Hi there!

So I have a 89 volvo 240 DL and I seriously love the thing!!! Since I got the vehicle in February, it seems to have an inconsistent way of starting. Let me add that the battery is BRAND new and it was no cheap battery, the best you can get for this volvo. Anyways, sometimes I turn the key and its starts beautifully, right away with NO problems. Then sometimes, I turn the key and you have to hold it and its its does er er er er then turns over (still always starts). Then sometimes, you turn the key, it goes er er er er turns over, then shuts off a second later (still always get it to start though). Today, started no problem. I got to work, parked on street turned engine off but I wanted to leave more room for the person behind me so I went to turn the car on and it went er er er er and then did the turn over then stalled. Tried again, SAME thing. At this point I was like Like OH Shiat!!! Tried again and it went er er er er turned over and then I gave it some gas and it stayed running. I let it run for a few, giving a little gas, backed up and shut the car.


Long story short, does anyone know was causes this inconsistent starting? Somedays great, others no great. And I've noticed that if I start it up, once the engine is cooled 100% (like driving the next day) it more then not starts up no problem, but then I drive to store, park come back out to start, it does want to start right away (like the engine is now warm/hot).

The volvo specialist who checked out my car when I first got it ( he only works on volvo and saab) said everything looked fine, expect weak battery so I replaced.

Anything would be helpful!

Thanks!!!

 

Could be the alternator is going bad. The alternator recharges the battery...if it's not functioning properly, the battery doesn't get re-charged (even though it's a new battery). Thus the slow starts.

 

yes I agree, not charging, the Er, ER, er sounds like the motor isn't cranking fast enough?

look at the alternator, follow the wires to hot side of battery and check how the alternator is grounded. a bad ground will cause this kind of issues. check if the motor and body are both grounded properly, If you wanted to you could check this with a meter or you could improvise by bridging a temporary ground strap to make sure it's grounded. check down under the car near the alternator, it should have a ground wire connected to the body frame near here. make sure that's a good connection. Its hard to see there and probably oily. I had similar problems after replacing an alternator and eventually traced the issue to there. If you are good with a meter you can investigate this more scientifically.

put a meter across the battery, Youll probably see 10 or 11 volts or something , then start the car and check this again. You should see a higher voltage with the car running ..
If you don't get a significant difference from running to not running with your two leads across the battery it isn't charging. you can swap the alternator out if that
's the case but Ive replaced alternators only to realize it wasn't that it was not connected right anymore. don't forget to check your battery cables and make sure they aren't corroded. If you want to clean them put a few tablespoons of baking soda in a jar and mix with water than dunk the terminals in that for 1/2 hr. one at a time of course.
if you jump start it and accidentally put the leads backwards I think that can fry the rectifier in the alternator.

if you want you can check the 12 volts across the battery, then keep the red lead on the battery posit=ive and take the same reading with the black not to the battery but instead to the body, or to the engine block. If you start seeing different voltages by doing this you found a fault.. now do the same with the other lead, check across the battery, then take the red lead and put that to the lug on the starter motor and to the hot lug on the alternator, again you should not see a difference from the first reading and if you do, you have found an issue. If you find stuff like that then start examining the heavy red leads and ground wires more carefully.

some older volvos might have a separate voltage regulator . I think most of the newer ones had it combined but you want to check which you have if you replace it.

the other thing could be a bad starter motor. you could take it out and have a look and do some lubrication and check it out , or if you replace it youll find they are common all the way back to the 60's the newer ones are tiny by comparison but they still work well.

if you can't use a meter, or don't have one turn on your headlights while you are cranking. if your headlights dim down it probably means you have low voltage, maybe because it isn't charging well. If the problem is with the alternator , try charging the battery. if your problems all go away until your battery weakens again then I;d look at the charging system. If a freshly charged battery does not make a difference and it's still hard to turn over I'd look at all the lug connections, the ground straps , don't' miss the ground strap on the engine. make sure those are all good.

sometimes you can have an issue with the starter where it gets stuck and won't fly out and enguage properly. If you get stuck you could have an assistant take a long bar or wood block and put that on the starter motor and then while you are turnign the key and it's trying to crank, give the piece of wood or steel rod a rap with a hammer to shock the starter. If that makes a difference then blame the starter. sometimes that trick can get you home if things get stuck like in freezing weather. it's not a fix.

the starter should have contacts so when it is out and enguaged with the flywheel it is in contact and cranking too. If these contacts get bad you need to fix that. On really old starters you could flip parts over to get new contacts but the newer ones are probably just sealed and need to be replaced.

starter motors don't fail too often so you should be able to find a good used one and be ok if you dont' want to invest money, or take yours apart and see whats wrong, maybe it just needs a cleaning and lube.

if all else fails and the speed of cranking isn't slow, then it could be a problem with the contacts inside your key switch. If it were that it wouldn't make it crank too slowly but you'd probably see some times when you turned the key and it didn't crank.. This wouldn't be the forst place I'd start based on your interpretation because it sounds like you are seeing a condition where it is cranking slowly.

while working around these heavy leads like the red one and even the grounds, keep in mind that you do have a considerable amount of amperage available , it's only 12 volts but still If you create a short you;ll get considerable sized sparks. an example might be if you reached under around the alternator and got your gold ring caught up between the engine and the hot lug on your alternator. that condition could make your ring instantly red hot, not fun... so even though it's low voltage , still respect it. also if it is a manual transmission and it is in gear it would be possible to put power to the starter and make the car lurch ahead. If you want to be cautious you can disconnect the battery in between each electrical test. just be careful.

Phil

 

Most likely the Fuel Pressure Regulator is not holding pressure once car is hot, (it starts better cold), right? Or the starter is getting tired... Since you have a good battery AND the car starts well cold, the the alt. should be OK. Still, check that voltage is right at rest 10V+, and the alt. is charging 13.8V.