I went to start my 95 volvo 850 the other day (it had been sitting for about 2 weeks) it started fine there wasn't any hard cranking or anything. Ran for a few seconds then it stalled... I tried starting it again and it just cranked, didn't even try to start. The fuel pump is working and it has spark, I'm guessing the timing belt broke or it jumped time.
When it stalled there wasn't any sputtering it just died.
Is there anything else i should check before i assume thw worse? I really don't want to mess with the timing on this thing.

 

I think it would be reasonable to look and see if the cams are turning. The easiest place to look might be through the oil filler hole, but you be the judge. You could also take the distributor cap off momentarily. You could pry apart the timing belt covers (a little abusive). You'll need a friend to hit the starter.


After that, in no particular order, I would probably do some of these things;
1. Try to run it on ether starting fluid. If it runs then you have a spark.
2. Check fuel pressure
3. Check for a spark
4. Make sure the fuel injection relay on top of the radiator is getting power to the fuel injectors. This relay has a plug that will probably be rotten inside.


If you don't have spark, then come back here. The cam sensor is easy to diagnose, but the crank sensor just has an ohm range where it's supposed to be "good". If you do have a spark, and all the above seem okay, I might do a wet compression test or at least squirt a little oil in each cylinder. I had a strange event just like you describe on my 95 about a month ago, where it lost compression. The Volvo forum people call this "lawn mower syndrome" and it's awfully strange, but it did happen to me. Eventually I got it restarted without doing any actual work. If that is the problem then I think a wet compression test ought to solve it.

 

I checked for spark and it has it. I will try to see if the cams turn.
Volvos are really strange

 

How?

There are types of common ways to keep valves moving, timing belt, timing chain, and push rods. They have their share of advantages and disadvantage. Lack of keep up is usual the cause of timing belt breaking.

 

if your getting pressure on the fuel rail, and there is spark, check fuel injector relay. other option would be the MAF sensor just quit. See if your able to pull a code from the OBDI diagnostic. I believe the cam sensor and crank sensor would cut out spark if they went bad. MAF sensor may let it run very poorly or not at all. Hope it helps

 

I'd start by jumpering the fuel pump relay and after that the FI relay.

 

If you have spark the cams are turning.