I am posting this for a friend who has a 1980 Volvo 242 (essentially a
2-door version of the 240). It has a 4 cylinder engine, 4 speed manual with overdrive, and CIS fuel injection. He did a lot of work on the car last summer when one of the engine harness wires just gave out, and the other wires were corroded to the point where repair wasn¹t an option, so he had to replace that and a buncha other stuff. He replaced the engine harness, starter, fuel filter, cap & rotor, new plugs, brake master cylinder, water pump, brake metering valve, timing belt, crank and camshaft seals, oil pan gasket, thermo-time switch.So all was going well until about two weeks ago, when he was driving along and the engine cut off and then on again, and then started stopping at stop lights, causing him to have to restart it several times. Then he drove it home and put it into the garage, where it has sat ever since.
It would always turn over, and occassionally start and run, then sometimes it would not run, but it would always die. First he tried to see if it was fuel or electrially related - he tried a new cap and rotor (spares that he had from the last summer) and that didn¹t work any better.
Then I called a friend who owned the car before I did, and he thought it might have been the fuel pump relay. I checked it out under the dashboard, and found that the connector had also been melted slightly as well as one of the terminals on the relay being a little discolored. So we went and got a connector off an old junker that was electrically sound, and soldered it up to the old wires, checked them for continuity and it seemed to be fine. Then he ordered a new fuel pump relay and when it came in it didn¹t help either. He tried to jump the fuel pump at the connectors, and was able to get the car started and keep it running for three minutes before he disconnected the jumper wires. The next day he connected the same jumper wires again, and it turned over but wouldn¹t start or run. I thought the new relay was bad, and had him replace it. The newer relay didn¹t work any better.
We hooked up a timing light to the spark plug wire and battery - the light came on when we turned the key and the engire turned, but the engine didn't catch or run.
So now we are stuck - why is this old beater not wanting to start or run? The engine will turn but will not catch. What else could be the problem? Any constructive suggestions? He now has no car and is not able to get out to parts stores all that easilly, and really doesn't have fuel pressure or other diagnostic tools except for a timing light and multi-meter.
Please respond to cjtelesca at yahoo dot com