My 1985 Volvo 240 is currently not running. It will turn over fine but that's it. I saw that these wires were disconnected and after connecting them my no start was NOT solved and I 'm worried my car was running well before the no start and that these wires may have been disconnected for a reason....?? Any ideas? I'm afraid I don't know exactly what this box is either




*About the no start, I'm a bit of a youtube mechanic so I try to do what I can and take it to a real mechanic if I can't figure it out.

I know the car is getting decent spark and it wants to start and turns over a bit with starter fluid so I'm pretty sure it's something with fuel. Just recently changed fuel filter so it's not that. It seems like an electrical gremlin because there was no signs of a problem, I pulled into the driveway, washed it and it wouldn't start afterwards. This is the second time it just wouldn't start after being driven. The last time I had it towed to a mechanic where it miraculously started up upon arrival hence the gremlin. I've jumped the wires on fuse 6 and 4 and hear the pump winding up high pitched. I think that should bypass the relay and I tried starting while doing that with no success. I don't feel any click with the relay when I turn the key on or crank it. I saw a post saying to take out the relay and cross 87 and 30 but my relay has a 31 and no 30. There's also multiple 87's. I made an attempt to cross 87 and 31 but I think the battery was already too low from starting it so much. If the in tank pump was the culprit would the car run with a full tank of gas? I've got about a 1/4 tank. Not sure what I should do next, any help deciphering wires would be appreciated. Probably going to let the tow truck fix it again with another ride to the mechanic lol ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

What's this wire? If it plugs into that dana box - i'd bet it's part of the cruise control..

85 won't start - do you hear the fuel pumps when you bump the starter? (open door, push door light switch to stop the chime, lean down, bump key - do you hear the main pump go buzzzzzzz?)

No - find, open and close the fuel pump relay contacts - buzzing now? (or does your car have the two silver relays for the fuel system?)

And yes if you have a bad feeder pump or a broken feeder pump hose - the car will run with 1/2-3/4 tank of gas.

 

Thanks, I guess if that's the case I can try using that cruise control when I get the car going again! It certainly never worked before.

When I jump fuses I can get the main pump to whirl and I had someone else jump them and listened at the gas tank. I thought I heard the in-tank pump turn on but now I realize I left the fuse #4 in so I guess that means when I jumped 6 to 4 both pumps were ostensibly running and I may have just heard the vibration of the other pump and thought it was the in-tank pump. I will remove the fuse tomorrow and try the left and right side separately. I'm curious what the next step is if both make noises tho. I'll report tomorrow.

I am still not certain if the relay is working or not. If I wanted to test a bad relay am I supposed to try to start the car while jumping fuse 6 and 4 with the fuse installed to send voltage to both pumps at the same time? I have 2 relays so I've switched them a bit over the course of trying to diagnose. Also, would it be worth me pushing the car to the gas station 4 blocks in order to fill up the tank? Does a failed check valve always leak or can it fail without leaking? I don't have any leaks currently.

 

Ok, this is embarrassing but I should wrap this up and finalize a question I still have...

So there is a relay that I have for many years thought was the fuel pump relay erroneously. You have to remove the glove box and it sits behind the vent to the side of the glovebox. I believe now that this is the relay for the overdrive for the M46 transmission. So I've always carried an extra one like any good Volvo owner and was assuming that I was addressing the relay for the fuel pump as I was switching out this overdrive relay I was looking high and low for the problem while never actually addressing the actual fuel pump relay which all the while was the only problem. The amount of time I have wasted playing detective is just beyond the pale but I recognized my error and got a relay at a salvage yard and my car is running now (applause)

The one question I have is that when I would jump the wire from fuse 6 to 4 (with the fuse still in) both pumps would run but I could not get the car started doing this. Being that the relay was the problem and jumping the wires ostensibly 'bypassed' the relay why didn't my car start? Hopefully the answer will help someone in the future.

 

well that is surely a strange phenomenon..it 'should' have worked for you. i too keep on every day finding new strange things of electrical nature
happening to my 31 year old volvo...