A few weeks ago, this 96 850 sedan started right up as normal and i drove it about 5 blocks and it suddenly quit running just like i had turned off the keyl..it stumbled and stopped,much like it was out of fuel. Attempts to restart were negative. Over the past weeks i have thought about the potential problems and after a few days, i started to fool with it!
after reading about every no start on this forum, i heard about all the potential issues known to cause my no start-turning over normal condition. I decided to spray some starter fluid into the intake....the car started and ran for a few seconds and so that indicated i had a fuel issue. that seemed to narrow it down to pump, filter, relay and or pressure regulator. i had noted earlier that i had no pressure to speak of in the fuel rail. Yesterday, i put the floor jack under it and raised it off the ground. on a lark, i again sprayed the starter fluid in the intake and cranked it and it immediately started to run. this time it continued to run and take increased pedal to increase rpms......before it would not take increase and before it stumbled after about 25 seconds and stopped running.
i was letting it run for about a minute and smelled gas...i shut it off and cranked it again and it started right up without the starter fluid this time. in the past an attempt to restart was negative. I looked underneath and find lots of fuel leaking from what appears to be the left side`[driver's side] and i just crawled under it and cannot see where the leak is. Having not hit anything or otherwise done anything to cause a break or disconnect in the fuel system i never looked or smelled fuel before this event. i think i know what has happened....orgininally, i started my drive, the car was leaking from somewhere....what fuel was available did it's thing and when the supply ran out, it stopped running. without the engine running, i susspect the fuel pump sensing a break in the line [low pressure] refused to pump more fuel into the engine. is this a safery system on the vehicle through all the interconnected electroics-sensors?

the question here for the knowledgable is what is the normal routing for the fuel lines? i thought i knew this but the major leaking on the bottom of the engine is coming from the driver's side[left side] from above. i know the lines on vehicle bottom come along the right bottom side and disappear into the back side of the engine. on top of engine i see two lines i believe are fuel line which come up on the passenger side of the engine [opposite side from fuel rail pressure port]

i have no idea where the connection might be that is leaking and if you have an idea or a fuel line diagram it would be helpful. Obviously, this is a pretty easy solution as it says to me all the potential system failures are working as designed and lack of fuel to engine will cause it to stop.

i await your collective knowledge!

thanks

 

I am having the same issue with my 1995 850 GLT I dont have any prsure in the fuel bar. I am leaning towrd replacing the fuel pump. I tested the relay and it seems to be ok

 

as you have read i went though all the possibilities and was trying to narrow down the cause....this leak did not show up except when i just happened to spray the intake with starter and let it run....so, i would advise before you do anything,spray some stater inside the black intake air hose.....it took about 4 different times spread over about a week before this leak started to show below the left side [driver's side]
as i mentioned, i suspect the fuel rail pressure being low was as a result of the unkown leak......which remainded a secret until i got the thing to run and then the fuel pump kept running instead of automatically shutting off and that finally showed the leak...............now i have to find where the heck it's leaking from....does anyone know if there is some kind of a connection on engine left side that may have come loose? i have not run over anything or dragged it in anyway....just happened.....

thanks!

 

The only fuel system related component on the driver's side (U.S model) was a charcoal canister, but it should not cause the engine to stop/not start. See attached.


JPN

 

appreciate the info.....the leak could be coming from that area based on where the majority of the leaking fuel is exiting the bottom....i will have a look see.......
if you have any other thoughts, i'd be thankful for the consult!

 

I don't believe that canister gets any fuel, just fumes. You will need to just follow the lines. I think the system has a return, maybe there is a leak in that line.

 

there is a lesson here somewhere and i am going to provide what i found yesterday and also have an unanswered question:
while the engine was running yesterday, i decided to look on top of engine to see if i could determine where the leak was orginating.....the first time i saw a leak came as the car was jacked up so i could get underneath....of course, when i spotted the leaking, i shut off the motor....anyway, yesterday while the vehicle was off the jacks, i looked on top and much to my surprise, the leak was,in fact, coming from underneath the fuel rail....i had removed the two bolts from it in order to access the fuel pressure point and now, that it was running the fuel was being presssured out of the motor..
i quickly replaced the two bolts and the leak was gone.now what i'd really like to know is, what in fact started this whole thing....i've had to replace nothing and i know i had no leak to begin with...so, after looking at all the fuel supply components, and having screwed everything back into place, i have my car now running smoothly and not missing a beat...nothing i checked over this 3 week oddess showed any malfunction and now i'm back to square one....i am wondering what really happened to cause this to begin with......any ideas would be appreciated and as i said this morning at the b'fast nook, i am now more acutely intimate with the innder workings of my volvo!
thanks for your help and suggestions!
d