Im looking into getting an 88 240 wagon 5speed that has been sitting in a shed for almost 3 years, it was running when parked and only parked because the owner got a BMW but did not want to part with the volvo because of sentimental value. Its a one owner car, the couple thats selling it has had it since new.The car has spark and turns over but does not start. We sprayed some starting fluid and it started right away but will die a couple of seconds later. Took of the fuel line going to the fuel rail and there no gas getting there when we try to start the car. We thing it might be a bad fuel pump but I want to ask here will I diagnose the fuel pump to make sure that is the problem?

Aside from the starting issue the car is almost perfect condition. They are asking $900 as is, is this a good price?

 

you're going to need to flush the brakes, transmission, coolant, relubricate anything that moves, and probably replace all rubber from the tires to the hoses, if its been sitting undriven 3 years, before you put that car on the road.

Also, whatever is still in the gas tank ain't gasoline anymore, it will need to be flushed out or at least very dilluted with good gas.

there's 2 fuel pumps on that car, a low pressure pump inside the gas tank, and a high pressure 'main' pump under the car. first step is to confirm they are getting power.

Do note, the fuel pumps usually are only run about 1 second when you turn the key on, then they shut off until the engine is actually turned over, the hall sensor in the distributor sends timing pulses to the ICU (Ignition control unit) mounted on your right front fender just behind the headlight, and the ICU in turn sends those timing pulses to the ECU (Fuel injection control unit) which is mounted in the passenger footwell just forward of the lower door hinge. The ECU sees those pulses, and turns on the fuel pump relay, which is located behind the glove box.

there's some tricks where you can use jumper wires on the fuse panel to force power to the fuel pumps to test them.

 

I jumped fuse 4 with fuse 6 and I got ab little soark that indicates the pumps are trying to run but I can hear the pump running so Im thinking it might also need new pumps

 

ummmm, if you heard the pumps running, then why do you think you need new pumps? more likely, you need a new fuel pump relay

 

Sorry I meant I dont hear the pumps running

 

the in-tank pump is pretty hard to hear, especially if there's more than about 1/3-1/2 tank of gas. even with a mostly empty tank, I can only hear it with my ear up to the gas filler pipe, it makes a soft flutter sound.

to check if the fuel pump relay is working, connect a volt meter or 12V test light between fuse 4 and ground, and turn the ignition key on, you should see the light or volts come on for about a second then off again, and if you crank the car, it should come on again, and not stop until about a second after you stop cranking.

if you remove fuse 4, you can manually power the pumps seperately with that 4-6 jumper wire trick... the fuse 4 contact to the left is connected to the main pump and the one on the right is connected to the tank pump.... this is because the main pump is NOT on the fuse, only the tank pump is.

btw, that main 25A fuse is not just for the fuel pumps, its for the entire fuel injection system including the pumps.

 

Will I need to buy new fuel pumps or is there anything else I need to check before buying them?

 

Anyone in the virginia beach area that knows about this cars that can help me s9rt this out?