Ok so here goes hope of finding a solution aside from throwing parts at it. I have owned this 850 since about Feb of this year, looking back a few times it didnt fire right away but required some cranking and would start. I drove the car home from work a few weeks ago and it ran fine, It sat for a few days my wife and I had our baby girl so I didnt drive it for almost a week. Went to start it the other morning to head back to work and I get a no start issue. So far things I have checked/tested.
Checked timing belt and timing mark alignment
Checked for spark at coil pack and spark plug
Fuel pump primes @ ignition on and seem to have fuel psi @ rail but need to test how much still.
Tested cam sensor with multimeter and got a reading of .3v not sure if that is out of spec.
Checked and jumped fuel pump relay and still had a no start

At this point I still want to check actual fuel psi and I think im going to try the VSS next as well. Am I missing anything?

 

Well, the first thing I would do is this. Get a can of starting fluid, and shoot a small 1 second burst into the air intake (upstream of the air filter). Then try to start the car. If it starts and runs for a few seconds, you have a fuel delivery/fuel pressure issue. If it does not start and run for a couple seconds, it is most likely spark or timimg.

That is how I always check a no-start problem, and it tends to save some troubleshooting time.

Good luck!

 

Does the car crank?

It needs 5 things to start:
1. Fuel
2. Air
3. Spark
4. Timing
5. Compression.

Hope this helps.

 

It cranks all day long just wont fire! sometimes it acts like its going to fire off but just stumbles. Yea I have been trying to rule out the 5 steps with everything I have done thus far. Part of me is thinking its the cam sensor but that's not a cheap "lets hope this works part" I also read in another thread where it says the cam sensor fails you wont have spark but im getting spark from the coil all the way to the plugs.

 

You know I have a 94 as well that I have had since November of last year. I definitely don't drive it every day but I drive it the short drive to work and back most days. It almost always starts right up for me first time every time including through the winter but I noticed sometimes if I only go for a short drive it won't start back up the first crank. Today I was backing out of Starbucks on the way into work and stalled it and it took about 4-5 cranks to get it to start again. It started up fine when I got out of work and this afternoon running errands though. Not sure what the deal is with that.

 

You haven't checked fuel pressure at the rail yet. Why are you leaning toward the cam sensor? My money is on the fuel pump but that's a complete wag; fuel pressure ck will tell you...

 

As I said before, try a shot of starting fluid....that will tell you if it is fuel related or not....

 

If you are getting spark it's not the cam sensor. If the plugs are getting wet or you have pressure at the fuel rail valve, it's likely not the fuel pump (can't remember if you can hear the pump or not). Air is a given 95% of the time. You said timing was on. That leaves COMPRESSION.

Not sure why people want to waste so much time avoiding a quick comoression test. It's like not being able to take a leak and not going to the doctor to get your junk checked when you know you've been horing around town with all the nasty girls. These cars are known for having burnt valves more than any other car that I know of.

If compression checks out, then you likely have a problem that's over your head and need some serious help.

Where are you located? I'm trolling around the country right now. If I get close to you maybe I'll stop by and give you a quick hand. I have most of my tools with me because I was planning to do some work on a couple of cars while I was on the road. These NO START marathons are killing me.

 

Oh, I apologize for the rant. I thought this was another thread that has been dealing with a NO START issue for about 5 days.

 

No problem on the rant.....I kind of enjoyed it <grin>

At least a no start is a little better than what happened on my sons car (Not a volvo) he broke an intake valve at highway speed today and lunched the engine.......Of course it was an Escort with 204K on it so.......

 

Thanks for all the feed back, rspi im located in Northern VA. Well it rained yesterday so I didnt get a chance after work to look at it any more. I hope to get my hands on a fuel pressure tester as well as a compression tester things I don't have in my personal tool box. I called Autozone and couldn't believe they want $150.00 bucks for their loaner tool fuel pressure tester, that's a lot of money just to borrow it!! Any how lets hope the weather holds out today and I can get my hands on those tools. I have been driving my father in laws F150 and its killing me on gas..

 

one320fc: you DO know that they give you that money back when you return it, right?

 

Yea im well aware of that, its just a lot of money told hold for a tool that can be bought for less then 50 bucks.

 

One: okay, just making sure. I usually just put them on my credit card - the refund goes back on it within a couple days, and i dont pay any interest on it.

 

I likely wont be in VA for 3 weeks. I'm in NM now, headed to AZ. Hope you get it sorted out before then.

 

Well here is a shocker for this thread! Went after work today and got a compression and fuel pressure tester, and started at the fuel rail and got 39psi so I started putting everything back together and gave the key a turn and the 850 started!! WTF so over a week of trying to figure out why it want start and it starts on its own.