Can anyone shed any light - I am no mechanic!!
Driving back from shopping - car running perfectly - the car suddenly stalled - fortunately I was on the hill near my house and was able to coast to a stop. In order to repark correctly, I managed to engage the starter motor and reverse gear to reposition the car.
All attempts to get the car to fire into life have failed. The lights / electrics all seem to be working fine and car has plenty of fuel.
Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

 

Go to www.stepbystepvolvo.com for free guide to 740 no-starts. Some of that info may help you.

 

Many thanks for that - as soon as the weekend gets here I'll dig the car out of the drifts and set to work with gusto!!

So far I think I have ascertained that it's not the fuel pump...fuses will be next for the check.

 

Check the Fuel Inj. relay.

 

Ok - will have a go as soon as this weather clears - so far have checked fuses and no prob there. The computer is 1-1-1 on both 2 and 6 outlets.
Battery has more or less now given up the ghost owing to trying to get the engine to fire up so as soon as the weather warms up, I will recharge it and reinstall.

 

Just a thought - how responsive is this onboard computer analysis....as both channels 2 and 6 show 1-1-1, were I to recharge the battery and try to restart the car, will it update the computer as to possibly where the fault lies?

 

Doubtfull, but you never know in such cases. Determine whether it's fuel or spark issue first. Sounds more like spark as you describe a very sudden stall-usually fuel will give more warning such as sputtering, as it runs out. I know I said FI relay before but at this point, after reading carefully... Keep posting, it will get solved.

 

Plot thickens.......recharged battery and have tested for current to the coil. Coil appears to be ok - shows only a 1 volt drop compared to the battery. (Batt approx 12.7v / coil 11.7v on both connections)
But no spark at the plugs.
While still connected to the coil, but disconnected from the distributor, no spark is showing from the HT lead, so, I tested the lead on its own with multimeter and the result showed (I thought) a broken circuit i.e faulty HT lead so....got a new one (not a gen Volvo replacement at the mo) and tested this, but this too also gave a "broken circuit" reading.
Is it not possible to check an HT lead with a multimeter in the usual way?
Logic suggests that it should be no different to any other piece of wire when testing for a complete circuit ?
Or have I bought a duff replacement lead?!
Am I just being thick?!!

 

At this point I'd look at the Crankshaf Position Sensor.

http://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-90...stition_Sensor

 

Hi.
I may have been ambiguous in my previous post - the old HT lead that came off the car between the coil and the distributor tested as faulty and the new one I was going to replace it with also tested as faulty before I attempted to fit it. Both gave a reading of 1 not 0 indicating a broken circuit.

There is nothing amiss with my multimeter...my query was whether one can simply test an HT lead in similar fashion to a houshold fuse etc by putting the multimeter probes at each end of the lead?

 

Can part-answer my own question now - one can't use the standard continuity test on a multimeter to check out an HT lead - have just bought a new Volvo replacement lead (which again showed an open circuit) but works on the car!
Soon as the coil lead was replaced, the car fired up!

I would like to take the opportunity to thank all those who replied to me and wish you all A Happy Car Problem-free New Year!!