on the 84 240, the engine harness burned up about 3 months back, so i bought a junkyard harness, replaced all offensive wires (those relating to that 8-position white connector on the firewall), and the car ran great. until today. she drove all over town, then stopped a block from home to pick up the mail, and when she went to restart the car acted like the battery was disconnected. no response to the key, no headlight, nothing. after a bit of screwing around with jumper cables, the car was then able to crank but not start.
well i dragged it home and started getting into it, heres what i have so far:
fuel pumps don't run with key in run or while cranking. fuse 7 (main fuel pump) has power at all times, but fuse 5 (in tank pump) does not get power for anything. installing a jumper wire from fuse 5 to 7 causes a pump to run, possibly both pumps.
cranking the engine with fuel pump manually turned on still wouldn't start it. so i checked for power at the coil. the + side has power with the key on, but the - side gives me nothing. with a test light across the 2 posts of the coil, i get absolutely nothing while on or while cranking, where i should be getting a flashing of the light while cranking.
the wiring diagrams that chiltons provides are absolute garbage. it has 3 fuel pump relays pictured, only one of which connects to the pumps - and that one appears to be controlled by the coil - wire (against a ground) - so obviously the diagram is hopeless.
i'm starting to wonder if one problem is in my ignition switch, but my diagrams don't include the ignition switch, so thats not much help. the gages seem to work, but i don't know if those are on the same connection of the switch as the components required for the engine to run (fuel and spark).

anybody got a clue where to look from here?
thanks--josh

 

I don't have any 1984 experience, but below is a link that may offer some information.

Good luck
Fred

K-Jet.org | 200 Series

 

what you need is, Volvo Greenbook TP-30678, which is the ACCURATE wiring diagrams for 1984 240/260... you can buy this from Volvo USA for like $50 or something (ouch), or VCOA (Volvo Club of America) has a DVD that has most ALL the factory service documentation available for most all years of 240/260s...

the ignition switch has like 5 important pins.

• pin 30 has a 4mm red wire from the battery 'positive' junction block.
• pin X has a 4mm yellow wire, which is energized in position I,II and connects to fuses 1,2,3 (accessory stuff)
• pin 50 has a 1.5mm blue wire to the starter solenoid, and is energized in position III ('start') only.
• pin S has a white-red wire to fuses 4 (seat belt reminder circuit) and is powered in I,II,III
• pin 15 has a 4mm blue-yellow wire to fuse 11,12,13 and is powered in II,III (main engine stuff)