Hello-
I have a 1991 740 base sedan, 249k miles. I got stranded at work with a non-start; the engine would crank but not turn over. Wound up having the car towed into the shop. The tech is just as stumped as I am, because he has been able to get the car to start beautifully today. Here are some particulars:
-Distributor cap and rotor were replaced a year ago.
-They are testing fuel pump relay as I type this.
-Fuel pump seems to be OK; they are hesitant to replace them if they aren't the culprit, which makes sense.
-Car is in otherwise great shape; has been running well up until a few days ago when it broke down.
-Idles smoothly.
-Battery/alternator are fine; no problems there, either.
-When I tried to start it at work when it first broke down, it cranked, caught very briefly, shuddered, then called it quits.
-I've heard that 740's can be a bit "tempermental"...random episodes of non-starts with "spontaneous" recoveries. Any truth to that? We're stumped; I live in a small town, so there is no Volvo specialty shop locally.
Dealer charges would be beyond my budget; I'm on a fixed income.

Any feedback would be helpful!
Thank you!

 

I know on my 89 740 sedan, the crank position sensor can be very tempermental. It is on the bell housing, pass. side. Mine will not want to start; I'll pull the cps, clean it off and re-install. Fires right up. Mine is a 5 sp manual, I'm guessing the clutch generates enough dust to cause this, I have to clean it off about every 6 months.

dave