Good evening good people!

I am the proud owner of a Volvo 240 1990, 3.4L, that only occasionally wants to start, and on the rare occasion that it starts it only idles
until it gets warm before dying. The car was running just fine a couple of weeks ago.

I have previously had similar problems because of an issue with the fuel pump relay / fuel pump, and have changed those so they are not the problem now. The car has also been to a shop for diagnosis and as far as they could figure out, the car is receiving fuel and there is no problems with the ignition.
The self-diagnose codes are "111" meaning no problems that it can register.

I tried taking off the MAF so that the engine could pull clean air, the car then started for a short while, running very badly on idle before dying. After putting the MAF back on, the car started immediately, but died again after it had idled for a short while. The only indicator on the dashboard is the Lambda-sensor, but this lamp has been on for all the years i have owned the car.

My long-time suspect has been an after-market anti-theft device/alarm that is installed. This is an old Gemini 1160, and this system has the ability to shut down the motor. I do not think this is the problem anymore because of the previously mention MAF test.

If anyone has any advice I would be extremely grateful.
Thank you very much!

 

I think you meant the 2.3l engine right? I'd start by checking the throttle body, IAC, fuel pressure regulator, could possibly be the ECU too but I doubt it.

My '90 volvo 245 had a similar issue, after I reconnected the speedometer wire and changed the fuel regulator it went away but I could never figure out how it'd be related to the speedometer wire (its a wire that goes to the ECU, and at that time my speedometer died a slow death).

 

Sounds like a MAFS problem. What you did doesn't seem right. Only way to know is to swap it, odd that the OBD doesn't show a fault but it happens.