My 88 volvo wagon sat for a week during the monsoon rains and winds of Hurricane Irene. It hesitated starting when I went to run and errand. Same on the way home.

2 days later tried to start it and it wouldnt turn over at all. Once it got sunny and warm and everything dried out. It starts immediately on the first time and runs as strong as always.

Could it be the plug wires that are bad in wet weather? or something else?

 

My 88 240 also runs better when it is completely DRY out. After a heavy rain it will take 2-3 tries to start it and then it runs a little rough for a few minutes. Then acts like nothing happened. Weird. Let us know if you find anything out.

 

Ive never had this issue with "normal" rain. My mechanic thinks with the high winds and heavy rain, some moisture got into the distributor cap.

I'll play the wait and see game if it happens again when it rains... Started up and ran just fine all evening. So we'll see.

 

I've wondered if I have a crack in the dizzy cap and whenever it gets humid or there's rain it acts up.

 

The MAF could also be fooled by the wet weather and thinks it is really cold out. That could cause it to dump extra fuel in and saturate the plugs.