Alright for the car. Its an '89740 wagon with a b230f engine. I've had an intersting problem the other day. I had a hard time staring the car, but the engine would crank over. Itwas an intermitant problem. It would start. I would go to my destination, then come back to the car and try to start it. It cranked over, but would not fire. It did this for ten seconds. I would let it sit for a couple minutes, and then it would start up. It shouldn't be the fuel pump relay or the high pressure fuel pump, cause I replaced those recently. I don't think its the battery cause I replaced that and the alternator in Hebruary. My feeling is it's in the coil or the distributor. But could it be the crank position sensor?

I'd like some thoughts to the problem

BTW it's running fine for now. ??????

 

went through the codes the other day, and the reader threw a 1-2-1 code. This is supposed to be the MAF sensor. Most likely the cause of the problem. Probably a loose wire somewhere.

 

I have the exact car and problem. It started out that way but has slowly gotten worse over the past year. Now it cranks till i run down the battery. I get the battery charged and it starts fine for about a month, then begins to not start again. The battery itself is fine, holds a full charge and would crank over any car. I checked the spark and smell fuel.

Could a bad MAF cause this? I thought that would just make the car not run right or not at all, but wouldn't effect starting??? What about the flywheel sensor?? I have no way to check codes and my local mechanic does not either. After it starts, the car runs great, so i doubt it is a rotor, cap, wires problem either. Anyone have any ideas???

Also, on that overdrive lockout part, would that solve the problem of a car that does not shift into overdrive at all?? THANKS

 

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ldf602

ldf602 you should be able to check your codes if you have the same make and model as me. look for a small black box over the driver side strut. you will need to remove the cover and place the little lead which is a diode in the both slot 2 and 6 to read the codes. hold the button down for a count of 2 and release. read the blinks. the codes are three digits long. short pauses give you the number. a long pause gives you the start of the next number. keep repressing the button until you have a repeat of the first code. those are your codes.

 

new code poppd up the other day. a 2-3-2 which is a lean or rich problem at idle. also, when i've stopped and placed the transmission in park or neutral, the engine revs to 2k rpm and then backs down. Do I have a leaky cold start injector or is it something else?

 

You could have a simple vaccum leak that can cause that problem.
Has the throttle body and idle motor been cleaned lately?

 

Tech - Did you mean the starting problem, or the fast idle problem may be a vacuum leak, or throttle body needing cleaning? I ask this because before my starting problem got worse, my idle was up around 2K and when i would put it in gear it would really clunk the drive shaft due to the high revs. I had a friend adjust the idle and at the time he checked for vacuum leaks but couldn't find any. Now that i think of it, starting has gotten worse since?

Also, why would charging the battery help it start for about a month when the battery had plenty of cranking power but it would not start? I am really thinking something electrical as if i try and crank the engine for about 3 seconds 10 or 20 times, it will sometimes start, sometimes not till i run the battery down, get a jump, then charge the battery?? When the problem starts, the car will appear to begin starting, then just shut off and won't start again. Almost as if the fuel or spark suddenly shuts off. Me and my mechanic are at wits end, and i guess i will have to break down and go to the dealer if i can find no other answer. As stated before, once it starts, it runs great.???????????????????? Thanks

 

How did he adjust the idle?
Most of the cars if you try to adjust the idle you mess things up.
The computer controls the idle on the car. If something is wrong either the idle goes high or low.

Does the starting problem only happen when you have less than a 1/4 tank of gas?

 

Beardog,
I have an `89 240 GL, and it too has an intermittant starting problem. Mine starts if I run it every day, but if it sets for a couple of days or more it won't start. Same deal, cranks but won't catch, charge the battery, seems to start ok. Unless it sets a few days. Having more than one vehicle (the A.C. don't work either) sometimes it sets several days. Got messing with it the other day, and I'm pretty sure mine is the fuel pump relay. Couldn't hear the fuel pump when I turned the key on, butwhen I tapped on the relay, it started right up. The relay is on the passenger side kick panel next to the ECM. might be worth checking.
Poorman

 

Tech - the problem certainly seemed more frequent when less than 1/4 tank of gas. My wife is very **** and never let it go below 1/2, since i took over the car, i am usually just over the red zone. Problem has been more frequent since. I do believe i hear the fuel pump click whe i turn the key prior to cranking.

The mechanic adjusted the idle by moving the throttle stop i think. Just bent it with a screw driver.

Any more thoughts?

 

I'm having this same sort of problem. Car starts fine until you get down to under a 1/4 of a tank or so. After that it's hard to start. But it does start. Is the throttle body cleaning the solution to this problem or maybe one of (i'm assuming there's two as I'm new to volvo's) the fuel pumps are going bad?

 

idf 602 if you are having problems at less than 1/2 tank of gas this is one of the indicators that the in tank pre pump has failed. I put a new one in mine and it failed 2 weeks later. I put another one it and it has been fine since.

 

"You could have a simple vaccum leak that can cause that problem.
Has the throttle body and idle motor been cleaned lately? "

Tech, i did clean the throttle body and the idle air control recently (+/- 1 month). I probably should replace all the vacumm lines. Does anyone have any idea of hopw many feet or meters b230f has of vacumm tubing? I'll also look into the pre-pump problem. Though i don't think this is the problem on mine it seems to happen at all times.

 

My problem didn't matter with the level of the fuel tank. Anyway, follow the high idle thread that I started for the continuation of my saga. They seem to be related issues. I replaced a couple of small vacumn tubes, and the flame guard (pcv). Also, when I replaced the O2 sensor, the majority of the problems seem to have gone away. While doing that, I unplugged the MAF and checked the wires. They were in good condition. I didn't check the voltage, but the code for the MAF hasn't come back yet.

 

Ok it happened again. This time it would not start what soever, and the day before, the AC compressor seized. So I called the tow truck to get me home. I cut the belt for the AC, thinking that the Compresor was causing drag and excessive power loss to the battery. Once the driver got there, we jumped the car and it started up just fine. I'm thinking that the ignition system is a bit worn out. Anybody have any more thoughts on the problem?

 

I still don't have an answer, but this thread is saving me a lot of money! For now mine is sitting for failed inspection. Needs pads, roters and maybe calipers. Debating about all this in lieu of starting problem, and i also need to fix overdrive issue probably with the bypass part mentioned in the forum.
This is my 3rd Volvo and never have they been undependable which make this all the more frustrating!

I'll keep watching the forum for a solution. Thanks guys for all the input.