Hi all,

I just picked up a 92 940 turbo across the river from a college kid. Got the car cheap enough and it was not running due to a bad in-tank fuel pump. I replaced that and also the undercar big fuel filter. The car runs fine, and is slowly limbering up again after sitting un-started since new years day. It seems to have developed a hot start issue. Cold start was fine and it would be able to be driven, but after it warms up, it won't start. I did lots of research on 3 of the big volvo forums and found no answers to the most recent bout of bizarre things it's doing. It's starting and running for about 5 seconds, then it dies... it will restart, but then die again. Touch the gas and it dies...

Now for the freaky stuff; the speedo goes up to 45 mph mark and stops... the gas gauge floors itself and the low fuel light comes on.. the seat belt warning light comes on... the door open chime fluctuates in its dinging.. rising and lowering pitch...

The kid left some wiring for "subs" in it and I'm beginning to wonder if the he did a bit of butchery behind the dash.. I pulled out the rats nest radio wiring and slowly tugged to big nasty harness while a buddy watched the dash cluster.. the tach jumped up to 7 grand... and I swore I heard the fuel pump kick... something is really messed up here...

I've read several other things could be causing the short start... like coolant temp sensor for the computer... crank position sensor.. I did try plugging in 2 other fuel pump relays and that is not the issue... ?? However if the dash is messed up this could also cause the short starting.. Don't know where to begin. This is my first Volvo and the car is real nice otherwise.. When it ran, it ran great.. I really want to keep it and fix it up, instead of constantly going thru junkers.. this one is worth keeping. I got it cheap enough and I don't mind throwing some money at it to fix it. [My son got me started on Volvo's, with a certain 740 turbo... fun car!]

A few days pass..

After researching other volvo forums and the web, I found someone else who had a very similar issue. Turns out for him, it was a bum solder joint on the circuit board behind the cluster, so tonight I tried removing it and having a look. I got it out and took things apart carefully. I could see no obvious burns or broken circuits.. I carefully reassembled it and re-installed it. I made sure all the plugs were in nice and tight..

Now the speedo stays put when you turn the key on, but the fuel pump seemed intermittant... flicked the relay and it just seemed to be audible, but not every single time you cycled the key. I did manage to get it running, but as i revved it up, the door chime was weirdly fluctuating again... then it shuts off. It just won't stay running.

I've ordered a new coolant temp sensor and a new intake gasket as well. I'm running out of ideas.. This stuff is not what I am used to working on.

Any ideas or procedures I should try?



One last MOST annoying thing which as got to be related to some sort of wiring goof... or is it some sort of factory thing?

The car will lock you out.. If the key is left in the ignition with the windows up.. you are screwed.. It will let you open and close the doors a few times but after, say.. 6 or so times opening a door... it will slam all the lock ***** down the second you try to open a door. Any door... I don't think it will do it operating the trunk outside release though.. This is most annoying and I pulled the lock relay out and it still did it.. this freaks everyone out, as no one has ever seen a Volvo do this before...

If this is factory, can it be disabled... [one of these times I'll not be able to get back in, or the wife wont want to crawl under the car for the spare key in the magnet box.. ]


Any constructive advice would be great!

Cheers,
Mike

 

oops.. just realised this was in the wrong section... sorry about that! please move. My eyes are going bad

 

Many issues...

Locks, self locking: Spring on door latch inside driver's door is off or broken.

Hot start problem is possibly the Fuel Pressure Regulator. Have you run the Diagnostic Codes' Box? It may be also be a Mass Air Flow Meter fault.

The speedos on '92 are notoriously bad, the capacitors in the speedo go bad and need to be replaced, resoldered. The circuit board may also have cracks which are largely invisible and you need to refloat certain joints with solder to be sure this is not the problem. brickboard.com has a good write up on that.

The wiring needs to be cleaned up, but you know that. I'd get rid of as much of the added non OEM stuff as possible.

You said that the trunk fuel pump was replaced. How about the sender? Was it done, installed correctly? If not, that would affect the gauge. BTW you may have a bad main pump as well. The in tank pump won't make the car not run at all... and that was the reason you said for the car not to run...

Good luck!

 

Hi Lev,

Thanks for your quick reply, I do appreciate it!

I would have never guessed that a broken spring could be the door locking problem... I'll be removing the door panel and having a look at that one soon.

Good deal on the dash write-up repair as well! At least I can get the dash back out in record time, as I just did it last night. I must add here that these cars are MUCH more user friendly than american cars... trim actually can be removed more than once, and the retaining posts/pins don't break off immediately. Hopefully I will be able to repair my own dash and save some money.

As for the running and immediate dying, my son had a spare MAF sitting in the garage and we tried it out, but it didn't help. I did completely go thru and clean out the original MAF with the special $pray.. and also the throttle body with it's specific expensive spray cleaner. We also removed the IAC and cleaned out the device and its attending hoses. But to no avail.

I'll have to read up on how to retrieve the codes and post the results...

I suppose I should replace the fuel regulator as a matter of course on a car with this many miles on it as well. This is the round can-like device on the front of the fuel rail, with a vac line going to it?

Please pardon my initial ignorance.. this is my first "modern" car.. I'll be doing some hard core learning and research to get myself up to date... Hopefully this old dog can learn some new tricks. **LOL**

We also went thru and removed the dangling "sub" wiring that was snaking thru the car. I really don't want any fat hot wires running around and getting cut and end up shorting somewhere..

Good call on the main pump. The guy at the parts house asked me which one I wanted, as I did not realise there are two present. At least that one will be much easier to get to. I think I got the replacement in-tank pump re-installed correctly, as me and the neighbour kid completely removed the tank to get it oriented properly. I tried for quite some time with the tank in the car and it just wasn't going well.

I will take care of the things you suggested and let you know how I make out.

Thanks again for your help Lev!

Cheers,
Mike

PS.. I'll have to get with the moderator to move my post here.. It bothers me that it's in the wrong place...

 

Just wondering, why is your handle PAVolvo850 if this is your first Volvo and it's a 940?

 

Hi, yes I realised I goofed.. My first was a 94 850 I picked up for the wife and I got it all fixed up. I must have joined here and posed a few questions about it. My home computer fried and I lost all my information and nothing was written down, as to what sites I joined.. I tried to register and requested my pw. So i was a member some time ago. That 850 has almost 200k on it and never gave me a problem since, which may be another reason ive forgotten all my
sources... Lol.... Guess im getting old. This is my first rwd Volvo and I'm really enjoying it. Great site and lots of good replies!

Cheers, mike

 

It lives! Lev, you hit the nail on the head I picked up a new fuel pressure regulator, and an under-car fuel pump. Tried the regulator first, as it was right on top, and it fired right up! I decided to go ahead and replace the pump as well, since I bought a new one and considering the mileage on the car.

Before I got to the pump, I decided to replace the rotten speed sensor wire I discovered while poking about under there. That was easy and the original was rotted away and twisted together.

I got the pump remounted on the mounting bracket, but it got dark before I could finish. The pump I ended up with was an Airtex... hope it works out, as it appears to be somewhat of a "universal" pump... I'm supposed to crimp wires with eyes on in place of the factory plug... Nothing is marked positive or negative.. guess I'll have to use a test light to determine positive.

Cheers,
Mike