My 244 has been stalling while driving. It's been doing it for some time now but it's getting worse. It started out as a slight "hiccup" when driving, almost like going over a tiny bump. Then it started doing that a little worse plus stalling at slow speeds, like starting out from a stop or slowing down for a stop. Then it started doing bigger "hiccups" at speed, and eventually started dying at any speed. It's gotten pretty bad now. Yesterday it stalled on me getting on the freeway. Then it stalled again a couple minutes later on the freeway. Then it stalled two more times, once starting from a stop and then again driving 25 mph.

It frequently happens as sort of a bog down, like the engine is trying really hard to run but it just isn't happening. The warning lights flicker until it finally dies or recovers. (It dies about 4 out of 5 times.) The length of time it bogs down before dying (or recovering) can be anyware from instantaneous to several seconds. When it does die, I can start it right away with no hesitation. (I've gotten to be a master at the rolling re-start—popping it into neutral, starting the engine, then back in gear and go.) The problem is also intermittent. It will do this for a while, then not do it for a while. It can go on for days or a week or more then work fine for a day or a week or a month. It also feels l like the car/engine periodically has a rapid, faint pulsing sensation. I can feel it ever-so-slightly when driving around town or on the freeway. My wife has noticed this too, even as a passenger. This happens at any RPM.

I can't tell if this is fuel or ignition related. It doesn't feel like fuel starvation. And it doesn't feel the same as when I've had ignition failure in other cars, which was also constant until I fixed it. Then it occurred to me in the middle of the night last night that it might be the ECM. That would explain the clean restart after a stall; the shutdown may reset the ECM.

Anyone have some insight?

Thanks.

Joe

 

I know on the b230f engined 240's, they were notorious for fuel pump relays... would be one of the cheapest places to start...

 

Ah, yes. That was the problem when I bought the car for $300. It didn't run at all, save for shooting some starter fluid into the air cleaner to prove that it could run. It took me two hours to track it to the fuel pump relay. I shook it and it rattled so I replaced it and it immediately started up.

 

i had a similar sporatic stall issue with my 92 240 a few months back, and it did get progressively worse. everyone was convinced it was a fuel pump issue, but i knew in my gut it was electrical. i was new to early volvos, but once i learned how to pull error codes, i was led straight to the crank sensor. do you find the stalls to be more persistent in damp/rainy weather? check your fuses (2 for the fuel pump), and check the sensor. mine is dead center on the firewall, goes down a connects where the block meets the bell housing, imagine yours would be in the same location. wasn't too pricey and i installed it myself.

 

No, this isn't weather related. It happens in dry spells as well as rainy spells. And, although it's gotten worse since last summer, it hasn't cycled up and down with the weather. I hadn't thought about looking at error codes given that the car predates the compatibility with my code reader. I'll have to look at how to check them. I've had a couple vehicles with nifty ways to trigger the engine light to blink out the codes. Does anyone have a quick method for doing that on my 244?