I have been having trouble starting my Volvo for years now. It's a 92 240. I don't even know how many miles it has on it. The odometer stopped working about 4 years ago at 290000 plus.

I have resorted to keeping a can of quick start ether in order to get the car to run. It never fails with the ether, but it never starts without it. Very embarrassing.

A Volvo tech told me it was the fuel pressure regulator, so I replaced it with a new one and I thought the guy was a genius, because it ran perfectly and started all the time for a week. Now I would say it might actually be worse than before.

I am looking for knowledge. I know the fuel pressure regulator works off a vacuum hose attached to the front of it and is supposed to activate the diaphragm and return access pressure to the fuel tank. How would one trouble shoot or fix this problem if they new the fuel pressure regulator itself was not the problem?

Thanks,
-Sam

 

Sam, my experience has been that with rwd Volvos...it is seldom only one part that has failed. Typically after all these years even Swedish engineering starts wearing out. You say your has been hard to start for some time...is it weather related? Is it more difficult to start in cold weather than hot? Is it more difficult in the morning w/ a cold engine than after its been warmed up?
Your issue has nothing to do with the fuel pressure regulator. If you noticed improvement for a week it was a result of a marginal fpr being replaced w/ a new one. Ifthe engine is harder to start first thing in the morning than after being warmed up, if it is more difficult to start in cold weather than summer time, I would suspect your engine coolant sensor. Your engine has two coolant sensors. One sends a signal to your dash gauge and is not the issue. The other one, next to it on the engine, sends a signal to your ecu (computer). From that reading, the computer determines the initial fuel/air mixture. It's like a choke on a carb'd car. An engine needs more gasoline to air mixture when cold than when the engine and are warm. If the coolant sensor goes bad, it will do exactly what you describe...PROVIDING it is weather related as I described above. Also, if it hasn't been done in recent memory, you should get a new O2 sensor. Although it doesn't affect starting, you would be amazed how much better the car will run with a new one.

 

I will look into the coolant sensor. I have been researching this for a while and have heard that item mentioned before. New o2 sensors can't hurt either.

Thanks for your response.

I wish it was easier to troubleshoot. I live in Florida, so weather doesn't effect it much as it's always hot. Sometimes it starts great first thing in the morning, but not lately. It used to always start again within fifteen minutes of running, but lately you can't even turn it off and restart it unless you rev the motor real high and then immediately turn it off. I was doing that as a theory that it would reduce the fuel pressure in the rail.

 

Without using the starting spray, will eventually start? There is a fuel check valve undre the car along w/ the inline fuel pump and filter. It's job is to keep fuel pressure to the rail to allow for faster starts. If it's working, revving it won't do any good. If it isn't working, it could take maybe 15-30 seconds at most to start. Thinking that isn't long enough to make me pop the hood and shoot ether. Does the car run fine once it's running? No missing, hesitation? Its possible the Throttle Position Sensor is misadjusted, not connected or dead.