OK, this is the second mechanic who has kept the car for three months or more. Here's the deal:

This is the second mechanic who has kept my 240DL for two months and has done nothing to work on the car.

Problem with car: the in the tank fuel pump is bad, I know it is bad, no question about it being bad. It is bad.

Mechanic has now had the car for two months and still hasn't figured out the problem. He did a "tune-up" which involved replacing the wires, plugs, Mass Air Sensor, etc., etc., etc.

Still, the engine/fuel/spark cuts out at 2500 RPM. The mechanic is bitching to me that they can't figure out the error codes. This is Bullsh*t. Three months and this crap is still going on. I know what the problem is and it is the in the tank fuel pump, but the mechanic still ignores the logical diagnosis.

Every week for the past three months it's "We're working on it" which is BS. I chalk marked the tire on the car and it has not moved for three months. Why do they not want to work on this car?! This is the second mechanic who has pull this ****e on us.

At this point, I am so fed up that I am thinking about just taking the car in the middle of the night and letting the SOB try to sue me for the bill for not fixing the problem which is now up to about $3000 for a problem they cannot fix.

I just want my car back. If they can't fix it and have been yanking my chains for three months,. I don't think they should get a frigging cent for any work they allegedly have done.

I am sick and tired of telling mechanics what the exact problem is, and then getting totally ignored, getting billed for thousands of dollars to fix everything that isn't wrong with the car, and then getting a bill for the $50 fix which I told them about before they worked on the car.

So, should I just take the car back and stiff them on all the unnecessary crap they did that was not the problem and fight them in court when they sue me for them not doing their job?

 

fuel pump has NOTHING to do with spark.

a 240 with a completely dead in tank pump will still run fine right up to its top speed at full throttle as long as there's more than 1/2 tank of gas, engine performance will only suffer when the gas tank is below 1/3rd, and even then it will just stumble a little under full throttle acceleration, it won't completely shut down at a fixed RPM. the main pump will be noisy if the tank pump is dead.

 

You are stuck between a rock and a hard place. How you have waited this long without taking some action is part of your problem. If you are so sure of the solution just tell the mechanic to replace the fuel pump and pay your way and take the car. Other option is to pay up and take the car and take it to someone and tell them to replace the pump . I don't think this is the problem but if you want the pump changed then get it done

 

how did they come up with $3k bill for not doing anything? seems they did a 'tuneup' which should be a couple hundred at most.
if they are really serious about charging $3k for you to get the car back you could always call their bluff and tell them you offer 200 and take the car back otherwise they can keep it and pound sand for their extortion money. they have a mechanics' lien on it but the bill still has to be justified somehow.
not sure of the condition or year of your 240 but around here they are worth less than $2k usually for one with say 200k miles on it, so to pay 3k for a car that is worth 1/2 of that doesn't make any sense. i would not take the car in the middle of the night but i may think about pulling my plates off it!

 

30 hours of diagnosis would run up a $300 bill around here at an average shop.

 

LOL if it would take 30 hrs to diagnose this issue (or any issue!), then they should go back to mechanic's school and start over...

 

well, yeah.


way I see it, this is this mechanics way of saying "I DO NOT WANT TO WORK ON THIS PIECE OF $#@$@#"

 

Ain't you missing a 0 on that $300?

Anyway... for a lot less than 3 grand you can get a lifetime warrantied Volvo OE fuel sender assembly from fcpeuro... and the locknut tool from ipd. DIY or pay some kid to do the job... lots of videos on YouTube on how to do it

 

After you've replaced the pump and find you still have a problem.... check the crank position sensor ( if your 240 has one).

 

This is so worth a new thread for this type of problem!

 

So what IS the problem then?

 

OP posted https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...500-rpm-94815/

timing belt was a tooth off on the secondary shaft, so the distributor rotor was not well centered on the terminals so when the ignition advanced with RPM, it couldn't bridge the gap and spark would die.