Volvo woes

[Eagle_Adam]

A friend was gifted with this free 87 Volvo 240dl

 

Of course it's a non runner so this was day 1

 

 

So I foolishly agreed to help her out figuring it would only take a week to get in running shape

 

(I was wrong, very wrong)

 

 

Here's a brief glance at what's been done since day 1

 

Drained the ancient gas

 

Tossed in some fresh gas and Charged the battery only to find fuel pouring out from under the car -.-

 

The culprit was obvious

 

 

So it got a fresh fuel filter and hardline (this 240 has 2 fuel pumps btw..... More on that later)

 

But alas it still diddnt wanna idle, after some googling I came to the conclusion the main pump in the tank was shot(common in these apparently)

 

 

Which led me to a pretty awesome local co that specializes in volvos (https://www.ipdusa.com)

 

Where I picked up an "upgrade kit" for the Intank pump

 

 

 

And bam!

 

She was up and running!!

[Eagle_Adam]

She drove it for a month or so and came back wanting to show it some love, sounded good to me!!

 

 

After a smoke test I found a bad throttle body gasket but that was about it besides the regular suspects so off I went

 

 

Fuses, air filter, oil change, valve adjustment, new TB gasket, and valve cover gasket

 

 

As suspected the TB gasket was toast

 

So I cleaned the TB while It was off

 

Valve adjustment and new valve cover gasket

 

Once again, ran like a champ when it left :)

 

[Eagle_Adam]

She even had the interior detailed

 

[Eagle_Adam]

A week or so later I got a call that the car wouldn't start after they went grocery shopping -.-

 

Easy fix this time tho, ended up needing a new EFI relay(another known part that goeas out randomly) and I was able to fix it in the parking lot in about 10 min

 

[Eagle_Adam]

Now here's where it gets weird and frustrating(for me atleast)

 

I got a call late one night saying the car wouldn't start......

 

And cus it was late I just told her to AAA it to my place and I'd look in the morning cus I was already in bed

 

Unfortunately for me the driver couldn't follow instructions so I had to get outta bed anyway to show him where to put the Volvo

 

 

But come to find out her car had been hit in the parking lot -.-

 

And as expected it wouldn't start -.-

 

It's been 3 weeks now......

 

I've replaced:

Dizzy and coil with JY ones

Plug wires, cap, and rotor

IACV

Battery cables with JY ones that's were in better shape than what was there

 

And checked everything I can think of

 

But still....

 

Won't run, won't idle

 

Sometimes it does start but you gotta lay on the throttle to keep it alive

[Eagle_Adam]

I refuse to toss anymore parts or time at it, and I'm not quite sure where to go with this little 240dl :/

 

I've even had a couple friends that wrench for a living take a peak at it and nobody has answers -.-

 

She's is 95% done with the car and completely tapped on funds and is wanting to more or less sell me the car for what she owes but I know that it's gotta be something simple I'm Missing

 

It's got fuel at the injectors

Spark at the plugs

And air seems to be getting in just fine :/

 

 

Sooooooo........

 

Anybody on here dabble in volvo's?

[datzenmike]

Is there a kill switch that is triggered by an accident? Needs to be reset?

[Eagle_Adam]

Not that I'm aware of, these 240's seem to be notorious for wiring harness issues too apparently( spent the last few hours pouring over turbobricks.com ) I'm afraid somewhere a harness has impacted the body and is causing a short

 

And I hate electrical so.......

[flatcat19]

When you can get it running, does it run strong? Good compression?

[Eagle_Adam]

Compression checks out within 10psi across all 4,

 

When it does run you gotta burry the throttle to keep it there and if you let up it does. Won't idle for shit

[bilzbobaggins]

I remember trying to find that fuel pump relay on my buddy's 240 some years ago. All I had was a chitons manual. I kept looking where it said it was for hours. Come to find out it was for s right hand drive model. Duh huh

 

Good luck on this

[TENDRIL]

clogged exhaust? 

[Eagle_Adam]

clogged exhaust?

 

Not this time around

[Eagle_Adam]

Finally got it!

 

The air mass meter had gone bad between when I had initially tested it(according to what I thought was correct) and when a mutual friend of the owner who's a Volvo tech stopped by and diagnosed it for me.

Or maybe I tested the AMM incorrectly to begin with.....

 

I don't know -.-

 

So it was off to pick n pull, got super lucky and found what looks like a brand new AMM! (They are $300 - $400 new)

 

So finding this for $40 was a super score

 

 

But it's up and running strong again!

[datzenmike]

Damn, I thought Volvo's were better than that.

[DaveyDaveDaveDave]

Finally got it!

 

The air mass meter had gone bad between when I had initially tested it(according to what I thought was correct) and when a mutual friend of the owner who's a Volvo tech stopped by and diagnosed it for me.

Or maybe I tested the AMM incorrectly to begin with.....

 

I don't know -.-

 

So it was off to pick n pull, got super lucky and found what looks like a brand new AMM! (They are $300 - $400 new)

 

So finding this for $40 was a super score

 

 

But it's up and running strong again!

 

Common issue with these things. Get a spare one for in the trunk, and run premium.

[DaveyDaveDaveDave]

Now here's where it gets weird and frustrating(for me atleast)

 

I got a call late one night saying the car wouldn't start......

 

And cus it was late I just told her to AAA it to my place and I'd look in the morning cus I was already in bed

 

Unfortunately for me the driver couldn't follow instructions so I had to get outta bed anyway to show him where to put the Volvo

 

 

But come to find out her car had been hit in the parking lot -.-

 

And as expected it wouldn't start -.-

 

It's been 3 weeks now......

 

I've replaced:

Dizzy and coil with JY ones

Plug wires, cap, and rotor

IACV

Battery cables with JY ones that's were in better shape than what was there

 

And checked everything I can think of

 

But still....

 

Won't run, won't idle

 

Sometimes it does start but you gotta lay on the throttle to keep it alive

Commando bumpers!  (thick ass aluminum, made to ram through shit)

[Eagle_Adam]

If it was mine I woulda already mighty max'd the shit out of it ;)