Hi,

I just purchased an 1985 Volvo 240 DL - It had been working fine until today. I just washed it (exterior only) and it is freezing outside. I pulled it in to the garage and shortly after when I pulled out later I stalled the car (probably just not used to the clutch).

When I went to restart it the engine turned over and over and almost felt like it was going to start but did not. I could smell gas from near the tailpipe but nothing from around the front of the engine.

Is this something that is common? I thought I may have either flooded the engine or maybe something having to do with the fact it is extremely cold outside, but I am on a serious limited budget for a couple weeks and any inexpensive fixes I have to look in to first.

If anyone has any suggestions I would truly apprecaite it.

Thanks,

- Gabe

 

fuel injection doesn't really flood, at least not unless something is broken. these cars should start without touching the gas pedal at all.

generally if you smell fuel, that means your problem is most likely ignition. did a bunch of hose spray get under the hood when you were washing?

 

I really don't think much water got in there... Going to look under the hood in the daylight and see what I can do... Any suggestions on what to look for first? Thanks

 

well, I happen to have an old fashion timing light, so I'd probably hook this up, clip it onto the #1 spark plug, and turn the car over, see if you get spark (the light will blink about once a second while you are on the starter). if no spark, then go backwards through the ignition (test light across the low voltage side of the coil, if thats no good, test light on the input to the power stage, if thats no good, time to start trouble shooting the ICU).

on LH2/2.2 cars (240's from 83 to 88), the ignition and the fuel injection both use the same signal that comes out of the distributor for timing, so the fact that you smelled fuel implies the hall sensor is working. you /could/ hook the test light up to the injectors too, and see if they are getting blinked when you turn the engine over. note that all 4 injectors get the same signal, so you don't have to test all of them, any one would be fine.

 

Thanks!

I think I might have a test light somewhere in the garage. I'm not too car savvy, but I'm sure I will be in time with this car seeing how old it is. Its really nice and when it runs it runs great. Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it.