment.

hope those help some

 

Could be a bad cold start injector or thermal time switch.