Perfectly Running 240 Wagon Just Stopped Working Tonight!

Sounds like a dead crank position sensor.

Could be also the fuel pump relay. Sometimes the failure is in the solder joint between the heavy armature and the circuit board. Often one set of contacts that switched the main pump is worn but can be refurbished to get you moving.

I don't suppose either of the things suggested are incredibly inexpensive to fix, are they? (And, no, I can't do any of the work myself.)

Thanks, Patricia

Check for fuel, check for spark.

Fuel pump relay is a common culprit. A quick check. Open the door, hang your head out under the car while you bump the starter. Soon as you release the key, you should hear the fuel pump buzzing under the car. It only buzzes for a second after the key is released. If you hear the buzz, the pump and relay are good. It isn't loud so you'll need to pick a quiet time to check. Time to look at ignition. Don't know anything about the crank position sensor so no ideas there. You can check for spark with a timing light, old sparkplug, or your finger if you're in need of a perm. Pull a plug wire, put the old plug in it, lay it on the valve cover so it's grounded and turn the motor. A screw driver can be substituted for the plug but you have to hold it (by the plastic handle!) very close but not touching something metal like the valve cover while someone else turns the key. Fuel pump relay is easy... if you're handy with a soldering iron. Touch all the solder joints on the board to reflow them. It's located behind the carpet on the firewall in the passenger footwell.

If it gives you an idea of my competence in these areas, of all the things you listed, the only thing I'm confident I could manage is opening the car door. Beyond that, I would need a qualified mechanic (or a boyfriend handy with car tools rather than surgical ones).

Does the tach needle (if it has one) twitch at all when you crank the engine? I believe this year is one that has an ignition power stage bolted to the inner fender, these fail sometimes and give a no spark condition and the tach will be dead as a doornail. Also check that the camshaft is rotating, you can do this by removing the oil fill cap and having someone crank the engine, if the timing belt is ok you'll see the cam lobes flipping around. A broken belt is no big deal on these motors.

All my life I go along feeling confident and competent, able to manage just fine on my own. Then I come to this board and, within 24 hours, I feel like the biggest, dumbest, girliest girl on the planet. Seriously, guys, when I say I can't do this stuff on my own, I really can't. I don't know half (okay, more than half) the parts you're talking about. "Check that the camshaft is rotating"? Seriously? "Pull a plug wire"? "Check all the solder points"? Holy cats! I wish like hell that any one of you guys was my boyfriend, husband, brother, friend, or kindly next door neighbor so I could just say, "Um, could you just show me what you're talking about?" But, unfortunately, I'm at the mercy of my mechanic. I'm going to walk down to the car this morning. If it starts, I'll drive it to my mechanic (or at least as drive it as far as it'll go). If it doesn't start, I'll call the auto club for a tow. I was really just hoping for some guidance as to what I might expect the mechanic to find and how complicated/expensive a problem it might turn out to be. But I sincerely appreciate your know-how and confidence in my ability to do more than fill the gas tank once a month!

Ignition likely, timing belt not... since the OP said it ran then it didn't, then it did. I'm voting pump relay or one of those sparky bits under the hood.

Oh I missed that last part, yeah if a timing belt breaks it stops running and won't start again. Usually sounds a little funny cranking too.

footwell.http://davebarton.com/volvorelays.html- Hide quoted text ->>

I don't know you but I'm confident you could hear the fuel pump if you listened for it... Point we're all making here is 'qualified' mechanics sometimes aren't and one that doesn't know these things could rack you up a large bill trying to fix something that's an easy fix if they had a clue. Looks like you're in the Virginia area. Might narrow the location a bit and ask the group for referrals to a good Volvo shop.

Well we're not psychic, if you're unable to make these checks, then take the car to a mechanic, they will diagnose and repair the problem, and it will cost whatever it costs. Unless you can work on it yourself, you'll pay someone else to work on it either way, and it certainly won't cost more than replacing the car.

I understand you're not psychic. That's why I said in the beginning that I'm unable to do the work myself.

FYI, the mechanic just called. Apparently the problem was caused by a bad connection at the fuse box, which they've taken care of. They also installed the antenna for me. They also said the distributor cap and rotor(?) need to be replaced. Grand total will be $322. They also said that my rear shocks are leaking and I should get that taken care of soon, which will cost $539, but I can wait for a while to take care of that. All in all, nowhere near as bad as I thought.

Thanks, everyone, for your good help. I always know I'll find knowledgeable and helpful people on this group.

Patricia

Ah, don't do that. The Y chromosome does not confer mechanical aptitude and I couldn't do a goodly number of the things that were bandied about, either.

FYI, I posted here recently about a problem I've been having for the past few months with the shift lock engaging even though I was stepping on the brake before trying to shift. The problem has disappeared since they did the work I outlined on this thread. Makes me wonder if it wasn't perhaps fuse-related?

An easy check is to wiggle the fuses. The metal corrodes and contact can come and go. I had numerous problems from no-start to accessories that would work and then not. After I replaced all of the fuses (not expensive), everything worked normally.

TKM

You can also replace them with the sealed, steel ended fuses instead of the open tin or copper ones. They don't have the corrosion problem.

Bill

DeOxit works wonders for these fuse panels as well.