Hello!

I have a 1990 240, which is in decent shape. I absolutely love this car and have put a lot of care into it for the past 6 years I've been driving it.

So, about a month ago I had an issue where the car would turn over but wouldn't start. That issue came out of nowhere, nothing of the sort plagued it before. I went over all the obvious things (spark, grounds, fuel pumps, that random blade fuse, etc.). Ended up towing it, and my mechanic diagnosed it as a bad Ignition Computer. I called up a Volvo buddy and he sent me a replacement (replaced the original 0227400169 with a 0227400146), and the car ran just fine for a couple weeks.

Then I had this issue where the car started loosing power on the freeway, and the engine would shudder if I would try to increase speed, almost like it wasn't getting enough fuel. I took it in and the mechanic thought my fuel send unit was bad (it had some awful wiring from a few years before), so I replaced the send unit and the in-tank pump. Same problem persisted after about a half hour on the freeway, where it started loosing power and shuttering when accelerating. Then I hit a huge pothole and BOOM, no power, car rolls to a stop dead; won't start but will turn over. I take the car back in and he works on it, saying everything looks fine. Honestly not sure what all he did. Anyways, I go for a drive the next day, and the same problem happens. I pull into a parking lot and the car is chugging, barely not stalling out. I figure it's something computer related, and so I shut off the car and unplug the batter for about 10 minutes, plug it back in, and et voila! I was able to drive home with none of the symptoms.

So it seems any time the car gets unplugged (i/e: at the mechanics') it behaves fine for about 20 miles before the issue starts again.

Sorry for the essay! I love this car, but honestly don't even know what to do. Any insight helps, thanks!

 

sounds to me like a bad connection somewhere. hard to say where.

 

Check your crank position sensor. It is located at the top of the bell housing where the engine and transmission meet. It has a fat black wire coming from it that runs to a connector on the firewall. If the insulation is cracked and flaking off then it needs replacement. When they start to fail they do fail intermittently - usually after the car warms up.

Next item to check is the fuel pump relay. Next time the car won't start, turn the key to the II position. You should hear the main fuel pump run for around a second and then shut off. If you don't hear the pump run, then it could be a failed fuel pump relay.

 

Fuel pump relay is new (about 1 month old), I changed it when I replaced both fuel pumps. It does indeed prime when the key is turned to the II position.

Haven't checked the crank position sensor. I'll check it and let ya know.